, 1864-02-09
THE SEASON or LENT.
Its History--0rigin Of its Observance
Religions Services in the
Churches


-
To-day Is Shrove Tuesday-the Threshold Of
the Lenten scason-ft is followed by Ash wadncs.
dAy-the day on which the apcIents clothed them,
selves In eackcloth and aprink1ed ashes on their
heads, as token Of their sorrow for Gins COM
1nitted. This ushers In the forty daya OF Lent
during which solemn fast is observed by tho
Catholic and Greek Churches, which 10 also kspt
with lesser severity by the Protestant Episcopa
Hans. the other Protestant bodies do mt "a.
ru1e. nav special DIFFERENCE to the period and ~.
iect the practice Of fasting as supersftious carr
mony. not neeessary to be obscrred. In c.,ho1ic
countrfea the season In nreceded by ,yee, NJ w.,
niyal formed from the Latin. ca,ns-to t1esh
,ok4-tarewe1I. Tho most ontraeeons exraaoas 49,
sonet,mcs fndn,oed in 1u,ino this ]vast ~ s so
t,cInatorv coonrnaa.on for the nr1v,,iora ~ 49,.
tbese we,e fo,m,,,v rorfaesad m mnasss. ~ TO- 49,
,,o,,,srto .vs- :. sh+ivsa,s -, ,aa,,aS ~ nv
sh-ir wh.,ra tha ,s,,o chaa,s T,... ~ p'40o''f
nn1nt' NusAse ~ asno 4au. su'o'o 1ucsoay'
1uc pelaoa "nen ,a' taa opesssauee Q, Inc Lenten
Voc - 4vst ~ ussu!. Inc
la.none anu o.eeA euutenea eta." tnas inc 1ast OF
tos'y aass vac tnsutoleu eoon Ates tne oesta OF
eu'n'' why otue,e aaseit .a' ~ ans ioucn laSes
ol'sl.' - ee oa!ust @ses -uo 'ast e1tenuea over
eps..ou " e.'sA1y aass' waence oo1 Aa..n term,
".fs. o.R4eyesau-eeses uays oe'ole' 'n1s was
Iont+loa1'' a.'e ~ " no ss'eu.y yeAts apuV1y o.
ta0 Se"e' ~ "aS 'uoee4usoe'y AAeo a. ~ uAys. III
consonance win the 1ofty days during which
Jesys lasted in tho Wilderness and the forty years.
wandering Of the Jews,
Wtateycr be the opinion entertained with "a
gard to the obligation, there are few but concede
that the time Of Easter On which this depends was
for long time unsettled, and there Ia little
~ ar,na .hs ~. 1hsn a.e. "e,ge1
N AZ u1s e.a, e.aa a-1l,s ~noAuiDs"A oaa. 1ne
word "Easte1" Is OF saxon origin, coming from
foct sieni5tng 10 t1se. whence Inc WORDS East,
tne point OF INC soa's faslne' Easuae the goddess
efeom,ng light Iesst, rteins 1esveD. &c; md
Eoster the time when the sup crossea the eouinoc
tia and rises Into the s 81. summer ssni.ersle. The
same pot'on ., tne vas ana' CHOSEN lor
ACE Of It's iustitu,Ion the Paschol Isnh of the
ze,aa 1.v m ,hs .dcor-,ost :. ~ - a., 40
superior semic!rc!e; it was thus they
celebrated the ''passing over" Jordan contempo-
rsneous1y with The passage of tho Sun 'l over he
eqntnocal time or nus Transit out OF the Egyptian
bondage Of winter when the land and rivcrs arc
bound up vita ftosts,into the hsppy caanan where
MS suene'nensa oca"s Gasuse Tue lana 10 osefaoW
with milk and honey, The ear1y Christians being
lost In doubt ae 10 the exact period of the crucihx
,on, ,.,na ~. a VI sPoen as
Pteeea'laE ue'iuE na.ata1 "u.,'oss fo1 the iorty
cause, Before The Introduction of AGRICULTURAL Ia
fors nocn wp,o nincIn,,1v donon5art 5nr,,,s, ~
o9fs, m.n a.: p,npsy ~ uepsnaen! onrns inc
%ln'e1 season On .ao sesul1s Q, ,ae coase or the
rainy seseon, and the figure OF man win a q W.. w.
tcr3rr mi fAnnar;us, 1raa rJ,co5 l., ~. h,.,
. ~. >a4un'' tn",s "as passu ~ we neas-
Fens py tner ASTRONOMERS, covering
that part Of the Zodiac over
which The sun passed during the rsiny season.
rrbta ,.,e foIlo.rod bv tba ti,,o e. a.h1,s 80
ans was lonoMeu " .ne 'ln'e lof nsnins, and
eonple o! nsnes were tafown On inc celestial map
to mark that period. On the Ecliptic those fishes
cover Just the epace passed over by the sunin forty
days. and although now. by The preceas,on or the
eqaano3ef. mat eonstelauon mas moved from Its
former place yet al that time the end Of the pIsca
tosial space exactly came M to the couinoc,fal
colure. It was a bcautffnl a]Iroorv. nnr;nc .hns.
c,,t,, d.. .hos 80 1:,t,s -. go. -.lI,-s ose
io',s lucy uau nttle nut Asn 10 sunsfst apon,
and during that forty days the gun even now moves
among, II he does not subsIst on, ash Whethe.
this be sufficient reasoa for prcsent day fasting
ia oneetion which rnnst he 1e.t Gor Others ~ aa
91 The ,,cor O., observance bs. n,ncb ,oae,,tra :,