Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-01-07

| monies connected with the day took
| root
| Following one of the very last injunctions
| or Jesus, congregation. whenever ii as
sembled, broke bread and took wine in
| memory of Him. And upon the first day
of the week. when the disciples came to.
gether to break bread
OF the collections instituted as OCCASION
arose, not the least important was for the
relief of distressed churches. Now con-
corning the collection for the saints, as T
nave given order to the churches of GaIatia,
even so do We" And, further, Then the
disciples, every man according to his abil-
lty, determined to send relief unto the
brethren which dwelt in Judea''
FROM the very beginning the church waa
actively engaged on Sunday in evangelical
and missionary work, both of the home and
foreign sort, and this meant exhortation
and prayer.
why do We array ourselves in our best
garments On Sunday, and on that day sit
down to the best meals of the week? The
early fathers. backed up by the words of
the prophet Isaiah, spoken in protest of A.
perverted Sabbath and in favor of the old
Lashioned joyous one, insisted on toyous
sunday Besides, was not theirs a religion
or happiness-had not their Lord and Mas
ter brought message of exceeding great
10y 10 an the earth? Then, too. the prohi-
pition against fasting and humility in gen.
eral, Issued doubtless, TO give Sunday a
still broader distinction from the Sabbath.
logically tended to bend the thoughts and
f.
ricaiiy opposite direction
inouSn Sunday rest was entolned com.
parauveiy early in church history and prac.
ticed' II was meet and proper from the start
10 90 errandS OF mercy and charity on Sum.
day, In accordance with the Lords words.
w hat man shall there be among Won.
ina. shal nave one sheep, and IL it fail into
pit on the Sabbath day will he NOT law
hold on It, and lift it out?
How much then is a man better than n
sheepT wherefore it is lawful to do well
on the Sabbath days"
1t was also in the early days of the
church that its fathers set the stamp of
approval on the name Sunday for the &c.
elesiastically designated Lords Day.
OF heather origin, as every school child
knows. the name Sunday. as the desIgna-
ton for the first day of the week, came
into common use in Rome about the middle
of the second century
Roman converts to Christianity naturalIH
chung to the common designation, and so
Justin the martyr in writing OF the spread
OF Christianity in Italy, states that "ou
the day called Sunday the followers of
Christ were wont to assemble for exhors
tation, prayer. what is now known as com.
munion, and the taking up of collections
for charitable purposes
Justin the martyr is held by ecciesiasti.
cal authorities to be the first writer to
consider the strictly heather designation
the day of the SEn''--as a proper one
for the Lords Day. At any rate, with tho
influence of Rome and Roman ways still ell
powerful In the greater part of the then
civilized world, the name Sunday rapidly
grew In favor among Christians as being
more convenient and in general use among
both converts and the millions still with.
out the church and to be brought In.
But though this custom obtained Ynats
ter OF seventeen hundred or more years
ago. even today voice of protest against
the heather Sunday liz sometimes raised.
What. then, must have been the perturb-
alton and disuaay with. which some of tho
early Christians looked upon this sacrileS4-
GUS grating process, and the consequent
discarding OF the poetic appellatIon, which
appears only once in the Bible. and then