The Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1885-1886, 1886-03-10

Chri3ts fasting in the wilderness. 1t is
seldom that lent commences so late in the |
season. as is the case this year. The fall |
ing of
ASH WEDNESDAY
as late as the second week in March is an
occurrence which has not happened in
many years, and will not occur again for
two centuries. Ash Wednesday is no.
table day-being the first day of lent,
called by the fathers of the church cadut
jejunii, the beginning Of the fast or dies
ciHeruDa, ash day, in allusien to the Gus
tom of sprinkling the head with ashes.
The name of the day is a memorial of
ancient manners To roll oneself in the
dust, to cover the head with ashes, was,
in primitive times, a mark of profound
grief. A man who appeared with his
body, hair, and dress covered with dust,
announced by such exterior his mourning
and affection. Examples of this are fire.
quent in Scripture, being mentioned by
Job, the Kings, the Prophets, and also
the Gospels. David. to express the bit
terness of his grief, says that he ate ashes
like bread In the first centuries of
christianity, when public penance was
imposed, ashes were cast upon the heads
of those who 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 a continuation Of this primitive
usage. The old linen of the altar and
fragments of wood are burned, and the
ashes carefully collected. Before the
celebration Of the mass, the priest in
mourning robes recites penitential
psalms, and soemnly blesses the sacred
ashes. Then all the faithful approach
and PROSTATE themselves, while the
priest marks sign of the cross with the
ashes upon the forehead of each of them,
repeating each time the word of the anaS
thema pronounced upon Adam for his
sim Nemento hoD,o, quod pu'uis IS, ct IN
| PUlCerem rCerteriS: Remember, man,
that thou art dust, and unto dust shalt
thou return" The people having thus
listened to the sentence of death, and
each bearing upon his brow the pros
phetic ashes, return to their places.
The sombre monotony of the cere-
mony, the silence which follows it,,
the confession of all ranks and the humil-
istion of all pride which attended this
common recognition of the transentness
Of human life and the fearfulncss of des-
tiny, render it one OF the gravest and most
impressive of all religious rites. 1t is the
overture to forty days of penitential
mourning, and follows Immediately the
wild excitements Of the carnival, the hes
roes Of the delirious and clamorOus follies
of one day kneeling on the next in silence
and contrition around the altar of the
church; and thus the utmost frIvolity and
disorder of a worldly spirit and Chris
tianity in all its severity and sadness as
stand in immediate contrast. The use of
ashes is omitted by those branches of
Protestant churches which retain any OBJ
servance of Ash Wednesday. In the
Anglican church the maledictiOns de-
nounced against impentcnt sinners are
read on that day, at the end Of each OF
which the people repeat, Amen
LENT.
The doctrines of the Catholic and
EpiscOpalian churches make lent one of
the most important seasons of the chris
lian year. Especially is this so in the
Catholic denomination. In the churches
of this belief the following regulations
nave uttu plOlhuI aleu-
| l. Ash Wednesday falls on the 10th Of
March.
2 All the DAYS of lent are fasting. ex,
cept the Sundays
3. All persons who have completed
their twentysiirst year, unless legtimately
dispensed, are obliged to keep their fast
Custom allows cup of coffee. tea OF
chocolate, with small piece of bread, to
be taken in the morning. In the evening
a collation. not exceeding the fourth pari
of an ordinary meal, is allowed.
4. By dispensation, the use Of flesh
meat is allowed at the principal meal or
Mondays. Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sat,
urdays, except the Saturday in Embel
week and the Thursday and Saturday in
Holy week.
5. The use of fish and flesh meat is moi
allowed at the same meal during lent.
6. All under twentysone years of age
those who are engaged in hard work, the
sick and convaescent, and persons who
cannot fast without serious injury tC
health, are exempted from the fast. Per
sons excused from fasting on account OF
tender age, hard labor and sickness, art
not restricted to the use of fresh meat a
only one meal on the days on which it is
allowed. Those who entertain any rea
sonable doubt about their obligation tC
fast or abstain, ought to apply to theil
pastors for advice or dispensation.
Although the season is hallowed by
the Episcopal church, as it has been from
the earliest ages the fasting is not sc
strictly palt of the observance. The
church asks self denial during the forty
days following Ash Wednesday; absti
hence for the time from the ordinary
pleasures of the world; to deny thyseli
that which he is especially fond of. o
set apart some particular way of observ
ing the season appropriately. Sunday il
a feast day during the Lenten season
and is not included in the fast.