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WE WISH YOU

A MERRY CHRISTMAS!

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Posted Dec. 24, 2007 MINNEAPOLIS 12:31am CT | LONDON 06:31am | SYDNEY 05:31pm

THIS DAY IN HISTORY - December 24, Christmas Eve in Western Christianity  

What happened on Christmas Eve
in Christian history?

Researched and written by Gloriscope staff

1968: God was honored in a message by the first U.S. manned spacecraft to the Moon – Apollo 8 became the first manned spacecraft to enter the orbit of the Moon. In his Christmas Eve TV broadcast to the Earth from a distance of 240,000 miles, the Apollo 8 Commander Frank Borman read the following words from the Bible:

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light; and there was light. … And God saw that it was good.” (Genesis 1:1-4)

1949: Roman Catholics started to celebrate the Holy Year of 1950. - The Holy Year was ended by Pope Pius XII on December 26, 1950.

1939: Pope Pius XII made a Christmas Eve peace appeal after the first few months of World War II.

1914: Tens of thousands of British and German troops sang “Silent Night” during the “Christmas truce” of the World War I.

1906: Bible reading and Christmas carols were broadcast in Massachusetts during the world’s first public radio broadcast.

1894: A cross was placed atop Mont Royal, Montreal, Canada – The cross is on the highest peak of the mountain, on the 233-meter (764 ft) high Colline de la Croix (Cross Hill), located on the island of Montreal, near the center of the city of Montreal. The cross was illuminated on Christmas Eve 1924.

1818: First performance of Christmas carol “Silent Night, Holy Night” - This popular Austrian carol is the world’s most popular song all times. It has been translated from German into more than 300 languages. The title of the carol is “Stille Nacht” in German, “Deuce Nuit” in French, “Noche de Paz” in Spanish, “Noite de Paz” in Portuguese, and “Stilla Natt” in Swedish. The lyrics were written by Joseph Mohr, an Austrian Roman Catholic priest, and music was written by Franz X. Gruber, an Austrian teacher. The carol was first performed on Christmas Eve 1818 in a church near Salzburg, Austria. The Silent Night Museum is located in Salzburg.

1492: Columbus set up the first Christian settlement in the New World. – During his first voyage to the New World, Columbus arrived to Hispaniola (Haiti), but his flagship Santa Maria had to be evacuated because it ran aground and sank on Christmas Eve 1492. Columbus founded the first European settlement in the New World and in celebration of Christmas called it La Navidad (”The Nativity”). He left there forty of his men..

1491: Birth of Ignatius de Loyola, the Spanish founder of the Jesuits – The Latin motto of the Jesuits is “Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam” (”For the Greater Glory of God.”)

563: The church of Hagia Sophia {Holy Wisdom) in Constantinople was restored. – This magnificent Byzantine church, one of the world’s largest, is in present-day Istanbul, Turkey. It was restored in 563 with a new dome after the old dome had collapsed during an earthquake in 558.

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TO GOD BE ALL THE GLORY!

Published in the U.S.A. Copyright © 4T4C News Corp. 2007. All rights reserved.