The Key West Citizen Newspaper, December 24, 1954, Page 24

THE KEY WEST CITIZEN —— CHRISTMAS EDITION —— 1954 Musie By Great Artist Was Long A Part Of American Yule Scene Christmas time and music go hand in hand. This season always recalls to old- er Key Westers one of the great Christmas songs — Silent Night, Holy Night — as sung by the late Mme. Ernestine Schumann - Heink. Every Christmas for years, radio brought the voice of the great pri- ma donna to millions of listeners. Mme. Schumann - Heink sang Silent Night, Holy Night as her gift to America, her adopted country. She as born in Leiben, Austria, and when only 17 years old she was the principal contralto of the Dresden Opera Company. Another great Christmas annual was the enactment of the role of To our friends and neighbors we offer our sincere wishes for a very Merry Christmas. To you, our patrons — we extend our thanks for your friendliness in the past year. And for all of us we add the hope for » peaceful and bountiful New Year. Key West Floor Covering Co. M. E. STUTZ 132 Duval Street Scrooge by the Lionel Barrymore who died recently. Every Yuletide,. Barrymore took the role of Scrooge in Charles Dick- ens’ “A Christmas Carol.” Although death has stilled the voices of Barrymore and Mme. Schumann - Heink, the two classic Christmas numbers — Silent Night and Barrymore’s reading of Scrooge—undoubtedly will be heard in thousands of homes again this Christmas via recordings. The Creche which is erected in Roman Catholic and certain Angli- can churches at Christmas was first devised by St. Francis of As- sisi in 1223, ‘As the Cheistmas bells sing out snd another yeat B bout to be boro we realize bow very important yout Gsicadship bas been to our succes. We appreciane You and wy . 0 A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR Fausto’s Food Palace 522 Fleming Street Dial 2-5663 JERUSALEM, Jordan — A Mos- lem woman chipped away a piece! of the rough white stone forming the ceiling of a chapel in Beth-| lehem. “This is Virgin’s milk,” she ex- plained. “I beat this into a pow- der and mix it with water to drink. It makes me strong.” This Moslem woman __ believes firmly that the rock turned white when a few drops of milk from the Virgin Mary’s breast fell on the | Nativity never was touched. Moslems Share Christmas Story the Chibiders? era, when Moslem-; with Jesus are purely Moslem and Christian rivalry sometimes led to! not repeated in Christian traditions. the destruction of Christian sites and churches, the Church of the These common religious traqdi- | tions have done much to produce Another site of joint traditions is | the Christian - Moslem harmony so the smoky dark Tomb of the Vir- | apparent in Palestine today. A Mos- gin near the Garden of Gethse-|jem family keeps the keys of the mane just outside the walled city of Jerusalem. The bearded, palsie? old guardian of the tomb will give’ the traveler a small lighted candle le and walk deep into the carvernous Church of the Holy Sepulchre to act as arbiter among the various Chris sects there. The M m governor of Jerusalem attends as an honored guest all the major Christian ceremonies and feasts Mosley King Jussein of J: a always sends Christmas and greetings to his Christian sul His grandfather, King Abu h, prayed in the Church of the Ho Sepulchre. A Moslem mosque en- closes the site on the Mount of . known story b yCharles Ascension from where Christ as-4 . Probably no- do different w so much respect for each other’s traditions. —AP News- features. ROMAN CEREMONY The Romans were the first to celebrate the seaon in a pagan ee remony consisting of a procession and the lighting of candles. Later | the Chritians merged this ceremony | into the festivity commemorating the birth of Christ. r,| In New England the observance Christ- of Christmas was forbidden as being a/ “unseemly to ye spiritual welfare jof ye community.” “A Christmas Car well - was first published in Dece 1843. The full title is “ Carol in Prose Ghost Story of Chris URN RUE LE NIUE URN {Dae WDD EM BEML BLD BTM Be BM Be Dy DDD Wi Bs BEV PDE PC MEME MEH MLO LOE OEE DH HBB BRIM B HRM RW MBM HMMM HMM WAT BHM