The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-04-06
HOLY WEEK. OBSERVANCE
 IN CHURCHES

| LA AA - A\ - -
 Celebration Dates to Third Century and
 is Universal in Christian World.
 Roundabout Method by Which the Occur. renee of Easter is Fixed.
 Three Hours Watch Observed on Good
 Friday in Episcopal Churches -EIab.
 crate Musical Service at Sacred Heart Church Hours of Services in Many
 Churches.
 Compiled For the Evening Ftarmer.)
 The observance of Holy Week which is now in progress in every Christian church in the world dates back to the 3rd century at which time the records of the church show that the Christians first started to commemorate the suf- fering and death of Jesus Christ. The first day of the week. Palm Sunday. and the last three days. the earliest to emerge into special prominence com memorating as they do the supreme crisis of the passion of the Saviour, are observed with the greatest cere- mony and pomp in the Roman Catholic church. and on these days the services are arranged so as to depict the &C., tionS of Christ.
 On Palm Sunday is solemnly com memorated the triumphant entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem as fore told by the Prophet Zacharias: "Be- hold. Oh Daughter of Jerusalem, the King will come to thee, the Just and the Saviour. and riding upon an ass" Then it was that on the fifth day be- fore the crucihxion of Christ that a dense multitude met and welcomed him bearing in their hands Palm and Olive branches as a testimony of their applause. This is not only celebrated but renewed in the church and to this effect the benediction and procession of the Palms. But as the actions of the ancients were mysteries and figures relating to us and as the truth and efficacy of the Christian observance consists in practising them the church arranges the observance of the day so that the pretending of the future rath- CT than the commemoration of the past should be the object for reflection that day. sa>
 No particular events are focused on Monday and Tuesday of the week, but on Wednesday special prayers and rituals are read relating to the spying of the Jews on Christ. This day has come to receive the name, Spy We'd nesday. It is on these days that peculiar dance with castanets is had by the chance1 boys of the cathedral written but handed down from genera ton to generation. The origin of the dance is obscure and it's bearing upon, the spirit of the day is unknown. The ous attempts have been made to write it but the spirit of the music as sung and danced to by the young Span1ards has never been reproduced. The ob-
 Df Iii hoe al h0<a extended to the fast of Corpus Christi. In this cathedral are buried the bones of the son of Columbus and those of St. Ferdinand. which are exposed at this time of the year.
 An odd but not at all obscure cus- tom is that Of washing Of feet by dignataries on the day preceding the death of Christ, Maundy Thursday. Tie ''maund" referred to is the pre- cept given to the disciples to wash one another's feet and it's practice has been literally carried out to this day in sew eral countries. It is practised by the Austrian emperor, the king of Bavaria, by the Czar of Russia and even by the Pope. In England it was continued up to James II but now the distribution of royal aims is substituted
 The origin of the custom Of com Good Friday or Long Fri day as the old Saxons and the Danes called it is involved in obscurity. It IS pOSSlDl0 VndC the N0dIly J0WlSh Christians celebrated it along with the feast of the Passover during which time Christ was crucified- From the earliest days it's observance has been marked by rigorous fast and the name of the day in every language implies this In the Latin countries much time is spent by the faithful in the church. es meditating on the seven last words of Christ. The churches, as they are here, are draped in deep mourning. no carriages are driven through the streets, the bells and organs are silent and everything is done to deepen the impression of profound and universal grief.
 Naturally enough this great expres- sion of grief stirred up the more weak minded and fanatical Christians to all sorts of self inflicted punishment so that for instance we find the Flag large circles on the morning of Good Friday, dancing round and beating each other with whips, literally repre- senting the scourging of Christ. Then they take up large wooden crucifixes and in hundreds of instances have had themselves actually cruc1fed. This cIistonn lasted till only fifty years ago when the Mexican government stepped in and put a stop to the observance, not without bloodShed however.
 At the cathedral in Granada the Mis- eraria is sung by the congregation Tn a peculiar chant with no instruments
  strains are those of the first days of the edifice. On Good Friday night in Salanca there is taken down from a cross and buried life sized figure of Christ However, in the less excitable people of the northern countries pray sr and reflection with services recall Ing the past and bearing on the future are held.
 There is a notable fact that on Good Friday there is no conservation of the host in any Roman Catholic church, | his being the one day of the year that the holy sacrifice of the mass is not said in every Catholic church in the | world.
 Holy Saturday is a day of expecta- ion and prayer, awaiting for the risen | Christ as promised by the Saviour be- | fore he was put to death. It is be- l ieved that the fact that there are no | elaborate ceremonies carried out | the whole day is rather | he result of necessity than a laxity | ,n the part of the medieval Chris | ians For the large edifices had to | De prepared in gala attire for Easter | morning and the work of doing this | made the eliminating of Saturday af- |