The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1888-03-31

tory. and i: has been frequently urged of
late years that Easter should be made a fixed
festival, Sunday late in April being cole
brated, or that nearest tho 5ti Of April,
which, according to Haydn, was the 1ato of
the original Easter DAY, as Advent Sunday
is the nearest Sunday to St Andrcw's day.
whether before or after. \ well known pro-
fcssor of astronomy in one Of our leading
colleges, in reference to this subject, SAYS;
The fact is that the date OF Easter Sunday
simply depends upon tho fullncss OF n hypo-
thctical" ltG su?noeiti,ious moon, invented and
made to move in an impossible manner by
Pope Hlllrius, tho supposed movements of
which are such es occasionally to make
Easter Sunday vary by five weeks from tho
date given By the real moon" 1t is needless,
however, to say that any attempt to change
the system of fixing Eas:er day would be
certain to precipitate the lireliest kind Of an
ecclesiastical uproar. although i. might not
bring armed nobs into the streets to cfarnor
for the stoler DAYS" as happened with the
change in the calendar
Easter, which is now preceded by Lent, in
early days was introduced by fasting on one
day only-thc Friday in Passion wee known
as Good Friday. By and by the time was
extended to forty hours in token that Christ
had lain that long in the tomb, and from
this it was finally prolonged to forty days
the season of the temptation in the wilder
ness. On Easter morning the primitive
Christians saluted each other with the words,
"Christ is arisen," to which the person nd
dressed answered, "Christ is arisen, indeed, "
a custom which is still retained in the Greek
church.
All the ceremonies attending the observ-
ance of Easter were at first very simple, but
in the early part Of the Fourth century O de-
cided change was brought about by Con-
stantine, who, naturally fond of parade, sig
nailed his love of display by celebrating this
festival with extraordinary pomp. At the
vigils instituted for Easter eve, when the
people remained i'll the churches, huge tapers
OF wax were burned; these were however,
not confined to the churches, but were
placed all over the city. Easter Sunday was
observed with elaborate ceremonials, the
pope officiating at mass with every imposing
accessory that could be brought to bear in
that service
The churches were adorned at this season
like theatres and crowds poured in to see the
sepulchers which were erected representing
the whole scene Of our Savior's entombment.
general belief prevailed that the Lords
second coming would be on Easter eve, there
fore the sepulchers were watched through the
night until 8 o'clock in the morning, when
two of the oldest monks would enter and take
out beautiful image of tho resurrection,
which was elevated before the people during
the singing of the anthem, "Christus Resur-
gems" 1t was then carried to the high altar,
and, procession being formed, a canopy of
velvet was borne over it by ancient gentle
men They proceeded round the exterior of
the church by the light of torches, all sing
ing. rejoicing and praying, until coming
again TO the high altar it was there placed to
remain until Ascension day In many places
the monks psrsonated all the Characters con-
neeted with the event they celebrated, and
thus rendered the scene still more picturesque.
Many of the old customs of Eastertide still
linger with rs. The peasantry in certain
portions of England and Scotland. up to
very recent date, observed the absurd Gus
tori Of 'hfting" or "heavinc," as it vas
= 'te