The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1869-02-10
0hegmteuiqe1te1:
wEDNESDAY MORNING, FEB. 10.


the first day of Lent, called by the
fathers OF the Church cdput jcjHnii, the
beginning Of the fast, or dies cincrWn,
ash day, in allusion to the custom of
sprinkling the head with ashes. The
nature Of the day Is memorial
of ancient manners. To roll oneself
ia the dust, to cover the bend with
ashes, was, in primitive times, mark
OF profound grief. A man who appear
cI With his body. hair, and dress Gov
cred with dust, announced By such ex-
terror his mourning and atliictiOn. TX
nmples OF this are frequent in Scripture,
being mentioned in Job, the Kings. the
Prophets and also the Gospels. David,
to express the bitterness of his grief,
says that he ate ashes like bread. In
the first centuries OF Christianity, when
pubic PennanCe was imposed, aShes
were cast upon the heads or those vino
were condemned, and they were
Obliged to stand without the gate of the
church, amid the lamentations of the
people within. The ceremonies of Ash
Wednesday in Roman Catholic cOun-
tries, are u continuation of this print
tive usage. The old linen of the altar
and fragments of cOnsecrated wood are
burned, and the ashes carefully collect
ed. Before the celebration of the mass,
the priest in mourning robes recites
peniiential psalms, and sOlemnly bless
es the sacred ashes. Then all the faith
full approach and PROSTATE themselves
willie the priest makes a sign of the
cross with the ashes upon the forehead
Of each Of them, repeating each time
the words Of the HnatheuA upon Adam
for his sin AIemcntO, homo, qWOd pUlviS
eS ct III puLUcTcAI 3'cUertcriS: ''Renem-
Der, man, that thou art dust, and unto
dus! shalt thou IeIurn." The people
having thus listened TO the sentence of
death, and each bearing upon his brow
the prophetic ashes, return to their
places.
The use of ashes is omitted by those
branches CT Professionalism which re-
tain any observance o: sh-Wednes-
day.
Having referred at suck length to the
first day OF Lent, we will add n para
grrPh or Two III relation to the fast
ilacit. Lent, then, is fast of forty
days, which Immediately precedes East
er The origin of the word is uncertain;
some derive it from IL Saxon word inn
plying spring, or the season when the
days "leBglhen ;" others from u Ger
man word signifying "to thaw." The
object of the fast has also been disputed,
hut it is generally regarded as Il pre-
pwration for Easter, and Il time
specially set apart for repentance over
the sins OF the past year; while the
number OF forty days devoted to it is
thought TO have reference to the Savior's
forty days fast in the wilderness, 10
the forty days of the deluge, the forty
years wauderings of the Jews, the forty
day granted to the Ninevites for repent
ance, or the time spent in fasting by
Moses and Elias. ST. Jerome, St. Leo,
ST. Augustine and other fathers of the
fourth and 9Th centuries affirm that
1t WAS instituted by the Apostles,
although Professionals hold that it was
not established until the second or third
centuries. 1t seems to have been made
obligatory, at least as early as A. D.,
$50. Originally there was great diver
stiy in the time and manner of its OBJ
servance. Its duration was fixed by
tie church at thiEty-six days, TO which
four were afterwards added.
In the Roman Catholic Church the
nature of the fast is prescribed by rule.
frequently but one meal IL day is al
lowed, although slight repast may be
taken morning and evening, the guam
tity in the former instance not to ak
coed two ounces, and eight ounces in
thc latter. The use of flesh is prohibi-
led. In the United States, however,
the use of flesh Is allowed several
times a week at the discretion of the
bishops. In the Greek church the rules
are stricter, and four such feasts occur
in year. PrOtestants who recognize
the season OF Lent leave the manner of
observance to individual judgment.
Tie fourth Sunday of Lent is often
termed Mid Lent Sunday, a Passion
Sunday; it was formerly known as
"CarI Sunday" and on that day beans
and peas called "Carlings" used TO
given away or eaten. An English
translation gives the following passage
from a work published in Paris in l5G3.
"AfIer the salad (earOn in Lent at tho
first service) We eat fried beanse, by
which we understand confession. When
we would have beanes well sodden, we
lay them in steepe, for otherwise they
will never sceth kindly. Therefore, II
we purpose to mend our faults, it is not
sufficient barely to confess them at all
but we must Let our confess
sion lie in stecpe in the water of medita-
ton.
RESULT DECLARED To.DAY.-The re-
suit OF the late Presidential election will
be officially ascertained and declared |
to-day. BY aproYision of the Constitu-
lion of the United States the votes cast
by the Presidential Electors of the diff
fe1ent States are to be opened in the
presence of both Houses of Congress on
the second Wednesday in February
next succeeding the election. Both
branches will meet in the hail of the
House of Representatives at one O'Clock
to day, when the President of the Senate
will open the sealed envelopes contain
Ing the votes and read them aloud.
They will be recorded by three tellers,