DANIEL A. LORD, S. J. Nihil ubstat.;.Art|iiiur ^ Siaafcin, S.T.J),:, C«nsor Libnirum. Imprimatur ^hfrancis J. Spellman, D.I).^ Archbishop, New York. ea Cq 0 C) THE STORY OF CHRISTMAS NGE upon a time, there was no such day as Christmas. No one had ever had a Christmas tree. No one had ever heard of the Angels who sang “Peace on earth.” No one had ever seen the precious Babe of Beth- lehem. Men were lonesome in those days. They said to each other ^ “I wonder if God really loves us.” They wished that God did not seem so far away. They wanted to be really happy. So God said, “I shall send My Son to earth. I shall give Him the most beautiful Mother. I shall make His birthday the happiest day in the year.” For God wanted His sons and daughters to be happy. That is why He decided they must have a day called Christmas. COPYRIGHT 1944 BY DANIEL A. LORO. ST. LOUIS. MO. PRINTED IN U. S. A. WILLIAM J. HIRTEN CO.. INC.. 25-27 BARCLAY ST.. N. Y. C. The Loveliest Woman in the World O GOD sent His dear Son to earth. And He called His dear Son, made man, Jesus Christ. One cold winter night, then, a man named Joseph and a woman named Mary came to Bethlehem. They were poor. They had little money. So the innkeepers laughed at thern and slammed the doors of the inn in their faces. The rich peo- ple and the poor people would not let them in. Then Joseph found a little stable in a cave in the hillside. It was poor and cold. In it were an ox and an ass. But Joseph made the place clean. Mary en- tered, looking very sweet and lovely. There was no door in the cave. That was so that everyone who wanted to enter could find the way. For Him He chose the most beautiful woman that ever lived, Mary. She was to beH is Mother. The First Christmas Morn —^iHEN Jesus, the Son of God, was born. ^ Mary, His beautiful Mother held Him in her arms and loved Him with all her • heart. Joseph, His guardian, knelt and kissed Him gently. ^ The ox and donkey breathed upon Him, trying to warm Him against the wintry wind. But look ! Over the cave suddenly came a band of angels. They had come rushing from Heaven. They wanted to be the first to greet Him. They wanted to tell all the world that the King was born. So they sang, “Glory to God in the Highest, and on earth Peace to Men of Good Will.” That was the first song of Christmas. They flew around the cave. They flew over the shepherds on the hilltop. They flew over sleeping Bethlehem. How beautiful that Baby was as He reached out to love the world ! How sweet was that Mother as she held her Baby up for all of us to see ! No wonder Christmas is such a beautiful day. But the shepherds heard the angels, . They were poor men, but they loved God, and they had pure hearts. They came running over the' hills. i J They found the cave and rushed in. Then they stopped. There in the manger lay the beautiful Baby, and near Him was His lovely Mo- ther. The Shepherds came forward on tiptoe. They knelt and kissed the Baby’s hands. They were so happy they could not speak. For this was the most beautiful Baby in all the world. They knew they had found the King, This was God made man for love of us. So there was wonderful joy in their hearts that Christmas day. Wise Men Find Their King ^ AR away in the East were Wise Men. At night, they used to stand on their roofs and look at the stars. When they saw the beautiful stars they said, “How great and strong is God!” Then one night thev saw the most wonderful new Star. It was big and bright and it moved across the sky. So they said, “Let us follow this Star. Perhaps if will bring us to a great King.” They travelled day after dav. The Star mo\ed before them. At last -it came to Bethlehem. It stopped over the place where the beautiful Baby lay. They entered. Then because they were wise men, they knew this was the King of Kings. They knew this was the Son of God made man for love of men. So they gave Him gifts of kings. The^' gave Him gold, spices, and perfumes. Christmas is a time of gifts. God gi\es us His dear Son. So we too must give gifts to God and to one another. O THAT is why we have all the joy of Christmas day. -v'; aK ^ Once on a time, there was no Christmas. That was before the Son of God came from Heaven to earth. That is before people saw the beautiful Babe of Bethlehem. That is before wise men followed the Star and found His lovely Mother. So Christmas is the Birthday of the King. We are happy because God loved us enough to give us His only Son. We are happy because Christ holds out.His baby arms and asks us to love Him. We light the Christmas candles so that Christ- ' mas will not be dark, as it was in the cave. We give presents because we want to remember the great gifts God gave to all of us. We are happy on Christmas because Christ is born. We love one another because God so loved us as He lay in the manger of Bethlehem.