Kentucky Irish American. (Louisville, Ky.) 1898-1968, 1912-04-06
OF All Our Religious Festivals
It Is the Most
Ideal.
Christians, MOhammedans and
Jews All Pay Its Coming
Reverence.
FILLS MANKIND WITH JOY

If there is one time, writes Kath-
crime Louise Smith, when the spir-
ltual and material combine 1t is
Easter day. OF all religious festivals
Il is the most ideal, for at Easter
both in Cathedral and humble home
the white and golden lilies bloom.
Many and strange are the observ-
ances of Easter Sunday. The pascha1
lamb of the Jews is the Christ OF the
ehurchman. The very name comes
down to us from a different religion,
for the goddess of the East was in
Saxon mythology Ostara or Easter.
In the never-changing East and the
mutable West the desire to celebrate
this day is the same, and heathen-
dom and Christianity, Moham-
medans and Jews, all pay reverence
to the coming of spring. Probably
nowhere is one more impressed with
this than in Jerusalem, that sacred
city where comes on Easter day the
Catholic pilgrim, the nomadic Arab,
the men of the sand-swept desert
and the Jews of Palestine! The
numerous services are of an in
tensely religious character, and vary
in Importance from the time when
the patriarch washes the feet of his
priests, as a sign of humility, to the
wonderful ceremony held on the Sat
urday before Easter when the Sacred
Fire from heaven is handed to the
people. This psychological moment
Is waited with breathless interest,
and it is the most wonderful of the
many religious observances held
during Passion week. For hours the
church has been crowded by pill
grims. who fill aisles, doorway and
stretch from the nave down to the
heart of the city. They are waiting
for the fire which is to light up all
Jerusalem. As the Patriarch appears
in the holy of holies and holds aloft
his lighted torch, illuminated by a
blaze from heaven, the nearest pill
grim touches 1t with his candle, and
passes on the fire to the other
torches. Soon the streets are aflame
with flambeaux lighted from the
Patriarch's sacred fire, and waiting
pilgrims in the surrounding country
pass on the flame until the land is a
blaze of light. Though pilgrims OF
every faith crowd into Jerusalem to
witness this sight, the services are
always in the hands of the Greek
church and, that there may be order,
the streets are patroled by Turkish
soldiers. This and other ceremonies
are conducted in the Church Of the
Holy Sepulchre, which is built on
the most sacred spot in this holy
city and contains large stone, said
10 be the identical one on which
Christ was prepared for burial.
There is something in the atmos-
phere OF the place, in the knowledge
that here were enacted many OF the
scenes in our Saviour's life, that fills
the onlooker with awe.
The quaint Moravian village or
in Pennsylvania is to us
what Oberammergau is TO the Old
World. Pilgrims flock to this little
town from all parts of the world,
for from the eve of Palm Sunday
through Easter there are many sery-
Ices, each coincident with the life
Of Christ. Thus, Palm Sunday com
the triumphal entry OF
Christ into Jerusalem; Monday tells
Of Christ healing In the Temple;
suggests the giving OF the
PARALLELS, and Thursday the Last
Supper. The climax OF the weeks
devotional exercises is reached when
the Sayings of Christ upon the cross
are read and the bells toll solemnly
tor the Saviour's death. But all this
sadness is changed on Easter morn
Ing, when the beautiful trombone
choir awakens the people playing
hymns OF rejoicing. One by one
lights appear in the windows; men,
women and children hurry forth, and
soon the little church, resplendent
In its floral decorations, is filled to
overflowing. This is not the most
impressive part OF the service, for
at the sounds OF the trombone the
people move from the church TO the
cemetery near by, one OF the oldest
In America. Here they form a hol-
low square, in the center OF which
stands the minister and the choir,
and as the dawn changes into day
the concourse sings the grand old
hymns that close the services for the
week. The rising sun seems TO touch
the tree-tops with a sort of glory;
the birds begin their morning
anthems and all nature seems TO
Join in the chants OF praise and re-
ioicing.
In our observance OF Easter few
stop 10 consider that the quaint GUS
tom OF egg-giving Is a survival OF
Saxon times. We find many stories
Of eggs, hares and rabbits In Ger
many associated with the Joys OF
childhood on Easter day; and In
France the Easter eggs are made OF
manifold and costly devices In Ire
land and Scotland the children are
taught 10 break eggs in the form OF
a cross. Queerest of all, colored
Easter eggs are offered at high mass
IN Russia. with all these precedents
behind us II Is no wonder that we
have a gala time at Washington, and