B WMH HDB WHT HRB. stone. The Holy Family was sup-| interior to show him a niche carved | posed to have paused at the spot into the stone on the eastern wall | during the flight to Egypt. Almost | of the tomb. | since that time, the site has been | “This is the Mihrab (Moslem called the “Milk Grotto.” held sac-| prayer - niche) which points to | red by Moslems and Christians a-| Mecca,” the old man explains. like. Women of both faiths believe| “‘Moslems put it here so that the stone ‘‘Virgin’s milk” has heal-| when they come here to pray, they | ing powers. jknow the direction they should | This is only one of numerous tra- | face.” | ditions shared by the two faiths in| Although Moslems venerate the Palestine regarding the birth and shrines connected with the Virgin! life of Christ. birth of Christ, they do not hold Sometimes a Moslem may be sacred places connected with his! seen in the ancient Church of the | death. This is because the Moslem Natavity in Bethlehem, kneeling | Koran teaches the Virgin Birth, but | with his face toward Mecca as he | denies that Christ was crucified. prays. This is one of the few! The Koran says the Angel Ga- Christian churches in the world briel appeared to Mary in the form | where Moslems pray. During the of a perfect man to announce that time of the Ottoman Turks, Mos-| she would conceive a child, even, lems in the church were-a frequent | though she was still a virgin. Ma-| sight. They are more rare today,|ry hid in a remote place until the| but occasionally some pray there. child was born. When she returned | The Moslem’s right to pray in this! with a child, her family and frineds | church dates back to the Caliph considered her disgraced, until the | Omar, who conquered Palestine for | Infant in her arms spoke and told | the Moslems in the Seventh Cen- them of the miracle, the Koran| tury. The Caliph announced that/says. The Moslem religion thus | |Moslems could pray singly or in| gives the Virgin Birth an import- |pairs, but did not allow them tojant place, and shrines connected | go there in groups and would not) with it are sacred. | permit a muezzine to call the faith-| Moslems consider Christ a great | ful to prayer in the church. The| prophet who one day will judge |Caliph made these restrictions to| the world. The Koran recognizes | prevent Moslems from turning the Christ's miracles, although the Pro- church into a mosque. |phet Mohammed himself did not The 1300-year-old regulations of| perform miracles. | the Caliph still prevail in tradition-; In remote Moslem areas of Pal-| robed Bethelehem. Over the cen-| estine today, story - tellers still re- turies, the Caliph’s injunctions of-|ccunt miraculous deeds of “Issa | ten have saved the Church of the | Ibn Youssef” (Jesus, son of Joseph) Nativity from destruction. During!Many miracle stories connected Peeve ot tll laa as #, CHRISTMAS SHRINE—Entrance of The Church of the Na- tivity in Bethlehem where Moslems and Christians both pray. The pattern of the stones shows how the door was once much larger, but was reduced to keep out livestock. GREETINGS At this joyous Christmas teason...we extend to everybody our heartfelt wishes for a Agappy holiday, a prosperous New Year. Dade He De PMD De Be Be Ds Bi Be D1 D131 3/05 2. DBR DDD AD DD AND DDB RMB ACHE PH HHMI 620 Duval Street (Ghistivas tion. BS 4} Key RII SII See if reiting To Our Friends: One of the deeply genuine joys of the Yuletide 4 Season is that which gives us opportunity to , ye aie express appreciation to our many friends. Each passing year brings us a higher evalu- ation of the bonds forged by pleasant associa- So this Holiday Message brings you sincere good wishes for a very Merry Christmas and a Bright, Prosperous New Year. Sincerely, West Coca-Cola Bottling Company (METRE HLH POLTSLE SSMS THLE Christmas has a merry way with all... it gives joy and laughter to the children, warm and cheerful feelings to the grown- ups, and best of all the grand memory of its joy continues throughout the year. Te all our friends we wish a Holiday Season filled with happiness, Land Title Company of Key West ]. M. Blow, Manager 517 WHITEHEAD STREET