The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-02-10
TRADITIONS OF RDlY WEEK
CELEBRATION OF PAST CENTUR-,
les WHICH ARE OBSERVED
IN THE PRESENT DAY
CUSTOMS REGARDING EASTER
Eggs Typifying Life Popular Favors
for Spring Feasts-Germans He
lieve in Sun Dances
Rise to See 1t.

world and one of the most universal. 1t
is celebrated by every Christian church,
no mater how conservative or how Ii
oeral Easter, and the week preceding
Easter, holy week, are as old as the
Christian church, of which they are the
main celebrations. A century ago
Lent was perhaps more vigorously OBJ
served than today, the fasts were more
generally kept, and the feasting remem-
bered, but the day and the week were not
more universally recognized. In the
United States, says the Chicago Chron-
lcle, the observance of many of the old
customs has been revived within the
past ten years and today It is difficult
10 hnd the restaurant, the bakery or
the nome which has not its hot-cross
buns for Good Friday The baking of
not buns for this day before the com
ing of Easter is an English custom which
was known to comparatively few Ameri-
cans twenty-five years ago 1t is one of
the customs which have been popuIarized
by the merchants to please the popular
FANCY of young generation
Americans of the early day did not
celebrate the Easter feast by the eating
OF special Easter dishes or the singing Of
carols, however much they may have
liked these same special dishes HOLY
week and even Easter day was predomi
mated by the element of sorrow which is
vital feature of the event The pur-
ttans, the early Episcopalians, the Cath
ones made more of the weeks fasting
than they did of the days feasting. The
spirit of the church men upon the occa-
sion can be witnessed from the diary Of
PRESIDENT Edwards, written in 1912 and
describing the circumstances attending
the subscription of the famous covenant
of that year at Northampton. He wrote:
CELEBRATION OF A COVENANT.
In the month of March I led the neo-
pie into solemn public renewal of their
covenant with God. To that end. hav.
Ing maze draft of covenant [ first
proposed 1t to some of the principal men
Oh the church, then to the people in their
| several religious associations in various
| parts OF the town, then to the Whole con-
gFegatlon In public, then to the people
| III general that were above fourteen wears
| OF age The people first subscribed the
covenant with their hands and then on
day of fasting and prayer all together
presented themselves to God in the house
ana slood up and solemnly manifested
thelr consent to it as their VOW to God 1"
But tnat was a century ago: TODAY
the week, with its various days, is cele
prated by the various churches and
their several congregations with such
reHglous services as are fitting to their
various beliefs For many years there
mas oeen a proposition brought before
Tue Tue people of this country to make Good
r.Iaay legal holiday and number
OF tunes such action has really been
pending before the proper legislative
bodies. The step has, however never
peen taken and there are MANY Ieadino
chureh men who protest against it. saw
ing 1t is a religious holiday and sho,11d
De celebrated as such; to bring If into
Tue realm OF civil or national holidays
GnfT
@oulu uetract from its religious signf-
ncance and from It's proper observance
AS the matter now stands the dav has
oeen made a school holiday in the ma
JoIlty or the large cities of the country
ana steps to make it so are being taken,
IN many educational centers.
CUSTOMS FOR HOLY WEEK
Lent, and particularly holy week with
It's various feast days, is replete with tba
ood customs and quaint beliefs of early
peoples. Although many Of these chs.
toliis are forgotten year by year as tl,e
world grows as many more have remain
ed TO take their place among tho
people observances of these davs THE
garry CHRISTIANS had certain things thew
uIu ana particularly certain things thew
ate ana IN these various customs there
is to be found a wealth of nersonaJify
eEdoWed by the people themselves
1here Is theory of substantial basis
tEat these Christian feast DAYS with
many or their customs are come down
from the days when Christianity was
unknown. When the pagan peoples were
converted in the wholesale fashion of
early times it was impossible for them
70 forget the holidays of their old faith.
Moreover, the conquerors found it a piece
Oh wisdom to adjust the new religion to
the OLD feaStS, since there were no feasts
IN the early Christian plan And the new
rellglon fitted easily to this requirement..
for there was really something to cele
brate. The belief in witches, in the evil
eye, in the spirits in thousand and
one strange superstitions which the
world has held In common since the be-
ginning of history, have nothing to do
with the Christian religion. They came
down with the holidays, so closely assoc
c!ated that they could never be quite
rooted out
In connection with this it will be re-
membered that the coIored egg, so neces-
sary a part of the Easter celebration. is
far older than Christianity. Eggs have
always been connected with the Worship
Of the powers of nature; they contain
within them the germs of fertility and
life. In the spring nature weakens from
her sleep of winter and the earth is once
more fruitful thus eggs as a SIGN of
that fertility of nature were very easily
associated by the heather people with
their spring celebrations. Parsees dis
trfbuted eggs at their spring festival,
their practice dating so far back that the
facts concerning its origin cannot be
learned.
In Hungary 1t is still a practice for
boys to sprinkle the girls with rosewater,
in return for which they receive fayors
in the shape of eggs. The practice of