Omaha daily bee., 1907-03-31
REAL MEANING Of EASTER
Larger slxHiaOaaOs Of the Festival Con
idsrad N Detail,
PAGAN CUSTOMS ENGRAFTtp N SYMBOLS
Antiguaty % the EEE snd the Rab-
bat Observation-Disclosures OF
Reessd oustous sna Ne
lASasas observaneea.

stands for, ninety-nine people out OF a hun
bred would answer casually that Il testifles
10 the rising OF Christ. That is the con-
ventional answer and It Is true so FAR as
Il goes; but II does not go far enough to
be very good answer.
In the FIRST place. the east has from time
immemorial been venerated IN a religious
way. People looked IN that quarter for
the rising OF the sun and in time Tie east
took on a special sacredness as symbol
king light, the rebirth OF nature and the
promise OF new life. Even down to recent
times the custom was common among
Christians OF facing the east when men,
tioning the name OF Jesus; churches we're
studiously built with their affairs to the
east; people were hurled with their feet to
the east. 90 as TO be facing in that direc-
ton az the resurrection. etc.
This symbolism about the never-endlng
miracle OF the rebirth OF life runs strongly
through all the religions and popular lore
,of the east. In the east II IL understood.
but In the west not because its origin has
been obsoured. Just as each mornings
rising sun typihed new light and life so
the reawakening OF nature IN spring. after
the death OF winter, took on sacred mean
ing. The season of the vernai equinox thus
came to be marked by special religious
observances The custom Of presenting
colored eggs TO friends as symbols Of the
season became widespread. This custom
appears 70 have originated among the Per-
SLAMS, and It evidently bore reference to
the mundane egg. for which Ormuzd and
Ahriman were to contend till the consuu,.
nation OF all things. 4
Egg and Rabbit Symbols.
The egg was suggestive Of recreation.
for does it not contain the embryo OF all
] NhaN d A.. g. I
as the symbol OF fertility and prolific re-
production. was adopted into the symbol
ism Of the season. The Romans used both
the egg and the rabbit in the rites attend
ing their spring festival We still use the
same thlngs-but how many are there who
stop to think or inquire why they use
them? Among the Jews the Passover be-
| came the great spring Festivals; It YVES
kind OF thanksgiving day communicating
their deliverance when the angel OF the
Lord smote the first born OF the Egyptians
but passed over" the Israelites. The Jews
ate a lamb at this festival as we eat tur-
key at Thanksgiving and Christmas and in
time the lamb became symbdlical of Christ
They also ate eggs at this time.
The early Christian church found these
pagan and other customs too deeply rooted
among the people to be ignored, and with
Characteristic tact and judgment the church
authorities adopted them and applied to
them a new significance. In northern Eu-
rope the goddess called Faster was Joy
fully worshiped as the deity of spring and
the term Easter day was in accepted use,
whereas In the south the term 'Pasch,"
from the Hebrew word applied to the
Passover. was employed IN the same con-
nection. Numerous variations OF the He
brew word, such as 'paas," "paschal,"
''paque," etc. are still commonly used as
/ synonymous. with Faster 70
T. n DiRerent Dntss.8a ~
The eastern and southern Christians in
Europe regarded their Paas as equivalent
to the Jewish Passover and observed It
on the 14th day Of the frst lunar month
| OF the Jewish year. This was not neces-'
sarily on Sunday, of course. The north
ern Christians, on the other hand, gradually
\ came to consider Easter as syInbolcal of
the rising Of Christ from the dead. and
therefore decided that It must fan always
on Sunday. For long time there was a
/ fierce conflict in the church over this ques-
ton, but the council Of Nice. In s25 A D.,
pronounced the Peas idea heresy ana
declared that Easter must be arranged to
fall on Sunday.
1t should be remembered that the ancient
custom was to have the year begin in the
spring. II is this that explains the an
parent anomaly of our months of Septem-
Der to December being so named, for in
ithose days September, for instance, was
the seventh" month, as the name in Latin
implies No doubt the church authorities
would have had the year being at Easter
had it not been that Easter was a movable
and not a fixed feast. being founded on the
lunar calendar. The date January 1 for
the beginning of the year was purely arbi-
trary and It was only accepted after CEN
turtles OF experiments with other dates.
AS It was, the reckoning of the year from
Easter was in use in Europe down to as
late as 1900 in some places in spite Of the
inconvenience of this system. while In other
section the new year was begun at Christ
mas. &
Revising the Calendar.
The church authorities, who were nearly
aH-powerful in matters Affecting the cal
endar, would likewise have made Easter a
| ixed festival, 1t logically should have
been to commemorate the Savior's rising,
but the idea Of the day as being connected
with the Jewish paschal moon could not
be eradicated from the popular mind. 1t
was to remove all uncertainty about Easter
that Pope Gregory XIII revised the Julian
| calendar. He tried TO devise some plan
that would never allow Easter and the
Jewish Passover 20 fall on the same date,
out they DO coincide once In long while.
Easter day was fixed as the first Sunday
after the first paschal full moon occurring
on or after March d The church calcula-
tons, however, are founded on very old
moon tables, and It is for this reason that
Easter falls sometimes week earlier or
| later than IL would II regulated BY the
actual moon. II can come as early as
March q or as late April 25. and various
other church festivals are determined by H.
| 1t took but little readjustment to give ths
pagan Easter Christian significance
though the fixing OF the festival by the
moon had to be conceded. The association
OF Easter with the rising Of the sun, the
dawn OF day. the rebirth OF life after win
ter. and Joy at the hope OF rich garner
for the season was readily engrafted into
the Christion symbology Christ repre-
scented the sun. the light. and Easter his
resurrection; the Thanksgiving for the past
the Joy OF the present and the hope for the
future were all beautifully appropriate 10
the new Interpretation OF the festival
Prof u. H. Smith In the Pathfinder.
| A. WEaw