Shoshone journal. [volume] (Shoshone, Idaho) 1884-1931, 1917-04-06

wv tween the devotional rigors of thu
former part of Lent and the las
SIX days, In which all religious exercises and per
sonal sacrifices redoubled until the coming II
of the great feast of Easter.
Palm Sunday seems also to foreshadow the com
ing of the spring, at least from merely mundane
point Of view, because of the great throngs OF
worshipers who pour into the streets from Ro
man Catholic and Protestant Episcopal churches
wearing or carrying the bits Of palm green
branches willow slips which have been dis
trbuted by the priests
In this country palm is almost always used
for this purpose but in countries, where
this leaf is not available Its place is taken by bits
of native green. Box and yew also have been
used from time to time a symbol of Palm Sun
day. Generally the greater part of the palm is
distributed In the form of little crosses, this be-
Ing so especially In the case of the men worship
ers. The receive crosses or large or
small branches according to the fashion of differ
ent parishes.
Rome in Holy Week.
In the years before the war the Holy week
services at Rome drew. thousands of persons from
all parts of the world to that city, These cere-
monies begin with the beautiful Palm Sunday
procession at st. Peters In all Roman Catholic
churches everywhere the Palm Sunday procession,
In which palms carried in imitation of the
first Palm Sunday procession is a stately and pic
turesque spectacle. In the churches under the
of the religious orders, such the Society of
Jesus the services of Holy week, including those
of Palm Sunday. are usually very beautiful and
elaborate. "Maundy Thursday" the good old Eng
lish for Holy Thursday. called from
the French ''mande," from the Latin "mandatum"
i'm allusion to Christ's words spoken at the Last
Supper "a new commandment l give unto you,
that we love one another" In commemoration Of
Chrst's act of humanity in washing the feet of
his disciples the occasion of the Last Supper
- of the most important ceremonies of the day.
cnQQ Tho r1u mt 10 has bpQn Tho qchi
of the feet of II poor persons by
of higher worldly standing than themselves
In the very early church this ceremony is not
known to have existed, but from the fourth CEN
fury it became yearly more popular. Finally the
rite came to be performed by the pope, all Catholic
sovereigns, preates, priests and mobiles. AT Dur
ham cathedral until the sixteenth century every
charity boy had monk to wash his feet When
Queen Elizabeth thirty-nine years old she per-
formed this ceremony for 80 poor men and women
at her palace of Greenwich, it being then the GUS
tom for the sovereign to wash the feet of as many
persons as she was years old.
Emperor and Beggar.
On this OCCASION history recites, the feet of the
bonored beggars were first washed by the yeoman
of the laundry. Afterward the subalmoner washed
them and then the queen herself kneeling after
washing each foot, made the sign of the cross
upon 1t and kissed It,
In Continental countries this practice is still
to carry out the rite
The devotees of the Greek church also use this
ceremony at Moscow, Petrograd and CONSTANT
nople
The day of the Passion Good Friday In Eng
fish, supposedly from Goods Friday" is the most
solemn day of the year in the church. From the
beginning to the end of the three hours service
which commentaries Chrsts agony upon the
cross there is lifting of the deep gloom char
acteristic of the occasion Affairs and celebrants
are draped in black in the Roman Catholic
churches In the Lutheran churches also the altar
and pulpit are draped in black. The three hours
service is used in the Episcopal church, and in
this church, in the Roman Catholic, the history
of the Passion according to ST. John is part of the
Good Friday ritual.
This is followed in the Roman Catholic church
by the alteration of the cross, ancient
mony, and the mass of the presanctifed, so called
because the elements have been consecrated the
day before. In the Greek church also the Good
Friday fast is extremely strict and the mass very
long.
Churches Filled to Limit
More persons flock to the churches on Good Fri
day than on any other day of the year except
Easter. In some of the churches in New York 1t
Is necessary to issue cards for the services on
both these days. there is no other way of
the great number of worshipers who
seek admission. Despite the length and solemnlty
Of the Good Friday service the desire to attend
IS so great that 1t is no uncommon thing TO
fevout men and women standing in long lines In
'front.' of the offices where the cards distributed.
fearful that they may then be too late to gain
omission.
The most popular of the secular customs con-
lected with this day is the serving of hot cross
,uns The genuine hot cross bun is rather small
me, spcier than ordinary buns and has brown,
ugary surface marked with a cross. It is said
hat the hot cross bun Is of pagan origin and can
e traced back to ancient custom of worship
,ofI nv tho fino NJ orad
axes But the buns that existed previous to the
xxora no In reality those of tndnx-