South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1917-02-09
HoW the Week
as a DiUision of
Time Originated
BY Garrett =. Serviss.

The week is not a natural divis-
ion of time, like the day, the month.
and the year. which are all determ-
! ined by the motions, or apparent
| motions. Of the heavenly bodies.
The rotation Of the earth on its axis
/ measures the day the revolution Of
/ the earth around the sun determ-
ines the year. and the revolution Of
/ the moon around the earth is the
/ basis of the month.
The week was probably at first
\ a period of time, covering a few
! days. varying in different times
and places, which served TO de-
/ termine some periodically recur-
ring event in human intercourse.
such as "A religious ceremony or a
| public market.
At the present time in Africa,
among different tribes. there are
market weeks" varying in length
from four to eight days. and in the
Congo the native name for week
is identica, with that for market.
A similar custom prevails in many
other parts of the world. Some
times a particular day. coming
after a fixed interval (always a
fraction of a month"; is set apart
as a time of rest from ordinary oc-
equations.
This idea would seem to have
suggested the conception of the
seven-day period that constitutes
our week, the Almighty being
4 fhnnpnf nf ,.agffVn III,
bandman. after a certain number
of days of continuous toll This is
the only week that has become uni
| versal throughout the civilized
world. Ii unquestiOnably original
ed in eastern Asia. and was con-
nected with the Mosaic account of
the creation.
But just why or when seven days
were fixed as the weeks length is
a matter OF speculation. The num-
Der seven had a symbolic signifi-
cation in ancient Palestine and else
where and some have thought that
the seven planets" including un-
der that term the Sun and the
moon, as we'll as Mercury. Venus,
Mars. Jupiter and Saturn, furnished
sacred or mystic number
At any rate. the individual names
of the days of the week are de-
rived from the names of these
heavenly bodies In Latin the
names were. in their order: Dies
Sois (Sors day.. Dies Lunae Gu
mas day.. Dies Martis (Mars' day.,
Dies Mercurii (Mercury's day.,
Dies Jovis (Jove's day, Dies We
neris Venus day., Dies Saturni
| (Saturn's day.. In French the
latin roots are discernible in the
names Dimanche, Lundi, Mardi,
Mercredi, Jeudi. Vendredi. Samedi;
but our English list is based on
Morse and Saxon roots-Sunday
(Sun's day., Monday moons day.,
Tuesday CTiw's day). Wednesday
(Wooden's day., Thursday (Thor's
day), and Friday (Frigga's day.,
although Saturday seems to be as
we'll derived from the Latin Satur-
nus as from the saxon Saterne.
A very curious astrological ar
rangement connected each of the
"a hours of the day, as well as each
day of the week, with one of the
planets, the order of succession al
ways remaining the same and run
ming in this wise. Saturn. Jupiter,
Mars. Sun, Venus, Mercury. Moon.
If the first hour of any day was
the suns. then the Sth, the 18th
and the 22d hours of the same day
would also belong TO the sun. while
the 23d would fall to Venus, she
| befpg ,,avt n, e,,ccaSSfop tn tha S,,p
the cath TO Mercury, and the first
hour of the following day to the
Moon. The next day after one be-
ginning with a Moon hour would
begin with a Mars hour, the next
with Mercury hour, and so on, the
day taking the name of the planet
governing its opening hour
With regard to the second part
of your question. why we celebrate
the birth of Christ on the 25th of
December. it can only be said that
the custom is based on tradition.
and this tradition has not as far
as / know, been traced back of the
second century, of our era. The
early Christians seem 10 have had
no certain knowledge of the date
VI Ani uiA III anu AAAA ANAlAldct do
a church feast. was long antedated
by Epiphany, fixed finally for the
9Th of January, and which was con
nected not with the physical
birth" of Christ, but with His first
manifestation as a Divine Being on
earth. and was related both 10 His
recognition by the Magi and His
baptism.
Ii was not until the fourth and
fifth centuries that Christmas be-
gan to be widely celebrated. There
has never been any certainty that
il represents the true birthday of
Christ. Even the year of Christs
birth. as you probably know. is un-
certain. There is one singular fact
concerning the 25th of December
which is worth knowing. at least
as a curiosity. II is preserved by
the old English chronicler Bede
who says that the ancient Angli
before their conversion 10 Chris
tianity. began their year on the 25th
OF December, and that they called
what is now Christmas night the
mothers nisht.