Fort Worth weekly gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-04-10

| imported for the occasion or grown within
the greenhouses of the town Festoons
of cedar, ivy and holly hang in ornate
| curves from oaken rafters, ana grace
fully converge toward the garnished
| chandeliers, whose crystal pendants
sparkle with the play of every prismatic
color. The galleries are EMPOWERED and
the tones of the great organ see 10 almost
muffied amid so lavish an orniture of
fragrant exotics. The pulpit and the
! rostrum are
LAvIsHLY DECORATED,
and the fresco on the wall behind is con-
| cesled by elaborate decorations. In the
! center, deftly fashioned with white by
acinths and roses, shine forth IN large
! letters the words, "Christ is Risen. 1"
At the evening service, when tall waxen
candles are placed around the pulpit and
| the church is brilliantly Illuminated, the
| decorations, of course, appear more
| beautiful.
For weeks before the first observances
| of the festival take place, an immense
! choir is drawn together for practice, and
voices are attuned to sing the songful
! anthems of the church that are appro-
| PIRATE to the occasion. The Moravians
and every boy and girl in Salem is early
! taught the rudiments, both vocal and
| instrumental, so that for the Easter
| choral service there is a splendid store of
| talent from which to draw.
! The celebration begins on Palm Sun
| day. when liturgical services are held,
accompanied by sermon appropriate to
| the commemoration of Christ s entry into
| Jerusalem. The exercises present a fore
taste OF the musical feast yet to come.
| During tie Passion Week (between Palm
| Sunday and Eastern a lumber CT inter
| esting services are held both morning
and evening and attract very general
| attendance; of these. the most solemn
and impressive take place on Good
| Friday.
The following day Saturday is called
''the Great Sabbath, - on which the
love feast, in imitation of the apostolic
agapae, is celebrated. This observance
is one of the most original and distinctive
features of the Moravian church, and
every member of the congregation is
present, save the very sick and infirm-
even the mothers carrying babes being
assigned seats in the lecture room, adj
joining the main auditorium where pratt
ties and cries may not distrub the
service.
The contrast between the intense So
lemnity of the previous day and the
light-heartednes of this one is plainly
portrayed upon the faces of the congre-
cation; joyous smile illumines every
countenance. even that of the man OF
God, who, with beaming light playing
on his own face, warns his hearers not to
make it
SEASON OF LEvITY.
A neatly printed programme is ad-
hered to and provides largely for congre-
gational singing, or the half chant, half
anthem, which is peculiar to the Mora
vans; many beautiful solos and choruses
are rendered by the choir, with grand
and inspiring accompaniment from the
great organ.
The specially distinc tive feature of this
day. worship, is the novel service OF
coffee and sweetened bread. To the air
already laden with the scent of flowers,
is added the delightful aroma of the
best Java, distilled in huge urns in the
basement below.
at the proper moment as fixed by the
programme, the doors facing each aisle on
either side of the pulpit, are thrown
open, and through them file two process
sions, one of men and one of women, all
bearing huge wooden trays containing
cakes of sweetened bread. The women,
who wear dainty white aprons and snowy
null caps, pass down the right aisle, and
serve each female member of the con-
gregation with cake; while the men,
dressed in conventional black, wait SINH
larly upon their own sex seated on the
opposite side of the church. When all
are served with sweetened bread, the
walters pass out and return with their
trays full of huge porcelain mugs of hot
steaming coffee; these are likewise served
to the congregation, who, led by the
choir, sing through the whole distribu-
ton.
The choir pauses when the bread and
coffee have been passed around; and the
minister arises, makes a few remarks,
and finally, after asking the blessing of
God upon the service, breaks the bread
and begins to eat. This is a signal to
the congregation to do likewise, after
which the choir continues the anthem
which the minister reads out stanza by
stanZa.
The cups and remnants of bread later
on are borne out by the same walters,
and after more singing, interspersed by
words from the preacher, the congrega-
ton rises to receive the benediction, and
departs amid sonorous peals from the
organ.
DURING THE AFTERNOON
the graves in the cemetery are decorated
with flowers, and a little later the nests
for the "Good Rabbit to lay in are Sc
GREETED within the flower yards of each
household. It is an old tradition-as
dear to the younger population of Salem
as that of the visionary, Kris-Kringle in
Christmas time-that the rabbits lay
beautifully colored eggs at Easter.
The nests are sometimes made of candy,
and the eggs of the same, but the usual
custom is to improvise, of grass or straw,
and place within them real eggs, dyed
in every conceivable hue. These are dis
covered by the little folks early Sunday
morning, and an interesting sight it is to
see the pretty childish faces aglow with
great delight and anticipation, as they
scamper from hedge to bush in quest of
the ''Good Rabbits freshly laid eggs
The children use the eggs in the well
known game which consists in testing
the strength of the shells; there are
numerous other popular sports and OBJ |