The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1910-03-27

ger of abuse creeping in this custom
was abolished.
Easter Eggs.
The custom of serving eggs on
Easter Sunday morning for breakfast
because they had been forbidden dur
ing lent gave origin to this custom.
They were celored brightly to indicate
Easter joy. Some waters connect
this custom with the pagan origin of
the name Easter. The egg is the
symbol OF terminating life apd per-
haps the Easter egg is one of.gn old
pagan customs which gravitated to
Easter when the pagan celebrations
of returning spring were abolished.
Other Customs.
After the long restraint of Lent peo-
pie gave free rein of spirit Of fun on
Easter week. Monday was a favorite
day for trials of skill such as contests
in archery, etc. 1t was also the date
of contests in tossing the ball (hand-
baln and the evening usually termi-
mated with a dance or the representa-
tion of a mystery play. On Easter
Monday the women had a right to
strike their husbands and on Tuesday
the husbands to strike their wives as
in December the servants scOlded
1ncli DldSLSIS. Ill C6IIdln PAL 10 VI
England the men paraded the streets
on Easter Monday and lifted the wo-
men three times from the ground.
a silver SiXpence. On Tuesday the
women did the same to the men.
In many countries there were GUS
toms which seem to us even stranger
than these enumerated and Less in
Eonninor with ,hn hn
But we must not judge too harshly or
puritanically. Those were the days of
Merry England" The people were
prosperous and happy notwithstanding
all that we hear and read about their
depIorable condition. Those were the
days ere England's griefs began
when every road of gTolP1 maintained
its man. The people We're simple ii
their tastes and very religious. They
kept lent very strictly and for the first
week after Easter were naturally like
children ont of school after a long ses-
sion. Customs which would be very
unbecoming in our eyes were all right
with them because of their different
social usages. To Judge them there
fore We must try to put ourselves in
their place.
All of those customs except the
Easter egg are now almost entirely
fallen into disuse. The Easter egg
has lost its meaning. The only Gus
toms and practices which are pre-
served are those which the Catholic
church has given her sanction to and
thus guarded Chief of these is the
practice which still exists in Catholic
countries of blessing the homes on
Easter eve. After the blessing of the
water on Saturday morning one of the
priests goes from home to home in the
parish. The house is sprinkled with
water in memory of the Sprinkling of
the homes of the children of Israel
with the blood of the lamb at the
Passover. In the United States and
several other countries the priest
bIesses the water at the church and
the people take it home and sprinkle
their houses with it. The fire. is
blessed and from it is lighted the
lamp which is kept ever burning in
each Catholic church where the blessed
sacrament is kept. The Paschal can
die is blessed and lighted. 1t is used
in the church for forty days to com
memorate the forty days which Christ
spent on earth after His resurrection
before He assembled into heaven. All
those ceremonies and customs make
Easter a season of joy and gladncss
and remind us in some way of the
great central fact Of the Christian re-
ligion that Christ our Lord is risen.