The Globe-republican., 1902-04-03
Easter Festival
OF Great Age.

Or GreGt Age.
The festival Of Easter is naucn older
than the Resurrection Of Jesus Chris
tIanity not only converted the magnIfi-
cent pagan temples, which it could not
pull down. into churches. but it also
adopted and adapted as many of the
rites and ceremonies Of heather an
tiquity as were too deeply rooted in
the habits and affections of the people
TO be eradieated- From the Greeks and
the Romans the early Christians Dor
rowed their embIems of resurrection
and immortaIity-the Peacock and the
Phoenix The Easter egg, too, as
religious symbol is a. old as the pyra-
mids of Egypt and the primer of ORR
entail philosophy, which taught that
the world was Matched from egg
about the time of the yernal equinox
We read also that the Romans in early
spring ran races in an oval-an egg
shaped arena. when the winner was
presented with eggs accom- panied with
wishes that his noble family may in
crease and multiply Chri stianity col
ored the egg red to remind the people
Of the blood shed for their redemp-
ton
That ceremonial Christianity is in a
large measure paganism transformed
or rejuvenated is admitted by the best
scholars in the church well as out
of it-by Cardinal Nicholas Wiseman
and Baronius, we'll by Max-Mul-
Ter and Renan- 1.-The church has bor-
rowed many customs from the religion
of the Romans and other pagans.
says an eccIesia sticaI authority. "but
it has meliorated them Another
writes that t<the pagan festivals laden
with superstition We're changed into
the prai seworthy festivals Of the mar
tyrs." Still another defends the prac-
tice by saying: 1T was permitted the
church to transfer to plous uses those
ceremonies which the pagans had
wickedly applied IN a superstitious
worship
sOst'' meaning East. was Saxon
Goddess who presided over the 1umi-
nous powers which revived the earth
and resuscitated life out of the shadow
of darkness and the mold of the grave
She was the divinity whose face shone
like the glory of the sunrise and the
brightness of the dawn; her ambro-
sia1 breath made hill and dale fra
grant, and her smile shed beauty over
every breaking bud and blossom The
people congregated in the fields to
cheer her arrival in the skies, because
she came to destroy the genii of win
ter-darkness, sterility, storm, and
death, and to shake from her golden
urn blessings upon man and beast
alike. THE Sun is riseni' they shout
ed. as they greeted one another and
kissed and danced the new grass.
Our Teutonic ancestors devoted eight
days OF April, which they called the
Ostermonat, to the worship of this
beautiful goddess of life and love
perennial whose arrows, tipped with
fame, had shot fresh hopes into their
hearts. When Christianity converted
the pagan Saxons, instead of attempt
ing to abolish this joyous festival it
christened it into an institution of
the church, preserving all its poetry
and music-the flowers and the eggs,
and only substi tuting Jesus, the Sun
of righteousness for Ostera, the God
desS of the East
Easter, then, is day in which Chris
tian and heather memories mingIe.
and we regard that its most pleas
ing feature, because it lifts it from
being merely a sectarian symbol into
a festival of humanity. 1t demon
strates that all festivals have a com
mon ancient source"the needs of the
instead of being miraculousIy given
to any chosen people, spring out OF
the eternal soil of humanity
Sun has risen that one man has
been raised from the dead, but that all
mankind has been steadily rising du
ring these many ages-rising from the
deep, dark grave of ignorance and
slavery to freedom and power Let us
change the Easter sa1utation. and in
stead of greeting one another with
<tChrist is risen and HE is risen, in
Decd let US say. Humanity is risen. >
and let the refrain be- Hail, risen
| Humanity"