Milford chronicle., 1916-04-21
OBSERVANCE OF
EASTER SUNDAY

ITHE observance Of Easter Sun
day dates back to the founding
of the early Christian church,
in commemoration Of the resup
rection Of Jesus. It is generally be-
lieved by all Christians that Jesus was
crueifed on Friday and buried. The
following Sunday certain women of
Judea went to the tomb early in the
morning to anoint his body.
Saturday was the Sabbath day Of the
Jews. That accounts for the delayed
visit to the tomb. Jesus was buried so
late Friday the women did not have
time to anoint his body. AS soon as
day dawned that Sunday morning the
women went to the tomb, and. accord
ing to sacred accounts, found Christ
had gone.
The stone which sealed the mouth of
the tomb was rolled away. At first
they were filled with grief, believing
his body was stolen. Then they re-
membered the words of their Master,
that he would rise from the tomb the
third day. His temperance and as
surance that all could conquer the
grave was the cause Of great rejoicing.
From the time of the flight of the |
children Of Israel from Egypt, the |
Jews had observed the Passover to |
commemorate the night when the an
gel Of death passed over the houses OF
the Hebrews and slew the frst-born
in the houses of the Egyptians. The
feast Of the Passover was being OBJ
served by the citizens Of Jerusalem at
the time Of the crucifxion. The fol
lowers Of Christ continued to observe
the feast Of the Passover, but the OBJ.
servance took on a new meaning.
The exact time of the feast was not
settled until the council Of Nice, called
by Emperor Constantine Of Rome in
the year 325 It was then decided that
the feast should be observed the first
Sunday after the first full moon after
the spring equinox The only great
observatory in the world
at that time was at Alexandria, Egypt.
It was left to the astronomers there to
determine when Easter should come T
The early Christians did not know
the feast by the name of Easter. The
name is of Saxon origin and came
from the feast of the paschal lamb OF H
the early Christian church with the
feast of the coming Of spring Of the
Saxons.
Ostara, the goddess Of spring Of the
saxons, was worshiped in England and
before the first missionaries
% the north of Europe brought the
story of Christ The Saxons. in ac-
,epting Christianity continued to OBJ.
serve their old feasts Just as the Jew.
sh Christians continued to observe II
he feast of the Passover. The mis-
persuaded the Saxons to ac-
ept the feast Of the paschal lamb and
imply change the name to that of the II
east of Ostara. which later was angli-
lied to Easter. II
The Easter egg also had its origin
mong nome Christians. The people of
orthern Europe hunted eggs in the
believing that it was good
Ick to find them and eat them OF III
curse wild birds laid eggs only in the III
pring of the year. The Christian III
to our ancestors saw an
pportunity to win men to a belief in =
by adopting the egg-hunt
lg day and combining it with Easter
he egg was shown to typify life. AS
lie chick lies imprisoned in the egg
My to burst forth. so will our bodies
e in the tomb only to be resurrected tu
the call of God. Vi
The hunting and eating Of eggs Is at
1served today in Persia and in other OIL
static lands where there is no Chris F
anity, showing that the custom does S.
1t come with Christianity p
d