St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-04-15
WITH GLAD BURST OF SONG
The People Chant the Joyous
Praises Of the Risen
LORD.
ORIGIN OF QUAINT CUSTOM
In Vogue at Eastertlde at
-. Various Times anu
--e->s Places.

- ,r,o,a- &c sweet Judean legend
+ho+ when our Savior arose from the
+,,h the placss whereon he troo
zyere marked by a miraculous gro" III
of white lilies, which blossomeo ililo
fragile loveliness in every sacreo
footstep. Thus was yesterday the
dav of white lilies, the day Oh tle
resurrection. the day of such uniVef-
sal low that even the mighty powers
p. of nature seemed for once 10 can
truce and rejoice with their anc1Shl
enemy-nIankind. 1t has long peeh
a pleasing fancy that the sum- Cd
,scured by storms or threatening
clouds upon Good Friday, biazons
ont an unaccustomed brightness DUR
ing the happy Easter day. AND GER
tainly the afternoon of Friday last
was dark, tempeStuous and forold-
ding, while throughout yesterday the
sunlight was everywhere, the little
summer birds seemed eager to an
nounce their arrival, and even the
grass appeared, almost, a brighter
green.
The whole city delighted in the
beautiful day The churches were
filled, especially those of the Catho-
lie and Episcopalian denominations
Upon the avenues and even the
business streets, in every place open
to the cheering sun and the delight
full breath of spring, were the people,
young and old.
To the children Easter would not
be Easter if there were no. red
eggs. Not only red eggs, but eggs
blue and purple, green and parti-
colored. We explain to the little
folks that the eggs come because it
is Easter, but we wonder to our
selves what the actual reason is. A
rational explanation has been given
by recalling the belief of the an
cient Persian magi that the world
itself was
CREATED FROM AN EGG
at the vernal equinox, or beginning
of spring. 1t is supposed that this
belief sprea d to the nations Of North
ern Europe, who therefore celebrated
a feast of the first spring, the
great Origin. When Christianity
was introduced among our ancestral
pagans many Of their heatnenish
festivals were deity and judiciously
turned SO as to do honor to some
of the great events of the Holy
Gospel. The feast of spring became
~ fre 81
symbolic eggs of the former OBJ
servance We're retained, but colcred
red in memory of the sacred blood
shed for the salvation Of men. Other
colors than red are simply modern
and fanciful variations
Among the most widespread and
poetic customs Of the modern Rus
slams is that of saluting every one
that is met at Easter, be he serf or
noble, with the ever-welcome annun-
citation, Brother, Christ is risenI"
to which is answered, He is, in
deed!' The gift of Easter eggs is
always accompanied by this saluta-
ton. So picturesque a practice, it
would seem, might have survived
outside of semi-barbarous Russia.
but, although formerly widespread
over the whole continent as well as
the British isles, it has long since
vanished with the poesy and brutal
lty, the glories and the iniquities of
the middle ages. More recently has
disappeared the fashion of eating
at Eastertfde the tansy cake or
tansy pudding, an adaptation from
the Jewish feast of the Passover. At
the latter the bitter cake consumed
brought back the bitterness of tbe
ancestral slavery down in Egvnt !"
1t is rarely that prosaic America
can contribute in the least to aup-
ment or adorn these venerable cns-
toms of a slower and more idv1Iic
age yet the Easter card is said to
nave its origin in this country No.
VINO have enjoyed the exalted artis+
1c sentiment of the best ,of +bas,
cards will maintain that the inno1o
ton has not revealed another sou
Oh pleasure in the joyous Easter So
son. sea-