Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1905-04-21
EASTER NOW NEAR
Another Day Before Commence
ration of the Resur.
rection.
TOMORROW HOLY SATURDAY
Order of the Services in the Catholic
Churches of the Coun-
try.

This is Good Friday. The day of
the passion has been held as a festival
by the church from the earliest times.
In England, the day is one of two,
christmas being the other, on which
all business is suspended. In the
churches. which are generally well at
TENDED, the service is marked by an
unusual solemnity In early days
Good Friday was celebrated in
England with the same relig
ious ceremonies as in many Cath
Ole countries. A dressed figure of
Christ being mounted on a crucifix, two
priests bore it round the altar, with
doleful chants; then laying it on the
ground with great tenderness, they fell
beside it. kissed it's hands and feet
with piteous signs and tears, the other
priests doing the like in succession.
Afterward came the people to worship
the assumedly dead Savior, each bring
ing some little gift, such as corn and
eggs. There was finally a most cere-
monious burial of the image. along
with the singing bread" amidst the
light of torches and the burning of in
cense, and with flowers strewn over
the grave.
On Holy Saturday.
| The services of Holy Saturday, as
| they are conducted in Rome. are the
blessing of fire and the paschal candle.
For this purpose new fire" is employ
ed At the beginning of the mass a
| light, from which the candles and char
coal for the incense is enkindled, is
struck from a flint in the sacristy.
- 4.-T,-
| bleSSes the water, the fire and the five
grains of incense which are to be fixed
in the paschal candle. Formerly all
the fires in Rome were relighted on
this holy day from the holy fire, but
this custom is no longer kept up. At
ter the service, the cardinal vicar pro- |
ceeds to the baptistry of st. Peters; |
there having blessed and exercised the |
water for baptism and dipped into the |
paschal candle, concludes by sprink- |
ling some of the water on the people.
On Easter Day.
Easter is the annual festival observ- |
ed throughout Christendom in com
memOration of the resurrection of our |
Lord Jesus Christ.
Easter day. as commemorative the !
central fact of the Christian religion. |
has always been regarded as the chief |
festival of the Christian year, and has |
been from the earliest times observed |
with stately and elaborate ceremon- |
ial
In primitive times il was usual for |
| Christians to salute each other on the |
morning of this day by exclaiming. |
Christ is risen" The person saluted |
would reply. Christ is risen indeed
or And hath appeared unto Simon"
This custom is still retained in the !
Greek church.
Derived From Saxon Deity.
The common name for this festival |
in the east was the paschaI feast, be-
cause kept at the same time as the |
pascha, or Jewish passover. and in |
some measure succeeding to it, The |
name Easter, as we are accustomed to |
call this day. is supposed to be deriv- |
ed from Eostre, the name of a Saxon |
deity, whose feast was celebrated ev- |
cry year in the spring about the same |
time as the Christian festival. Ii was /
later called Oster, which is supposed |
TO mean rising
There has never been any difference |
of opinion in the Christian church as |
TO why Easter is kept; there has been /
a good deal of comment and discussion /
as to when it ought to be kept
Ii is one of the movable feasts that |
is not fixed TO one particular day like |
Christmas, but moves backward and |
forward according to the full moon
next after the vernal equinox falls /
nearer or further from the equinox.
The rule given at the beginning of the
prayer book to find Easter is this:
Easter day is always the first Sun
day after full moon which happens
upon or next after the 21st day of
March; and if the full moon happens
upon Sunday. then Easter day is the
Sunday after"
On Easter Sunday depends all the
movable feasts and fasts of the year.
The nine Sundays before and the eight |
following after are all dependent upon
II. and form, as it were. a body guard |
TO this queen of festivals. The nine
preceding are the six Sundays in Lent.
Quintaugesima, Sexagesima and Sep
tuagesima. The eight following are
the five Sundays following Easter. the
Sunday after ascension day. Whit Sun
day and Trinity Sunday
Appropriate services for Good Fri
day were observed today in the Catho
tic and Episcopal churches of the CITY |