The free lance. (Fredericksburg, Va.) 1885-1926, 1899-04-01
rh0rO are thee nrinoipal festivals Of

resurrection: and Whitsnniide that
reminds us Of the Pentecostal outpour-
Ing of the Holy Spnit The first two
mnst ever be the sweetest and most
iovous of all the annual feasts of the
Christian faith The gladstone feelings
which they awaken are SO exuberant
AZ TO be more or less mingled with dis
piays of innocent merriment Inc
difference in these displays partake OF
the difference in the seasons at which
these festivals occur Those that attend
the Christmas rejoicings are mainly
Of an indoor freside description, for.
II was the winter wild
While the heaven born child
All meanlv wrspt in the rude ma"gerhe>.
Nature in awe to him
Had dotted her gaudy trim,
With her great master so 10 'ympathHe.
Rut AZ the Easter season all nature
extends an invitation to come forth
from clustered confinement into the
omen temple whose roof is the blue
dome of heaven, and whose anthems
are the murmur Of the brook. the soft
song Of the zephyr, and the deep organ
tones of the secluded forest. 1t is not
like Christmas, fixed anniversary
but movable feast. its recurrence
being marked by the appearance Of the
new moons silver bow next after the
vernal equinox. 1t Is the festival OF
that resurrection If which reviving
nature. with her myrids signs of open
ing life. it is an expressive emblem
a sweet, suggestive symbol.
Like almost all the notable anni9er-
saries of the church it had its origin IN
a heather ceremony. just as Christmas
was an appropriation Of the Roman
Saturnalia Easter is the Saxon word
for Easter. and among the Teutonic
races April was the Easter monath'
Easter month. Eastra was the goddess
of love whose favorite season was the
spring. The lines Of the late English
laureate will occur to the reader as in
harmony with this idea
In the spring liveiier IRIS changes on the
FURNISHED dove
tn the spring young mans fancy hsh'iy
turns 10 thoughts of love
And behind this idea Of the Saxon
mythology involved in the goddess OF
spring, is the great mythology which
TO the dawn, the rising day, gave the
name of Eos. So that Eos in the one,
and Eostra in the other, were counter
parts Of the same NEUROLOGICAL concep-
ton. There is no cause for disQuieting
ourselves. our sense of reverence. be-
cause of these appropriations by the
Christian church of heather mytho-
logies. If we but look deep enough we
shall see a divine wisdom in 1t 1t is
the conservation to pure spiritual
worship Of rites that are an expression
Of universal human nature. The Apos'
ties did not hesitate to avail themselves
Of such accessories. Indeed, in select
ing name for the Christian Church
they appropriated the word ekklesia,
the name Of the free Assembly among
the Greek States, word that we recog-
nize in our familiar "ecclesiastic. -
The use of Easter eggs is. as it were,
an unconscious recognition Of the I'M
derlying idea of this festival, since the
incipient life is in the egg, just as the
day is incipient in the dawn. The
conception of life, vitality is at
tie bottom of this mythology
among the heather. and its Chris
tian appropriation as religious
feast. And could there be more ex-
pressive. a more beautiful festival: 1t
is at this season that the soft vernal
airs are awakening into life the natu-
raj world that has been asleep in the
cold embrace of winter 1t is very
resurrection from death Of the vivify-
ing forces and influences of nature, and so
it significantly typifies the resurrection
OF the body from the narrow tenement
In which it has taken its long repose.
The sweetest of natures evangels,
that announce the new life OF the world
at spriugtime are the flowers; and so it
is by universal instinct that we
gather fragrant flowers as part Of the
symbolism by which we celebrate the
Easter season. The anemone-the wind
flower, as the name implies-hrst at
this season shows its dainty, delicate
bud and then its blossom and because
of this it is the flower that is said to
bloom in heaven.
And thus may we see why it is that
the Easter festival is the one that OF all
the rituals and celebrations of the church
appeals most tenderly. most eloquently
to the loyalty and love Of the believ-
ina, haartS In is the EXPRESSIVE ritual