The Angels' Song has been called the first Christmas Carol, and the shepherds who heard this heavenly song of peace and goodwill, and went "with haste" to the birthplace at Bethlehem, where they "found Mary, and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger," certainly took part in the first celebration of the Nativity. And the Wise Men, who came afterwards with presents from the East, being led to Bethlehem by the appearance of the miraculous star, may also be regarded as taking part in the first celebration of the Nativity, for the name Epiphany (now used to commemorate the manifestation of the Saviour) did not come into use till long afterwards, and when it was first adopted among the Oriental Churches it was designed to commemorate both the birth and baptism of Jesus, which two events the Eastern Churches believed to have occurred on January 6th. Whether the shepherds commemorated the Feast of the Nativity annually does not appear from the records of the Evangelists; but it is by no means improbable that to the end of their lives they would annually celebrate the most wonderful event which they had witnessed. [Illustration: ADORATION OF THE MAGI (Relievo.) From Pulpit of Pisa Nicola: Pisano] Within thirty years after the death of our Lord, there were churches in Jerusalem, Caesarea, Rome, and the Syrian Antioch. In reference to the latter, Bishop Ken beautifully says:-- "Fair Antioch the rich, the great, Of learning the imperial seat, You readily inclined, To light which on you shined; It soon shot up to a meridian flame, You first baptized it with a Christian name." Clement, one of the Apostolic Fathers and third Bishop of Rome, who flourished in the first century, says: "Brethren, keep diligently feast-days, and truly in the first place the day of Christ's birth." And according to another of the early Bishops of Rome, it was ordained early in the second century, "that in the holy night of the Nativity of our Lord and Saviour, they do celebrate public church services and in them solemnly sing the Angels' Hymn, because also the same night He was declared unto the shepherds by an angel, as the truth itself doth witness." But, before proceeding further with the historical narrative, it will be well now to make more particular reference to the fixing of the date of the festival. FIXING THE DATE OF CHRISTMAS.