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Show C H R 1 S T MA S . A T C H R 1ST. 0 P HER IS :- ... ',.',;: ':>'if "* :1."' : ,story' by Father Liebler. . I S A I N T ; D' Z l \ ECOR/lT'ING the ,Chapel t:;;-Chri~tmas was some~hing new ! ~ . , '. for us this year ; previous Chrl.stmasses we hp.ve had to t~ ihave services in the Misston House. Of course. it . . 1S ~; onlY a temporary Chapel--four future cells run Into .a single ro·om-- but it is at least a place se·t ap'.l ~t. for worship alone. Sprays of .juniper, silk poinse,tt,i .. ~ a si~\Ter paperr star, and some marvellous. sprays looully ca.ll-ed trphilari ta" (not botanically identified) resembling the tassels ~top cane stalks, and for o\1r purposes sprinkled with a bi,t of red paint, all these gave a true yule-tide c;.ppearLnce tb our simple fane • .......... Because Nq v~ jos customarily do n~.~ _ _ go abroad by night, eS }lecially if a la ~;/-Ar,'~-., "._"~"'.:-:-.. -',' " River is to be forded, we m,ve not made t, .i/jh--=,JP ~ )'1 {\' ~i\7" '\' \,.:-~ --~~ ~v~U~~e~f t;~e c~~~n~f~;r~f;~; a~o, . :;g~~ :,~~, .~J!,~-~' ~)~~ pa s.t years we lnVl ~ed the (predomlnant- [fit, 1\:\~- "dt' ( ~,:~~~'rl;'. ~ ly i\10rmon) populc;t tlon of Bluff to . our- ~~ ' \!!:! . , ~'. I I r\ '{< '~ \' :~<'~ ::: ",?pen ~ou~e" Chrlstmas Eve, concludlng ~~, vi: n ,il 11 Ii II ri (;1[(.\ . -1' " Wl th Mldnlght Ma ssttl-- and Cl good ,propor-f" .) 1 ; /I ,/ ":,\ li.. I} Ii ; I tion of them came, though il:Lhe~s . pre- ' j 1 ~ r'l~.·' , J .j!I ;I :lrJ.~~·,·. , vented many . 'C, "(" ./\ f t, ; l \ i' T:<'.~ I _ " _ _ -U lJ11hen Brother Michael l~oc'ked at my ;, door at sun-up, we had a "pI'oblem~ It ;' was snowing gently but with obvioua de- J termina tion. CQuld we expect the ' Na- \ vajos to have their out-door barbe-cue in ~ snow-storm? Not many would try to I ford the River in f alling pnow, for the I quicksands are treacherous ano to miss the fording trail by so much as a few . -!, ., "J J _ __a ,. ___ - --"f--- _- "'_ _~ feet would be to court dlsaster. So,a~ter a brief copference,we decided' that we viTOuld roast as much as we could of the sheep in o~.r Ql;m over, <;l.nd serve the dinner in the Mission House. After the second Hass the snovv stopped f c.lling 1 By ten 0' clock, when preparations for Horning Pr [~ yer m\d the third Mass had been made, the rli ssion House and patio were full of Navajos, and we gathered benches from all source s and packed them into the Chapel. 1!Je had y e t to l earn the Chc;. pel' s capaci ty--but it proved equal to the t a sK of housing the gr oup,for they sat,stood squa tted or knelt a s · they could. We moved sedilic. <-Lnd choirbench as near to the altar a s possiblt: to nlEUW more room. Nava jos are notoriously indifferent to any idea of promptidlude ,and . to have the Che.pel fill ed to the gunw~ , l e s be f ore s e rV1C t~ S started was indeed a tribute to their unders tanding of Chrdlstrnas a s a day of devotion, ond not simply one of gettin ~ gifts. The music of , the Muss was of course liSt I :3,,\ac J 0gues tl --composed entirely of Indiun melodies, ~ nd it was ~ joy to hear many of the school children and c.:.dults join in t he Kyri e , Gloria / and other parts. But the Navajo Gospel and s ermon H8re the test. As Dll know, 'the Gospel for Christmas Day is not simple i-n any l O.n- |