St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-03-25

rectiOn festival, keeping the previous
Friday as the commemoration of the
crucilixIom, Irrespective of the day of
the mouth. The ruling principle of the
one was the day of the month, and of
the other the lay of the week.
The Church OF Rome gradually
brought the diversity of usage to an end
in the direction of the Gentle custom.
Pope Plus l., in the year 147, decreed
that The Pasch should be celebrated
on the Lords day by ALL" His success
s0r, Anicetus, was equally firm on the
point. Poiycarp, bishop of Smyrna,
visited Rome in 159 TO induce AIicetuS
to conform to the Quartodeciman usage,
which Polycarp had inherited from his
master, the Apostle John. AnicetuS
declined to recognize the Jewish GUS
tom. but made no scruple of communl-
eating with those who adopted it. and
allowed Polycarp to celebrate the Eu-
charist at Rome. In 1917 the same queS-
ton was contrOverted III different
spirit between Victor, bishop OF Rome.
| and Polycrates, bishop of Ephesus. The
latter'S province was the only portion of
! ChristendOm that still maintained the
| Jewish usage. Victor's desp0tic de-
mand that the Asiatic churches should
adopt the Roman system was met by a
firm refusal, and Victor proceeded to
eXcommunicate Polycrates and all who
held with him. The Christian world was
| shocked. Irenaus demonstrated with
the bishop OF Rome, and finally the
Asiatic churches were allowed to retain
| their usage unmolested.
! Afterward the Quartodeciman usage
sprang up from time to time in various
places. but never took permanent root
at the time of the council of Mecca,
325, the Syriaus and the Antiochenes
were the only champions of the Jewish
rule. The settlement of this cOntro-
verSy was one of the causes that led the
Emperor Constantine to summon the
council. All the prelates assembled
agreed that Easter should be kept
throughout the world on the same day,
aid that none should thereafter follow
the Jews. Nothing was said as TO the
particular day, that being left to be
calculated by the astronomers at Alex
andria. and the bishop of that see to
| announce it annually.
Although the matter was now ap-
parently settled, it was some centuries
before all discrepancy disappeared, A
more intricate question remained to be
solved, that of how the full moon on
which Easter depended was to be pre-
dicted. 1t was established as a rule
that Easter must be kept on Sunday,
but there was no general agree ment as
to the ycle by which the festival was TO
be calcpl ted. Some churches adopted
one u e AMI some another. st. AM
brose, in 3S7, said that the churches of
Gaul Kept Easter On March 81 that
year, the churches of Italy on April
L, aud the churches of Egypt on April
25 In 455 Leo the Great stated
that there was eight days diff
ference between the Roman and
Xandrine Easter. The discrepancies
d rot disappear from the Gallican
church till the eighth century. although
by canon Of the fourth council of Or
leans, SAL, it was ordained that the
E s er festival should be kept at the
same time by all, according to the tables
of Victorius. The early British and
I:sh churches always commemorated
tie CruciiXion on Friday and the
Resurrection on a Sunday. The only
difference between them and the Rom
lsh nurch was in the cycle adopted for
the computation, the British church ad-
herring to the one originally adopted by
the Romish church. which had been
superseded by the more accurate one of
Victor US. This led to the celebration
of double Easter. Thus Queen Fan
tleda, adopting the Roman rule, was
fasting and keeping Palm Sunday while
her husband Osway, king of Northum-
bria, was celebrating the Easter festi-
val.
| The Romish rule was finally estab.
ished in England by Archbishop
Theodore in 669. This rule wa
IS follows: Easter the first Sun
lay after the 14th day of the
| calendar moon which happens on OF
next after March 81. This calendaI
moon is not. however, the moon of the
heavens, ncr the mean moon of the as