Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 165 



finding its way. The introductory song is the same, but extended 

 in I, and repeated in part in the vulgar tongue. The two angels 

 who greet the Maries in I are evidently an innovation to render it 

 possible for one to sing in German the substance of the Latin pre- 

 viously sung by the two. 



Furthermore, we note that E and 1 agree in omitting f, g, i, and 

 1, of O. The divergence of the German plays from the French has 

 evidently taken place, and we have followed the course of the Burial 

 and Resurrection group until we have found the plays on an inde- 

 pendent footing, shaping themselves in accordance with the national 

 spirit, and admitting largely the language of the people. We will 

 now turn to our second group, the plays that cluster about ihe 

 infancy of Jesus. 



YIIL 

 THE GENESIS OF CHRISTMAS. 



The development of the Christmas plays is so directly dependent 

 upon the genesis of Christmas itself that we must glance once more 

 at the customs of the early church. 



The Syrian Gnostics of the third century celebrated the union of 

 God and man as taking place in Jesus at His baptism, which they 

 placed on Jan. 6th. ^ The orthodox adopted this as the feast of bap- 

 tism, or of the first appearance of the Godhead in man. St. 

 Chrysostom mentions it in the fourth century as an ancient feast in 

 Asia of the manifestation of Christ.^ This feast was celebrated in 

 Vienna in 360 A. D., and passed into the western church as Christ's 

 manifestation of Himself to the heathen world. 



The Feast of the Nativity on Dec. 25th was established in Rome 

 after 350 A. D. by Bishop Liberius,^ and in the East not earlier than 

 376 A. D., since Chrysostom said in 386 A. D. that the feast had 

 been known less than ten years. Whether, as Neander thinks, the 

 feast was established in accordance with some apocryphal authority, 

 or, as many think, to supply a counter-attraction to the Roman 

 Saturnalia, may not be susceptible of proof. In any case it became 

 heir to the customs of the Saturnalia, and continued them in 

 unbroken tradition. 



In pagan Rome the Saturnalia, because of the confusion arising 

 from the adoption of the Julian calendar, was extended by Augustus 



1 Wilken, p. 1. 2 Neander, vol. 3, p. 415. s Neander, vol. 3, p. 416. 



Trans. Conn. Acad.. Vol. IX. October. 1892. 



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