Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1898-04-06

a star on the coat lapel of the man or
fashion, and rests contentedly pinned to
the waist of the Easter costume OF the
belle of the season.
As white is the color of the resurrection,
any kind of a spotless blossom can be ap-
propriately used for Easter decoration,
but the lily is the symbol sanctioned for
Easter service by the annual repetition
of centuries. From the time of that far
away morning, when the angel rolled back
the stone from the sepulcher and told the
Borrowing Mary to seek elsewhere for her
risen Savior, the lily in art, in religion, in
fashion, has typified the spirit of the res
direction.
The lily was the popular blossom of Pal
estine. Over and over again its beauty
is extolled in the Bible, and the story
of its loneliness is continued from page to
page, and the scent of it's fragrance steals
family through the ages that separate the
nineteenth century from the centuries
that were chronicled before modern time
began. Consider the lilies of the field"
said the wisest man that ever lived. They
toll not, neither do they spin, and yet |
say to you that Solomon in all his glory
was not arrayed like one of these" The
beauty of the Easter blossom is as no.
ticeable to-day as in the days of the
reign of the sage king of Jerusalem; and
all the glory of the yearly Easter raiment,
which fashion and beauty together render
so enticing, fades into insignifcance be-
fore the lovely purity of the perfect star
shaped flowers.
What is properly the Easter lily with
it's long waXen petals and fragrant heart,
is often called by other names, but the de-
lightful Odor that Juliet attached to the
rose called by whatsoever title, is indeli-
bly, associated with the glory of the spring
festival. 1t promises Easter when March
snow and wind are unpleasantly dragging
out winters life, and presages warmth
and sunshine with the advent of April.
The Gala lily is colder blossom than
the Easter flower; deathlike rather than
suggestive of new birth, but it's purity
of whiteness makes it appropriately sea-
sonable The modest valley lily with it's
string of tiny coloress bells, shares also
the Easter priv Ilege of paying floral trib-
ute to the JOY of the resurrection.
After the lily the symbolic emblem of
Easter is the egg Formerly they were
known as Pasch eggs, and stained with
dye woods and herbs, were presented rs
gifts to friends and acquaintance. Some
times they were eaten and sometimes kept
as amulets, and frequently games were
played by striking shell against shell.
In some moorland portions of Scotland it
was formerly the custom for bands of
men and girls to go out early on the morn
ing of Easter and search for the eggs of
wild fowl to be used at breakfast, and the
finder considered himself blessed for the
coming year by the god of fortune.
The original use of the egg at Easter
simply typifed the reyivifcation of ma
ture at that season of the year The Jews
used eggs at the festival of the Passover,
and the Persans in their celebrations of
the solar new year, which occurred in
March, mutually presented each other
with colored eggs. Christianity retained
the ancient symbol, but changed its sig
nificance into new birth and the risen life
of the resurrection.
Many of the popular Easter observances
date backward to the times of the pagan
nscendancy The goddess Ostara, or Eas-
ter. was the personifcation of the east,
or morning, and also of spring, or the bud
ding wear. The Anglo-Saxon name of
April was Estormonath, and Germany
still recognizes it as Ostermonath. The
worship of the spring divinity was deeply
imbedded in the superstitions of northern
Germany and was carried to England by
the Saxons. Even to the beginning OF
the present century Ostermonath was eel
ebrated in Prussia by ceremonial rites and
bonfires. Like the May jubilees in Eng
land, it was mainly festival of joy; JOY
at the rising of the long-hidden sun and
at the awakening of nature after her
drowsy winters rest. But the church
turned natural rejoicing into spiritual JOY,
and substituted the sun of righteousness
for the material sun. and the resurrection