The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-04-12
IDEAL WEATHER TO MARK EASTER DAY:
 SERVICES IN MANY MONTGOMERY CHURCHES

movable or whether a fixed Sunday, after the 2lst of March, should be adopted It was deference to ancient custom that led the ecclesiastical authorities to ad- here to the method of determination by the moon.
 It should be remembered that it is not the actual moon In the heavens nor even the mean moon of astronomers, that regulate the time of Easter, but an altogether imaginary moon whose periods are so contrived that the new (calendar) moon always follows the real new moon lsometimes by two or even three days.) The effect of this Is that the fourteenth or the calendar moon, which had from the time of Moses been considered the "fuh moon" for ecclesiastical purposes, falls generally on the fifteenth or six teenth of the real moon, and thus after the real full moon, which is generally on the fourteenth or fifteenth day.
 With this explanation of what is meant by full moon," viz, that it is the four. teenth day of the calendar moon, the rule is that Easter happens on or next ecclesiastical year. If the full moon happens on Sunday, Easter Is the Sum day following.
 It sometimes happens that Easter day by full noon," were understood the astronomical full moon. In 1918 Easter day by the calendar was celebrated on March 22 the earliest possible day, and III lo40 IL Tell on the QaY or the actual full moon, March 23
 One object in arranging the calendar moon was that Easter might never fall on the day of the Jewish Passover The two days did occur together, in 1905, on April 14, and in 1925, on April 8. Today makes the third time in the worlds his tory since the calendar moon was ar ranged when Easter and Passover fall on the same day. On April l. 1923, on ApTQ F. Elggf.s ana on April l9 1881, the Jewish Passover and Easter will also oc- cur together.
 The Jewish festival usually occurs in Passion Week, and never before March 2S, or after April 25. The Christian fes- tival iS never before March 2, nor after April 25,6 .n}fS
 In 1761 and ISIS Easter was on March 22. but neither in this nor the following century win suohg be the case again. In 1913 1t will come on March 8, as in 1S46 and 1856. The latest Easters in this. cen tury and the following occur in 1886 and lS4S on April 25 In 1S4S Easter came on April 2i and In 1Sj9on April 24.
 The goddess Ostara, or Eastre, seems to have been the personification of the morning or East, and also of the open ing of the year, or Spring. The Anglo Saxon name of April was Estormonath, and 1t Is still known in Germany as Os- termonoth.
 The worship of this being seems to have struck deep root in Northern Ger many, and was brought into England by
 
 brated in many parts of Germany until the beginning of the present century by kindled bonhres and numerous other rites.
 Like the May observances of England 1t was especially a festival of joy. With the usual policy the church endeavored to give a Christian significance to such of the rites as could not be rooted out, and in this case the conversion was par Icularly easy.
 The most characteristic Easter rite and the one most widely diffused is the use of Easter eggs. They are usually stained of various colOrs with dye-woods or herbs. and people mutually make pres ents of them. Sometimes they are kept as amulets and sometimes are eaten.
 In some moorland parts of Scotland it was once the custom for young people to go cut in the early morning before break fast on "Pasch Sunday in search of wild fowls eggs, and the finders were consid- cred lucky Tn this practice originated the present-day Easter egg hunts"
 There can be little doubt that the use of eggs at this season was originally symbolicai of the revivih cation of na- ture. the springing forth of lite in early