Omaha daily bee., 1899-04-02

under which tradition tells us Christ walked
upon his way to the spot OF cruchxion are
standing just as they stood fully 1900 years
ago. Every Easter the little children OF
many Of Jerusalems families are taken to
this place of the cross and told what the
various objects signify and of the great
events which transpired there These are
the only children In the world to whom the
true significance of Easter Sunday is made
apparent by an object lesson, and such an
object lesson as no Christian mind ever fails
to appreciate.
Although nearly nineteen centuries have
elapsed since Christ passed from among
men, the city of Jerusalem does not exhibit
notable changes from its appearance as
judged from history at the beginning Of the
! Christian era. 1t is slll the terminus Of
plgrimages. The same queerly gowned and
| strangely hooded figures are ueen upon Its
streets now that were familiar to those who
| lived when Pontius plate was a disciple Of
| Justice, so called. The famous localities
which the world has learned to know are
absolutely as they were then. All about,
through and through 1t is a place Of memo
ries and one which stirs the emotions OF
! even the most flinty-heartei.
| Perhaps the most notable Of all these
places with which mankind has become
| familiar Is the place of the Skull The
most of us know it as Mount Calvary. When
the traveller is at the famous Gate of Joppa
he sees the mount outlined against the blue
| Palestine sky. The guide tells him that 1t
| is the name first given. If the traveller rec
! ognizes that name, he finds therein the cause
of the strange feeling of familiarity which
has first come to him when he caught his
| initial glimpse of the mount. On Easter
Sunday every believer in tde doctrines which
| I,aI hN, no paiuy WHOSE
| tion is celebrated, makes his way to the
mount and there, in some form or other OBJ
| serves the day. There are professions of
| old and young. One hears that familiar an
| them Gloria in Excesis," all about. Now
| to the mount or the Garden of Gethsemane
comes troop of young girls all in white and
| singing Christ the Lord is Risen Today
| Alleluia."
| This Garden of Gethsemane where the
| children love to spend much of their time on
| Easter, is small enclosure 100 feet long and
$50 feet wide 1t is cared for by colony OF
Franciscan monks, who spend much time
beautfying it. The bible says: I'm the
midst Of the garden was the sepulchre," and
the students of biblical events generally
| acknowledge that it is here Christ was
buried. The place is beautifully adorned
| with hedges kept in exquisite order by the
| monks. There are innumerable beds OF
| pinks and roses and visitors are given
nosegay by the monk in attendance. The
| popularity of the garden with the children
| of Jerusalem is evidenced by the number
| of little ones seen about the streets on
| Easter day wearing flowers such as are only
to be secured from the monks.
| The Easter celebrants are also almost SIRE
to visit the bunch of seven venerable olive
| trees, some of them nineteen feet in cirCum-
,II bat thaiY tns1n G
shored up with stones. These trees are be-
lieved to be the descendants of those Which
| existed upon the same spot at the time
| Christ lived in the world This belief is
| lent what seems positive proof by the fact
| that they are unlike all other trees of tue
| same variety in that country. The only
spots in the garden where the appearance OF
| the Easter visitors indicates other than
feeling of joy and religious inspiration are
| those where a monument marks the spot
where Judas Iscariot gave the kiss of be-
| trayal. Even the little children scorn the
memory of that most famous of traitors.
Easter Customs.
| In the city of the pope at dawn of day
| the guns from the castle at St. Angelo an
nounce Easter morning. Soon all the people
| are astir and in holiday attire, everybody
wearing carrying flowers. All drift to-
| ward st. Peters, interest centering in the
| magnificent procession, in which the pope is
preceded by all the church treasures and
| followed by princes and prelates. Immense
| fans made of ostrich feathers are carried on
| each side cf his chair, significant of the
watch care the church gives her own. The
| procession is long and brilliant and the cere-
monies which follow its entrance into ST.
Peters are the grandest in the world.
Tho pope celebrates high mass, after
| which he goes out on the balcony and
bIesses the people, In the evening the dome
and all other parts of the great cathedral
are Illuminated and the gaily-dressed peo-
pie continue to throng the streets until
after midnight, when Easter day is done
Eggs in no way enter into the Easter of
the Roman Catholic church, by which we
may be pardoned for supposing that they
have been too closely allied with the
material side of life during Lent to have any
ceremonial charm.
The English have a commendable custom
which would be worthy of emulation in
America-namely, that of throwing loaves
of bread to the poor from the church
tower on Easter morning. Another quaint
and pretty English custom, and one from
which the "chldren's day" in our churches,
| may have come is that of the Children's
Easter Monday parade, when they march to
the town park or nearest grove, where they
sing hymns and play games. Originally
they were served tansy cakes and bacon for
refreshments CO. The tansy is in remem-
brance of the bitter herbs which formed
part OF the Feast of the Passover, but what
the bacon represented is left untold.
Sweetcakes and honey ara now served in
stead OF the tansy cakes and bacon.
Germany, too, has her queer Easter OBJ
seryances. On some of the inland estates
there Is a solemn custom which dates back
many hundreds of years All the working
people form in procession, each one carry
ing some article suggesting the relation
of his or her occupation with events of our
Saviour's life.
In France more than any other country is
Easter season of gift making. The egg is
the ruling emblem, almost as endless in de-
vice and costliness as in form. There is one
such gift-egg on recCrd that was Of white
enamel and had doors which when opened
revealed Easter gospels engraved on all It's
walls, and for the yolk there was a tiny
music box which played twelve tunes The
, cost Of this trlhe was $4,000.
In Moscow the Easter ceremonies are more
, unique than anywhere else, and in their
custom Of ushering in Easter we recognize
the sister custom OF our New Years watch