Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 66, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 March 1913 — EASTER OBSERVANCES AT HOME AND ABROAD [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

EASTER OBSERVANCES AT HOME AND ABROAD

f ASTER Is the principal festival of the Christian year, observed in commemoration of the resurrection 1 of Jesus Christ The resurrection took place just after the Jewish feast of the Passover. The Christians of Jerusalem, and after them those Of the Asiatic churches generally, were accustomed to hold the feast of Easter on this* same ■day, or simultaneously with the feast of the Jewish Passover. This custom was not acceptable to the Gentile churches in Italy and the west generally, and they changed the time of Easter observance to the Sunday following the fourteenth day of the moon, or month, and" this difference of practice led to grave discussions between the east and the west, which were finally settled by the agreement at the council of Nice in the early part of the fourth century to make the western usage universal. From that time

Easter has been observed not only In Christian Europe and America, but far across the sea In the ancient strongholds of pagan superstition. And so It has come to pass that the very word Easter thrills the heart with gladness, bringing its welcome announcement that the gloom is past, and the time of bud and blossom, leaf and spray, glancing wing and sudden song, floating cloud and prismlc shcwer, the time of affluence and beauty and growing, and rapture of high vitality in plant and human life alike —that wondrous time has come again.

In every Christian land the season is observed with deep, religious fueling. In Jerusalem, the Holy City, enshrined with so many memories of Christ, his life, his work, his death and his resurrection, the celebration of Easter is of peculiar interest. Representatives of so many churches and sects assemble here at this season for special religious celebrations that an elaborate schedule has to be planned to prevent worship according to one form of the Christian faith from Interfering with that of another. Turkish soldiers are much in evidence at this time to check the smallest beginning of open conflict One of the most Impressive features of the Eastertide observance in Jerusalem is witnessed on Good Friday on the Via, Dolorosa —supposed to be the road over which Christ bore the cross to Calvary—when this commemorative journey is made by the pilgrims on their knees. Easter customs still cling to England in many places. Maundy money is distributed on Thursday at Westminster Abbey, as in the days of Pepys, old men and women over 60 years of age receive specially minted coins, corresponding to the years in King George's life. It follows that the older a British king Is, the more money is distributed.

On Good Friday there is a procession to st Paul’s cathedral revived, from early times by the Bishop of London, and the suburban districts have ones to their parish churches. The veiling of the crucifix at Faster is still maintained as a survival of that older ceremony of “watching the sepulchre-” In olden days this graphic and elaborate rite commenced on Gooo Friday with the lowering of the great crucifix and its bestowal in a shallow grave dug beneath the high altar, where it remained until early in the morning of Easter day. In course of time, as the ritual became more ornate, the grave was discarded in favor of a temporary wooden sepulchre erected on the north of the choir, and the host as well as ..he crucifix were deposited therein. *

An old writer on Durham cathedral thus describes It: "On Good Friday, after the singing of the Passion, two monks took a large crucifix and, laying it upon a velvet cushion, brought it to the lower greeses (steps) of the quire and there betwixt them held the crucifix “Then one of the monks rose and went a pretty space from it and setting himself upon his knees to the cross and kissed it. and after him the other monk did likewise. Afterwards so did the prior and all the monks, the whole choir in the meantime singing an anthem. Amidst the light of the candles and the burning of Incense, the cross was then carried to the sepulchre and there was laid, together with the holy sacrament, within the sepulchre.”

Guards were then placed to watch until Easter morning, when the singing of "Christos Resurgens,” the sacred symbols where taken out of their temporary grave and replaced upon the altar. It was.an old belief that the eyes which beheld this Easter elevation would not close in death during the year to come.

The churches in many poorer quarters, including St. George’s in the Borough—p "Lit tie Dorrit's church!' —and St. John's, Walworth, are so thronged by Easter wedding couplps that the clergy often marry them in groups. At the church of SL Mary, Woolnooth, near the mansion house, a queer distribution is still carried out tn accordance with the will of Sir John Spencer, who was lord mayor In 1594. He left a

legacy with instructions to the church wardens to distribute colored eggs to communicants on Easter morning. That entails giving away about 600 of these eggs.

Many ceremonies and sports distinguished the celebration of Easter in olden times. In a royal roll of the time of Edward I preserved in the tower, appears an entry of 18 pence for 400 eggs to be used for Easter gifts. Town authorities engaged with due dignity in games of ball. In the northern parts of England the men paraded the streets on Easter Sunday and claimed the privilege of lifting every woman they met three times from the ground, receiving in payment a kiss or a silver sixpence. The same was done by the women to the men the next day. It is recorded also that on Easter Monday the women had a yight to strike their husbands, and on Tuesday the men struck their wives, as in December the servants scolded their masters. From a German authority it is learned that in the Neumark on Easter day the men servants whip the maid servants with switches, and on Monday the maids the men. In some parts of Germany parents and children try to surprise each other in bed on Easter morning to apply the health-giving switches.

