The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1913-03-21

WSSl ASTER day comes to us clothed
upon with glory. Of all days
H in the year, it is the most
MA regal Father Tabb in an ex-
quisite little poem said that
the bud that first unfolded at Christ
mas reached its splendid bloom at
Easter. From Christmas to Easter
the weeks are professional. After the
holidays social gayety is in full swing
until arrested by the thoughtful and
meditative aspect of Lent In the
Bhadowy gloom of Good Friday Lent
reaches its elimination, and after that
pause, when even the stir of business
ceases and the world looks back to it's
Redeemer, we reach the summit and
crown of Christendom on Easter Sun
day. Fifty, Easter comes in the
spring. Nature, too, has been process
s;;0Ral. During the frost and ice and
snow, the wild gales and low hanging
clouds, nature, seeming to be asleep,
vras in reality very busy. The bare
trees were getting ready to burst into
seaf, the brown grasses were to put
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flowers and the blossoms, the bees
and the birds were coming, coming
day by day, to keep high festival
once more.
The pretty girl who likes on Easter
Sunday to dress herself in spring ap-
parel from the hat on her head to
the shoes on her feet, and the dainty
gloves on her hands, is in sympathet-
ic accord with nature. Easter is a
movable feast, and when the calendar
brings it to US on a day of sleet and
snow, we find it hard to believe alto
gether in the fitness of things.
To be at its royal best, Easter
should be an April day. The bright
sunbeams, dashing showers and
changeful hoods of April symbolic
the eternal youth of the world Easter
Sunday in this year of grace will wear
the same joyous look that it has worn
ever since the resurrection. So the
maidens who go forth from home in
raiment befitting the spring will wear
the same attractive charm that has
been girlhood's own in every century.
Pagan and Christian, under every
sun, in every period, in every cline,
girlhood in its flower is the sweetest
thing beneath the sky.
am always sorry when the time
comes for girl to lay aside their soft
furs, heightening as they do the bloom
of the face and giving an air to the
toilet more enchanting than that con-
ferred by the most delicate lace.
When an Easter costume can COM
bine an effect Of flowers and furs, it
is simply perfect. In our large cities
the churches are always thronged to
the doors on Easter day, among the
worshipers being those who have kept
from childhood a feeling of reverence,
thankfulness and humility that sends
them to church on that Sunday, if on
no other. The organ peals in solemn
chords, the hymns are full of triumph,
the choirs sing with note of jubilant
exultation. We bring the flowers to
church, and the lilies and roses,
azaleas and hyacinths are very much
at home there. Altar and chancel are
beautiful with palms and rich with
garlands and growing plants. Flow
ers symbolic the thought of resurrec-
tion, the thought that there is no
death, but only, even in this world of
loss and change, the life everlasting
The daisies were here last summer;
they will be here again covering a
million fields with their cloth of gold
few weeks hence, and the lilies
never die. They may seem to pass
away, but their proud succession has
no break.
AS for us who begin our lives in the
cradle, and go on through glad and
busy years, from youth to age, our
lives are professional and every
Easter marks them with it's white
stone. Often as Easter returns we
remember those who were once at
our side and are visible no longer.
They have left us for awhile, but they
are living beyond our sight, and their
invisible presence may be our comfort
and support and our armor against
sorrow.
They never quite leave us, our friends
who have passed
Through the shadows of death to the
sunlight above;
A thousand sweet memories are holding
them fast
To the places they blest with their
presence and love.
The work that they left and the books
that they read
Speak mutely, though still with an elo-
quence rare;
And the songs that they sung, the dear
words that they said,
Yet linger and sigh on the desolate air
And oft when alone. and as Oft in the
throng,
Or when evil allures us or sin draweth
nigh,