The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1890-04-03
EASTER CUSTOMS,

How Different Nations Celebrate the An.
niversary Of the Resurrection.
An Easter card bearing the sppro-
pirate inscription, III ye then be risen
with Christ, seek those things which
are above" seems its own excuse for BE-
ing; but what special Significance At
taches to the custom, 90 general across
tho water and apparently growing in
favor here. of the presentation Of eggs
on Easter Day?
The origin of this custom, like many
another. dates . long way back. It
seems to have had its rise among the
Persians. This people have for ages
been accustomed to make little gifts at
the opening Of their New Year, which
corresponds In time to our Easter, and
through all the centuries gilt and COL
ored eggs have remained quite the fash
tonable present The Persians are =
staid people and do not consider. it
necessary to have q new 'craze" every
other year. Then, Is the egg is con.
sidered . symbol Of the universe, the
gift OF an egg means something in Per-
sia, indicating unlimited depths Of re-
gard in the giver. The carly Christians
retained some Of the old Pagan customs,
clothing them with . new mean1nk,' and
the egg became to them an emblem of
the resurrection. In the ritual Of Pope
Paul v. is this prayer: 'Bless, o Lord,
these eggs, that they may be salutary
food for thy faithful servants if they
consume them in gratitude for the
resurrection Of the Saviour"
Others explain the prominence Of the
egg in Easter celebrations in quite a
different way. They. say that, during
the fourth century, the use of eggs
was forbidden during Lent, and conse-
quently the people were compelled to
consume as many as possible when Lent
expired.
Gilt and colored eggs are distributed
in Russia on Easter Sunday, custom
which obtains among members of the
imperial family and the court The
Easter kiss is also observed at the close
of mass on Easter Day, the Emperor set
ting common mortals the example by
kissing one of his officers. It would
he delightful to believe that this
interesting exhibition of fraternal
affection was prompted by a gen.
uine feeling of goodwill toward
men, but perhaps it is too much to
expect genuine kindness of feeling in
the high officials of . government like
the Russian. In Italy the people take
their Easter eggs to the churches that
they may be blessed by the clergy, and
in Germany, Poland and Russia various
viands are taken to the churches to ba
blessed.
In some countries Easter Day is in.
vested with certain prophetic elements,
so that, fulfilling stated conditions, one
is permitted to take q peep into the
future. Egg-hunting is a sport in
Alsace, egg-rolling in some sections OF
Germany. and egg-cracking Is said to
prevail in many countries. We read
that the latter custom was brought from
Holland to New York and was duly
and vigorously practiced with dyed eggs
and wholesale cracking for nearly two
centuries. The use of the egg at Easter.
tide extends to several Oriental coun.
tries, and in one Of these the eggs are
colored red as . memorial of Christ's
shed blood.
Any sportive commemoration Of the
day seems unsuitable, and the bare
thought OF it is somewhat of shock to
the feelings of one accustomed to view
the day from purely religious stand.
point Holy week and Easter take the
place of the ancient annual feast which
commemorated the birthday of the
Jewish nation and the saving of their
frst-born from the destroyer. As we
read of the paschal lamb our thoughts
are turned to the One of whom this
lamb was type. and Tho Lord is
risen!' becomes to us the "fairest of the
fair; high thoughts that light the
Easter dawn."-E. E. Backup, in In.
fari0r