In Palestine, Easter is the day when relatives and friends exchange gifts .and it is the family reunion day. much as Is Christmas in America. On Easter a grand mass is celebrated at 12 o’clock midnight, at which all present receive the Lord’s supper. After the service, which lasts about four hours, the crowds go home to break their fast and feast on the dainties prepared before hand. In the morning visits are exchanged between relatives and friends, the younger people go to the older people first to wish them a bright Easter and many happy returns. About 1 p. m. a grand patriarchal procession walks to the church of the Holy Sepulchre singing those melodious Gregorian songs. The scene is particularly imposing. There now follows a service ,in the Greek cathedral at which the gospel for Easter day is read in all the leading languages of the world.

The first person to salute the czar of Russia on Easter morning with the words "Christ Is Risen" must be greeted in turn with a royal kiss. No matter how lowly the person—the meanest of beggars, even—the great czar must bestow upon him a brotherly kiss. Not so many Easters ago the czar was compelled by this inexorable custom to kiss the cheek of a peasant sentry, stationed in the garden to which the czar had escaped for an early morning walk. The Spaniards believe that he who is born on Good Friday has the gift of second sight They delight to tell that Philip tV was second-sighted because he came Into the world on this day. Spanish women, as well as many English countrywomen, declare that sewing done on Good Friday will never come undone.

By many European peasants the'wind is watched on Palm Sunday, in the belief that .from whatever direction it then blows, thence it will come most frequently during the ensuing year. The Spaniard who is fortunate enough to secure a palm, blessed and used in a church procession on Palm Sunday;, fastens it to the balcony of his house for protection from lightning. An interesting Easter egg custom prevails in Poland. On Easter Monday every head of a house man or woman, presents each visitor on his call with a hard boiled egg, or, rather, the

half of one. The head of the house divides - the egg, gives a half to the caller, and eats with him the other part The custom has such a hold on the people that the nobles, even when living far away from the fatherland, observe it Many years ago Prince Czartoryskl was in residence In Paris, when he held the usual reception on Easter Monday, receiving each guest at the door of his salon, and dividing the egg in traditional style with each visitor, who ate it conscientiously. In America, with its population drawn from all sections of the globe, many Easter observances distinctive of the various countries have been retained by the immigrants and their descendants. So decidedly has' Easter Sunday come to be thought of In the United States as the great show day of the year that the average person no longer regards It In its most Inspiring light—the crowning feast day of the Christian year. Yet its religious significance still lives and while the strenuous money seekers of the present day seem to have lost sight of any save Its worldly interest the spirit of worship Is by no means a thing of the past and nowhere Is It more actively alive than In the up-to-date church of a great city. Music is the chief feature of the usual service, and no pains or money is spared to make it a noteworthy event.

Easter egg foiling on the White House grounds in Washington has become an affair of international note. The children gather in crowds outside the tall iron fence that Incloses the grounds and when the gates are thrown open at exactly 9 a. m. they flock in pell-mell and distribute themselves in squads over the hillocks. No time is lost, the sport beginning at once, and soon it is in fast and furious progress, the greensward speckled with eggs and rainbow hues. All thf children wear their best clothes, which are destined to be sadly mussed and more or less torn before the day is over, yet a thoroughly democratic spirit prevails, the youngsters being of all classes.

To the eye of the casual observer the egg play is somewhat devoid of meaning, but a study of it shows that it is both varied and Interesting. Some of the children make races with their eggs, starting them simultaneously from the top of s hillock, with the understanding that the one to reach the bottom first Is the winner. If it is "for fair” the egg of the loser passes into the possession of the successful contestant. Another way Is to roll an egg down hill, to be received at the bottom on the point of a second egg If the thing is properly done, and failure or success in this object gives rise to much merriment. Or, again, two children* may roll their eggs toward each other on a flat piece of ground, and when they have met the one cracked is lost In no other land does thefeaster egg so splendidly symbolize democracy as in America.

EASTER PROCESSION IN A JERITSALEM STREET

PHOTOS COPYRIGHT BY UNDERWOOD & UNDERWOOD

NEW YORK'S FIFTH AVENUE EASTER PARADE

GOOD FRIDAY ON THE VIA DOLOROSA.

EASTER DAY ATLANTIC CITY, N.J.