The Wilmington daily Republican., 1901-04-04
EASTER.
BY Prof. Ambrose $. Ottcy.

! birth of Christ who was given for Il
Redeemer. The second celebrates
his triumph and final victory. The
keynote Of the first is goodwill, Of
the second Joy. The Christmas is Il
time of gladnesS. Easter is no less so
1t is but recently that we have come
to realize the beautiful significance of
Ea stcr.
The old Puritan prejudice which 50
long forbade the celebration Of
Chris tmas, has proved even more
difficult to overcome in the case of
Easter. But recently Christians
everywhere seem awaking to the fact
that if the birthday of our Lord is
gladly observed, much more should
we greet with joy the day that made
him conQueror over the power of the
grave. Upon the fact OF Christ S
resurrection depend all the truths
of the gospel. The revelation which
is at once the light and comfort OF
the earth, centers in the event which
Easter commentaries.
The date of Eas ter is determined
by the ecclesiastical calendar of the
Catholic church. 1t is very compli-
Gated and elaborate affair, invented
by Lilils, IA Ncspoltan astronomer
and sage, under Pope Gregory Nlll,
at the close Of the sixteenth century.
1t would be prepos ferrous to tax the
brains of modern readers with the alb
strusc calculations by which the date
Of Easter is determined, but few
general rules might be given for the
enlightenment.
The regulations Of the council of
Nice are four: First, Easter must be
celebrated on Sunday: seco nd. this
Sunday must follow the fourt zenith Of
the paschal moon: third, the pasch al
moon is that moon whose fourteenth
day falls on the next follows the day
OF the Nernal equinox: fourth, the
equinox is fixed invariably in the
calendar On the 2lst day of March.
This calendar moon 1t should be re-
membcrcd is not the moon of the
heavens nor yet the moon of the as
trOnumcrs, but it is an imaginary
moon created for eccleSia stical con.
| yenicnce.
From these conditions it follows
that Faster Sunday cannot happen
earlier than the 22nd OF March or
later than the 18th Of April.
The proper day for celebrating
Easter was one of the questions which
the Council Of Nice "a. u. 325) was
convoked to decide. BY the Eastern
Christians it was at that time cele-
bratcd on the same day as the jew
ish Passover without regard to the
day of the week on which it might
| fall.
Among the Western Christians
who held that the cruciIiXion occur
red on Friday and the resurrection
on |; Sunday, there had arisen a GUS
tom Of celebrating Easter on the first
Sunday following the lith Of the
first month, ard to the custom was
given the sanction of the council.
Simple as the above rule sit proved
in practice to be no easy matter to
determine with certainty, in order to
fix in advance the day Of Easter,
what would be the exact phase Of
the moon on the 2lst of March Of
any given year. A Slight mscalcu-
lation of the moon s age if it chanced
to fall very near that date, might
dsplaca Easter Il week or even a
month and for several centuries it
not infrequently happened, in consc-
uucncc Of this source of error, that
Easter was celebrated in different
countries on different Sundays.
1t was not until the time Of Pope
Gregory Nil, under whom was re.
! formed the civil calender that u
church calendar was finally devised
which fixes without the possibility of
mistake, the date Of Easter in any
year for all time.
The ecclesiastical calendar consists
Of a series Of tables: and with out 60
ing into all the details Of their con-
struction, it may be possible to give
Il clear idea.
With this Sunday EASTER the
Lcnton season is ended. 1t isa great
day of rejoicing throughout the
Christian world. The week before is
known as the Holy week and is par
ticularly observed in the Catholic
and many Protestant Episcopal
churches. The Thursday before is
called the Holy Thursday, sometimes
styled Maundy or Mandy Thursday.
In the Catholic church II is one Of
the most impressive days of the re-
! lie1ous calender.
Friday before is called Good Friday,
the day which marks the sorrowful
events Of Christ: His sentence by Pi-
late to he crucilicd: His death and
His burial in the scpuchrc. From
the earliest period Of Christianity
down to the present day it hasalways
been celebrated by believers with the
greatest joy. In primitive times it
was usual to salute each other ON the
morning of this day by cyclaimng
"Christ is risen.' the reply to which
was 'Christ is risen indeed."
A very interesting feature is the
| religious observance of the day
Churches are very beautifully decora-
| ted with flowers and the music is Of
that Joyous character SO bclitting
| this great fcS tival. In conclusion
| let us reflect something of its sacred
joy. Fill our hearts to overflow with
its hope. Come 50 close to the Mas
ter that you will realize as never be-
fore that Christ has indecd risen
and ever lives to make intcrcession
for us and we live in him.