The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1873-03-06

~o''N 'INii w
weather we fave been having. to lie sure
The almanacs all have foretold most eyre
gious falschoods. Cold winds, cold atmos-
phcrc, rain, snow. and the sloppy concom-
itants, have prevailed so long and unin-
ternptedly that we have, very naturally,
lost our little faith in Almanacs. All, how
true it is that man proposes and God dis
poses Sand what a blessed consolation it
is to feel that all is for the best. Yet, do
one-tcnth of human beings feel so in ear
nest? We caunot think so. They talk it,
but they Go not believe it any more than
the churclman believes in Christ and 4
place Of future rewards and pnnislments
when his fellows see him daily INDUCING
in selt-gratiiicatiens and follirs which are
not at all in keeping with his professions,
nor the teachings of Him who came to
save sinners. Yet these SANE lypocrites
would assume TO cruelty Tvs, socially, as Il
hcrctlc if we should aver that, scientiIlcal-
by speaking, all is for the best-that the
very bad weather we have been having is
'.tNFNNlll III tiit iNtHDllN VI lUlulc, VI
Gods laws, for future good.
What Il striking analogy there is be
tween the operations Of nature and man
kind. After these gloomy days shall nave
,.asScl we shall have sunshine and mirth.
Then we shall have gloomy days again,
and SO on, in one eternal circle rs it were.
Darkness and light. sunshine and shadow.
grief and joy, dry weather and wet, fruit
full seasons and unlruitful ones. tyranny
and liberty, health and sickness, lite and
dcath-all succeed one another. in both
cases. And the holidays having passed,
now comes the season of Lent. Ash We'd
nrsday, the 18th ultimO, introduced it, and
we suppose it is being observed the world
over, to Il greater or less extent, but fire.
qucntly not ut all. Dy-the-way, in the
absence OF anything that has happened in
dear old Winchester of late, or that is
likely to happen soon. on which to indulge J
our lazy pen, would IL be too irrelevant to !
say something about Lent rs we can !
gather from reading? Let's see.
q The origin of the word is uncertain. !
Some derive it from the Saxon %leatiey. i'm :
plying spring, or the season when the days
"lcngthen." Others from the German
leniey, to thaw. The object of the fast has I
also been disputed, but is generally re- :
gardcd as a season of preparation for the $
joyful festival of Easter, and a time spcci-
ally set apart for repentance over the sins !
of the past year, while the number of 40 :
days devoted to it is thought to have ref
orence to the SaviOur's forty days fast in
he wilderness; to the 40 Gays of the del i
&c, the 10 days wanderings of the Jews,
,40 days granted to the Minevites for
ientence, or the time spent in fasting by t
aes and Elias. st. jerome speaks of I;
uisst rs a memorial ofthe Savior's pas &
soand according to his writings, it was
'ns'ited by the Apostles, although Pro- !,
'estss commonly hold that it was not
estathed until the I'd or Sd century, and .
that Twas made an obligatory fast about
A. ID. 0. s
Ihe ist day of Lent is called Ash We'd )
uesday,r rom the notable ceremony of the |"
Jay IN 10 Roman Catholic Church. In II
oder tOremind the faithful at the COM
"'hcemnt of the great penitehtial season
'n't they were but dust and ashes, the
trusts took a quantity OF ashes, which
''e! blessed and sprinkled with holy wa
e' The Ashes used were generally made
uo'h the palms consecrat ID on the Palm
sunday Of the proceeding year. Upon II :
eohmunicant, atsired in sack-cloth, APP
Watching. the prizes. dipped up some of
'heashcs on the ends Orhis fingers, made r
The bark of the cross on the worshipper's
loreNad, and said, Memento homo quia CT p,
es q ct in pulrerum rererteris." These "
cerenpnles have been abolished, to a great %
extern but the Roman Catholics still Law e
rules ! be observed, while ~EpiscopLlians c,
and ODER Protestant sccts leave the man. de
her observance to individual judgment. n,