The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-02-16
THOU ART BUT DUsT!" IS
 .GHURCHss MESSAGE TO-DAY.

ttRemember that thouart but
 dustg''
 today, for at the stroke of twelve to- night the carnival season--a carnival
 of blood and tears for the larger part
 of Europe-comes to an ends and the
 period of sackcloth and ashes, of
 prayers and fasting and repentance,
 is ushered in.
 .sRemember- that thou art but
 dustt,'-an appropriate message, i'm deed, for those monarchs and states
 men whose ambition and lust for
 power have plunged the world into the vortex of war The victories of ors, dignitieS, empires, power riches ali are transient and soon vanish into notiingneSS-
 Christian and pagan, priest and philosopher. men of all faiths and of none, all are impressed with the brevtfy of human life. srDust thou art and to dust thou must return" finds it's echo in the anguished words of the agnostic IngersolI at the grave of a beloved brother: Tor whether of the farther shore, 0 wreck at last must mark the end of each and all:
 and every life, no matter if it's every hour is rich with love and every mo- ment jeweled with 8 joy, will, at it's close become a tragedy as sad and H0eSp warp and wool of mystery and death.'
 The Christian, to whom life Is not "a marrow vale between the cold and
 barren peaks of two eternities.'' but a preparation for an existence that shall be endless, finds in Lent a. sea son for reflection upon the transient character of earthly existence and
 the. certain imminence of the great transition
 It is true that Lent is now far from being as generally observed as faith, when the forty days preced- l ing Easter were marked by rigorous
 fasting and soIemnity.
 The word Tent is derived from l the s4engten- -tide'' of the Saxons. a term for Spring so called because it i ably lengthen- Ash Wednesday,, the i first day of Lent, derived its name I from the Roman ceremony which marks the beginning of the great ] penitentia1 season. To remind the | people that they were but dust and ashes, the priests took a quantity of ashes. blessed them, and spr4nkled them with holy water. The worship per, clad in sackcloth. approached, and the priest took up some of the
 ashes on the ends of his fingers and made with them the mark Of the cross, saying, '.Remember. man, that you are of ashes, and into dust will ireturn.,'
 Sinners who have submitted them selves to canonical repentance and
 sought reconti tiliatdon with the church were required to wear hair shirt and penitentaI garb- The bishop placed ashes on the head of the re- pentant sinner. who was then obliged to remain humbly prostrate at the church door, soliciting the prayers Of the pious people who were privileged \ to enter the edifice and take part in the divine mysteries within.
 The Christian custom of sprinkhng l ashes on the head Is a. survival from ancient Judaism Job, King David. and many other characters of Holy Writ, practiced> the custom
 Many quaint customs have been connected with Ash Wednesday. Tn ancient Germany it was the practice Of the young men to gather the girls in cart, drive them to a river or I pool. and there give them a, bath-a
 custom which would seem to contain
 more possibilities for rnerriment than for pious devotion. The Kings Cock ! Grower was formerly a dignftary o1 the English court, and it was his duty I to call the monarch to repentance, ax the cock called Peter.