The Chanute times., 1900-03-09
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
TALKS OF NEEDS OF THE
CHURCHES.
Lessons From Fast-Penitentia1 Season
May lie Helpful to All Churches-Im-
portance of an Observance That Leads
to Reflection.

Text: Acts H., 1: And when the
day of pentecost was fully come they
were all with one accord in one place.
He said:
The blessings of Episcopal Lent
from Presbyterian minister's stand
point is the theme Of this sermon. The
histories of hermits, ascetics, penances,
macerations, sackcloth and ashes, pill
grimages, monasteries, juggernauts,
human sacrifices and medicine men
prove that days of fasting and suppl
cation have been among the sacred GUS
toms of all nations. st. Agnes day.
Candlemas day, st. Blaze day, Valen-
tines day, Hoke day, st. Patricks day,
st. Georges day, Shrove Tuesday,
Maypole day, Holy Innocents' day, ALI
hallow Fen, st. Urban's day, Royal
Oak day, St. Nicholas day, st. Vitus
day, IS. Swithin, Margaret, Bridget,
Catherine, Andrew, James, Ethelburgh'
Elizabeth, Barnabas, Simon, Jude days,
Holy Rood day, Martimas day, Cor
pus Christi day are only few OF the
many we could name in the cleaning
consultations of past holy days, as
we'll as holidays
"The present close communion OF the
Covenanters dates back to the time Oh
Scottish bigotries, when Lord Claver-
house, like Paul, prosecuted them even
unto strange cities AS it meant lie
or death if an enemy discerned the
} worshipers, they had their tokens or
little pieces of leaden metal about the
size of an English penny. When these
, Covenanters came to the door where
the communion was to be held they
, presented these tokens, which were the
| same as a soldiers countersign. SO
, the modern custom of eating hot cross
) buns on Good Friday finds its origin
5 in heather times when the devotees
l would bring the sacred bread to lay
upon the affairs. Down to the reign ol
4 Henry VIII. the Catholic church, in or
i der to celebrate the triumphant entry
n of Palm Sunday, made wooden ass
q and astride this ass they placed the
4 wooden figure of Jesus Christ, and the
q people would drag it through the
, streets before which the worshiper'
a bowed in holy rapture. AS was quaint
ly expressed in the ancient poem:
o "A wooden ass they have and image
\. great that on him rides.
y But underneath the ass's feet table
broad there Slides
Being borne on wheels which ready
:, drest and all things meete there
- fore,
The asse is brough abroad and set be
fore the churches door.
= Feast OF the Jews.
n "Not only did the Jews have tn
# feast of the Passover, the feast of tn
a Tabernacles, the feast of the Pentecost
d the feast of the New Moons, the feas
of Charity, the feast of dedication, tn
feast of trumpets, the feast of the Sab
bath, for these feasts we're only an
other name for fast, but in Zecharia
we read, "The fast of the fourth mont
10 and the fast of the fifth, and the fast @
the seventh, and the fast of the tent
N shall be to the house of Judah joy an
a gladness and cheerful fasts.' After tn
- ascension, when they were all with on
=, accord in one place, the little band @
.r 120 disorganized followers of Jesu
Christ gathered together in an uppe
:, chamber in Jerusalem, and there the
tasted and prayed day after day unit
y. at last the Holy Ghost came in tn
= sound of mighty rushing wind and
- filled all the house where they were sit
~ ting, and there appeared unto then
y cloven tongues Of fire and it sat upol
- the heads of each.
1.-The sacredness Of the Lenten sea
- son is the natural outgrowth of heath
en- as we'll as Christian worship
70 Though we hold not allegiance to an
D. bishop, nor reverence the idea of apos
re- tolic succession, and use not the Lit
st urgy, let us gather next Ash Wednes
er day in the different parishes under tn
II shadow of the cross, and for forty day
r bow the knee in worship, side by sid
sr with those who are merely sheep o
N another fold, of whom Jesus Christ
ia the same shepherd.
le I'm the first place the text honor
n, the Episcopalian Lenten season be
k cause it is a protest against social dis
ID sipations. In order to dissipate som
of people believe one has to be drunkar
a like Edgar Allan Poe, libertine lik
,e Lord Byron, or an opium fiend lik
At Thomas de Quincy, who on accoun
N of his physical infirmities made tina
n marvellous mind so weird and unbal
:. anced that in dreams he wandere
among the clouds. The stars we're tn
n shining knobs which opened the dar
. doors of the night In the strange pa
aces of vision which fatal narcotic
:, built. he heard his little baby playmate
the loving sister who died in childhood
y sing the songs of the nursery. AS a
y artist he painted his pictures, and
i a magician waved his wand until vas
professions passed along in mournfJ
pomp, friezes of never-ending stories
that to my mind were as sad and so
/ emn as IL they were stories drawn fror
Is times before Oedipus or Priam. befor
Is Tyre, before Memphis. And at tn
l. same time change took place in m