The Lord at first did Adam make Out of the dust and clay, And in his nostrils breathed life, E'en as the Scriptures say. And then in Eden's Paradise He placed him to dwell, That he, within it, should remain, To dress and keep it well. _Now let good Christians all begin An holy life to live, And to rejoice and merry be, For this is Christmas Eve._ And then within the garden he Commanded was to stay, And unto him in commandment These words the Lord did say: "The fruit which in the garden grows To thee shall be for meat, Except the tree in the midst thereof, Of which thou shall not eat." _Now let good Christians, etc._ "For in the day that thou shall eat, Or to it then come nigh; For if that thou doth eat thereof, Then surely thou shalt die." But Adam he did take no heed Unto the only thing, But did transgress God's holy law, And so was wrapt in sin. _Now let good Christians, etc._ Now, mark the goodness of the Lord, Which He for mankind bore, His mercy soon He did extend, Lost man for to restore; And then, for to redeem our souls From death and hellish thrall, He said His own dear Son should be The Saviour of us all. _Now let good Christians, etc._ Which promise now is brought to pass, Christians, believe it well; And by the coming of God's dear Son We are redeemed from thrall. Then, if we truly do believe, And do the thing aright; Then, by His merits, we, at last, Shall live in heaven bright _Now let good Christians, etc._ And now the Tide is nigh at hand In which our Saviour came; Let us rejoice, and merry be, In keeping of the same. Let's feed the poor and hungry souls, And such as do it crave; Then, when we die, in heaven sure Our reward we shall have. _Now let good Christians, etc._ Christmas eve is notable in the Roman Catholic Church for the unique fact that mass is celebrated at midnight. I say, advisably, _is_ celebrated, because, although Cardinal Manning abolished public mass at that hour within the diocese of Westminster about 1867, yet in conventual establishments it is still kept up, and in every church three masses are celebrated. The ancient, and, in fact, the modern use, until interrupted by Cardinal Manning, was to celebrate mass at midnight, at daybreak, and at the third hour (9 a.m.) This use is very old; for Thelesphorus, who was Pope A.D. 127, decreed that three masses should be sung _in Festo Nativitatis_, to denote that the birth of Christ brought salvation to the fathers of three periods--viz. the fathers before, under, and after the law.