Evening star., 1909-04-11
cessful opposition to the proposed re-


In -Hertfordshre and Kent cider or ale
was added to a gratuitous distribution
of the hot-cross buns, the formula gen
orally being employed peace and good
neighborhood' in connection with this
distribution. The addition of the ale or
cider of course originated in the distribu-
ton of wine in connection with the un-
leavened bread at the jewish passover
and the Lords supper. In Leicestershlre
there there was a further addition of
hare pie. the hare having place in
Easter symbolism because of its rapid
multiplication, perhaps yelled allusion
to Christs saying: Il am come that they
might have life and have it more abun-
dainty
Fish and Eggs.
The use of fish on Friday was also a
very old observance in the worship of va
rious goddesses of love, the fish being
supposed to impart virility, and because
of its own fecundity being adapted as a
symbol of the Hfe-giving properties of
nature. Tertullian, referring to the Gus
tom of immersing Christian converts,
says. I'VE are fishes, born in the water.
confoImable to the name OF our Lord
Jesus Christ Icthus.". 1t will be remem-
bered that one of the disguised crosses
used prior to the conversion of Constan-
tine as symbol of the Christian faith
and the crucifixion of Christ was the i'm
paled fish. often found on the walls of the
catacombs. The word is an acrostic on
the letters of the Greek name for fish, the
whole reading TO the initiated. Jesus
Christ. Son of God, Savior.
Eggs were used at first as supplying a
symbol of concealed life, and as an en-
blem of the resurrection of those hidden
in graves, as the meat of the egg is hid
den in the shell. The custom of picking
eggs is very old. and. so far as it can be
traced. represents the survival of Christ
and the Christian believer i'm the conflict
with death, in the game the victor be-
ing. OF course. the one whose egg broke
the others and was not itself harmed.
New Clothes
The custom of wearing new clothes at
Easter or during the period attending the
celebration of the vernal equinox may be
very simply explained. The custom was
both pagan and Christian in its origin.
The fresh appearance of nature at this
season of the year was reflected, as seem
ed fitting. IN the new and gayiy adorned
attire of the people. while the Christian
conception OF ''newness of life here and
hereafter was appropriately symboliZed
by the white robes worn on the occasion
Of their baptism by converts to the Chris
tian faith. These robes also had refer
ence to the garb of the angels seen in
Christ's tomb. The catechumens were
postponed their baptism until Easter be-
cause of the ideas associated with Christ s
resurrection and the Christian life, or
way" as it was usually called. During
the week following Easter Sunday the
converts continued to wear their white
robes, which were discarded on the fol-
lowing Sunday. The stern symbolism o.
the teachings of Paul about baptism and
the apparent impossibiity of living with
out sin caused many of the converts to
postpone their baptism. not only until
Easter, but for many years. as did Con-
stantine himself lest they should sin and
thus bring reproach on their public pro-
fession Of faith. and, meta phorically, soil
their white robes.
or less serious import are the references
of writer's in the seventeenth century to
the custom. Barnes. an old Dorset poet.
for instance. whimsically says:
Last Faster put on my blue
Frock coat, the vust time. vier new;
WI yaller buttons aal - brass
That glittered in the like glass.
Bekaze 'twer Easter Sunday.
The custom of assuming new apparel on
Easter Sunday was so common that Its
non-observance, as is usual In such mat
ters, was considered not only a sign of
eccentricity. but the sure precursor of bad
luck. There Is very simple reason for
the '.ill-luck" which usually attends