. St. Nicholas [serial]. ortentertainment of recita-tions and songs, and aspeech or two perhaps,and then the little folks,carrying their presentswith them, go back totheir homes. IN NEW MEXICO. In certain parts ofNew Mexico, amongthe old Spanish settle-ments, the celebration ofChristmas begins more than a week before the day. In the evenings,a party of men and women go together to thehouse of some friend—a different house beingvisited each evening. When they arrive, they knock on the door and begin to sing, and whenthose in the house ask Who is there ? theyreply: The Virgin Mary and St. Joseph
. St. Nicholas [serial]. ortentertainment of recita-tions and songs, and aspeech or two perhaps,and then the little folks,carrying their presentswith them, go back totheir homes. IN NEW MEXICO. In certain parts ofNew Mexico, amongthe old Spanish settle-ments, the celebration ofChristmas begins more than a week before the day. In the evenings,a party of men and women go together to thehouse of some friend—a different house beingvisited each evening. When they arrive, they knock on the door and begin to sing, and whenthose in the house ask Who is there ? theyreply: The Virgin Mary and St. Joseph seeklodgings in your house. At first the inmatesof the house refuse to let them in. This is doneto carry out the Bible story of Joseph and Marybeing unable to find lodgings in in a little while the door is opened and thevisitors are heartily welcomed. As soon as theyenter, they kneel and repeat a short prayer; andwhen the devotional exercises are concluded, therest of the evening is spent in CHRIST MAS I\- TUP SOITII, On Christmas eve the people of the villagegather together in some large room or hall andgive a solemn little play, commemorating thebirthday of the Saviour. One end of the room 5° HOW UNCLE SAM OBSERVES CHRISTMAS. [Dec. is used as a stage, and this is fitted up to repre-sent the stable and the manger; and the char-acters in the sacred story of Bethlehem — Maryand Joseph, the shepherds, the wise men, andthe angels — are represented in the tableaux,and with a genuine, reverential spirit. Even thepoorer people of the .town take part in these jChristmas plays. AMONG THE SHAKERS. £. The Shakers observeChristmas by a dinnerat which the men andwomen both sit downat the same table. Thiscustom of theirs is thething that serves tomake Christmas differ-ent from any other dayamong the all the rest ofthe year the men andwomen eat their mealsat separate tables. At sunset on Christ-mas day, after a ser-vice in the church, theym
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Keywords: ., bookauthordodgemar, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, bookyear1873
