Omaha daily bee., 1889-04-21
THE GREAT, SPRING FEAST.
Origin and Ancient History Of Has
ter Sunday.
eENEDicTIoNfRoM THE LooelA.
The Ancient Lawsbon the Celebration
"A Gala Day. I'M Rome-Easter
Eggs-SoFoc OF the Curl
Gus lCnstoms.
Easter Sunday.

porbtiHL uay ln UDe CHRISTIAN Calenuar
and the one whose varying date deter
| mines the time of the occurrence OF all
| the movable feasts OF the church
According to st. Leo, it is the feast OF
feasts," and the joyful character as
| cribed to it marks the services in the
Catholic and Episcopal churches of
Christendom. The "dissenting de-
| nominations do not hold it in such rev.
| erence, as a rule, though some of them
are coming nearer the mother church
| in their regard for it.
The word, easter, is derived from the
name of the Saxon goddess Eastre, the
same deity whom the Germans called
Ostara, n goddess of light and spring,
honored as the devinity of the dawn,
| and whose feast was celebrated during
the month of April. The Anglo-Saxon
called the spring month "Eastermon
adh, /" and, naturally, the German ma
| tions called the great church feast
that fell at the beginning of
the spring, Easter" title that
has descended to us, like such names as
Thursday, ETC., long after the heather
divinity had been forgotten. All christ
ians, except those OF the German fam
| lily, call the feast of Christ's resurrec-
tion by some modification of the Jewish
'pascha," the term the church herself
uses in her liturgy, and the christian
feast, in certain sense, is derived from
the Jewish feast of the Passover. This
feast was celebrated on the 18th of
Nissan, to commemorate the wonderful
deliverance of the Jews on the night of
their exit from Egypt, when the de-
stroying angel smote the first-born Of
the Egyptians. The celebration of a
special Pascal Tor Easter) feast among
christians goes back to the remotest an
tiquity.
When st. Polycarp went to Rome in
A. d. 154, he found two modes prevalent
among christians of celebrating the
Easter. Those who followed the church
at Jerusalem observed the day simulta-
neously with the,passover. The gentle
churches in Italy preferred to cele-
brate Easter on the Sunday following
the fouiteenth day of the vernal full
moon. This ditfelence was sharply de-
bated until the council at Nice "a. d.
325) decreed that 1t Should be celebrated
on the fourteenths Of fsthat luuation, of
which this fourteenth day falls on the
verna! equinox ora Week later. Or, as
it is sometimes sLatsn "Easter is that
Sunday following ngsthe first full moon,
which falls on, or next after, the DIST
day of March in seyery year." In 1889
the March full uioon fell on the 18th,
the April full moon on Monday last, the
18th, which determined the observance
of to-day. '. - - '-'' -. -, -. ' .'-
AS Easter is the greatest Sunday, so
the week following is the greatest week
of the year, and in ancient times was
kept like one whole feast. In the year
3s9 the Emperor Theodosius forbade
law courts to be held during this week
and in $50 a law was enacted forbidding'
all servile work during the week, and
it con tnued in force for several CEN
turtles.
In the days of papal supremacy Easter
was always day of great solemnity in
Rome. The artillery of the castle of st.
Angelo announced the break of day,
| and the pope said mass at St. Peters in
great pomp. The church was lined
with the military; the Swiss guards
put on their festival uniforms. After
the mass the pope was carried in pro-
cession to the Loggia, over the entrance
to st. Peters, from whence the benedic-
tion was given to the people. The plaza
OF ST. Peters on this occasion often held
over 100, 900 people. AT the extreme
the cardinals, ambassadors, pre-
lates, princes and strangers of
distinction. The center of the
court before the obelisk was occu-
pied by troops of infantry and cavalry,
and before the entrance to st. Peters
where ranged the bands of the differ
ent regiments. The entire plaza was
one mass of moving heads. and the
porticos at each side were covered with
spectators. About midday the process
sion would emerge from the basilca,
white and gold. He would be greeted
by salvo of artillery, and blare
of trumpets and drums. The process
sion would wend its way up to the
"Scala Regia, 'and the pope seated upon
the ''Sedes Gestatoria" would be ad-
vanced to the front of the balcony sur
rounded by the cardinal and bishops.
The pope then recited the accustomed
prayers from book held by bishop
kneeling, and raising his hand would
pronounce on the assembled and kneel-
orbi," on the city and the world.
The effect was electrical, and at the
conclusion of his words there was gen
eral pealing of the bells, the cannOns of
ST. Angelo again thundered, and the
trumpets and drums of the soldiers joined
in the grand acclamation. The day was
then spentin feastiRg and in the evening
the cupola of st. Peters was il
luminated-a sight such as no
other city and no other building
in the world could present. Fireworks
on the Monte Pincio concluded the
festa's celeoratiopeslt took 1900 lamps
and afterwards 500 fHmbeaux to light
up the cupola, and sthee effect was won-
derful, and presentSd- the glorious
structure in its full gHry.
The donor of the last new thing in
Easter gifts, and the children who give
one another hard boiled eggs are alike
unconsciously perpetuating mytholog-
ical rite, but the wodfrn development
of tine practice 10 very different from
its original sid1plicity. There is
no doubt that this custom is of the
the greatest antiQni tY and various ORR
gins have been Seagned TO it. Some
trace il to the PeFlsisns, who from very
early times held feasts at a period OF
the year corresponding to Easter, and
| supposed to be held in cOmmemoration
4 cf tho craatinn aud tha daluOa-avantl "a