Democratic Sentinel, Volume 20, Number 13, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 April 1896 — QUEEN OF FESTIVALS. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

QUEEN OF FESTIVALS.

(THE DISTINCTION THAT IS GIVEN 1 EASTER DAY. borne Customs by Which It Is Ob* * Served—Why the Kgg Is Symbolical of the Occasion—Legends and Superstitions Connected with It.

ASTER Sunday, which for centuries /| " irJ \ . was observed only f | * /Si by certain churches, ' £ uimV ‘ s now a^moßt univerI i KULfI sally kept as a day of tHfl 11 days, all evangelical HHHSrf churches symbolizing 4 it as the anniversary & commemorative of the resurrection of Christ, a festival which in the early Christian era was Sunday of joy, and

Iwmich Gregory Xazianzen 1,500 years ago called the “Queen day of days, that excels all others as far as the sun exceeds the pther stars, and which is still known in the least as the ‘bright day.’ ” Another typical name for Easter is the “Holiday of Hope.” There is a wonderful charm and fascilation in this queen festival of the year, ’■hich dominates the whole world with its vonderful lessons of returning life. Not only is the deep religious significance of the occasion illustrated in the most attractive and beautiful form as a lesson to the eye. and through that to the heart, but the joyful features of Easter, the npspringing of hope and the miracle of returning life. Inspire a condition of joy and happiness in the lives of young and old, and the most Insensible object becomes a part of the carnival of joy. Easter was not kept as a festival until the fifth or sixth century, but previous to that the question of establishing it as a feast day came before the council of Nice, when it was decided authoritatively that Easter was henceforth to be the Sunday following the 14th day of the calendar tnoon which happeeed upon or next after Ke 21st of March, so that if this 14th day a Sunday, Easter was not to be on that date but on the next following Sunday. Easter day, therefore, may be any day /within five weeks inclusive of March 22 Rnd April 25. It cannot happen earlier Bor later than those two dates. In 1883. paster occurred on March 25, and again In 1894, which will be twice in the present century. In 1951 it will occur again Dn March 25.

It has often been asked why an egg is the symbol of Easter. The use of eggs for Easter can be traced to the theology and Philosophy of Egyptians, Persians, Gauis, Greeks and Romans, among all of whom an egg was a symbol of the universe, the /work of the Supreme Divinity. The Persians gave presents of eggs at the feast of the vernal equinox—in honor of the renewal of all things. The Jews adapted it to suit the circumstances of their history as a type of their departure from Egypt, and it was used in the feast of the passover as part of the furnishing of the table With the Paschal lamb. 'Hie early Druids also used the egg iu their ceremonies. The custom of coloring Easter eggs aeemß to be as old as the use of the egg as a symbol. In Germany sometimes instead of eggs at Easter, a curious print Illustrative of their use is presented. An Easter custom brought from Mesopotamia is that of egg-rolling or egg-pitting. JThe manner of this sport is to strike the •ggs one againstfthe other, until one is broken, which is the spoil of the owner of tfee egg which remains whole. Another egg is then pitted against the winning one, and so on until the last one is victorious. Every year at Washington the children of all classes of people meet in the grounds of the White House, and with the President and his family looking on, and great crowds of spectators in attendance, proceed to roll eggs of all the colors known to hamanity, and in such quantities that it would seem as if the hens of all the world had contributed. It is one of the sights of Washington on Easter Monday. In this country eggs of all colors are used for ttta rolling sport, but in Mesopotamia they •re red only, in remembrance of the cruci■xSon. In Prance it was once customary at the approach of Easter to seek the largest tst * as a tribute to the king, and when the Easter high mass was finished, in the diapel of the Louvre, to take them into the royal presence, handsomely gilded and carried in pyramids. Then the chaplain blessed them, after which they were distributed to the people.