The state herald., 1917-04-06

~ week. 1t is n happy interlude be-
Nv tween the devotional rigors of the
- former part of Lent and the last
SIX days, in which all religious exercises and per-
sonal sacrifices are redoubled until the coming In
Of the great feast of Easter.
Palm Sunday seems also to foreshndow the com
Ing Of the spring. nt 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
tributed by the priests.
In this country palm is almost always used
for this purpose. but in some 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 us symbol Of Palm Sun
day. Generally the greater pnrt Of the palm Is
distributed in the form of little crosses this be-
ing SO especially in the Of the men worship
ers. The women receive crosses or large
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
monies begin with the beautiful Palm Sunday
procession Mt st. Peters, In all Romnn Catholic
churches everywhere the Palm Sunday procession,
In which palms carried In imitation OF the
nrst Palm Sunday procession. II 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, usually very beautiful and
elaborate. "Maundy Thursday" the good old Eng
sh name for Holy Thursday. called from
the French "mande," from the Latin s1kapta tum'-
in allusi0n to Chrlsts words. spoken At the Inst
Supper. "A new commandment give ulto you.
that ye love one another" In commemoraton Of
Christ's act Of humanity In washing the feet OF
al n1a SNcrn noin nft tha vagf
one Of the most important ceremonies of the day.
since the early middle ages. has been the washing
Of the feet Of u or more poor persons by some
one Of higher worldly standing thnn themselves.
In the very early church this ceremony In not
known to have existed, but from the fourth GEN.
tury 1t became yearly more popular. Finally the
rite came 20 be performed by the pope NIL Catholic
sovereigns. prelates. priests and mobiles. At Dur
ham cathedral until the sixteenth century every
charity boy had monk to wash his feet. when
Queen Elizabeth was thirty mine years old she per-
formed this ceremony for 30 poor and women
at her palace Of Greenwich II being then the GUS
tom for the sovereign to wash the feet Of mnny
persons ms she was years old
Emperor and eessar.
On this occasion. history recites the feet OF the
honored beggars were first washed by the yeomnn
Of the laundry. Afterwnrd the subnlmoner washed
them and then the queen herself. kneeling nftcr
washing each foot. made the sign Of the cross
upon II and kissed II.
In Continental countries this practice is still
kept up. The late emperor Of Austria failed
TO carry out the rite
The devotces OF the Greek chufch also use this
ceremony ut Moscow. Petrograd and CONSTANT.
nopie
The day Of the Passion. Good Friday In Eng.
lish. supposedly from Gods Friday" is the most
solemn day Of the year In the church From the
beginning to the end OF the three hours service
utAa hPts ufaNn he
cross there In no lifting Of the deep gloom char.
acteristic Of the occasion. Aitnrx md celebrnnts
are draped In black In the Romnn Catholic
churches. In the Lutheran churches also the altar
and pulpit are drnpcd In black. The three hours
service ls used In the Episcopal church, and In
this church. as In the Roman Catholic. the history
Of the Passion according to 81. John is part Of the
Good Friday ritual.
This In followed In the Roman Catholic church
by the nd0rntion Of the cross. ancient cere-
mony and tho mass Of the presanctifed. 10 called
because the elements hive been consecratcd the
day before. In the Greek church nlso the Good
Friday fast h extremely strict md the mass very
long.
Churches Filled TO Limit.
More persons flock 10 the churches on Good FRI
day than on any other dny of the yenr except
Faster. In some Of the churches In New York u
In necessary TO Issue cards for the services on
both these days. ns there In no other way Of
controlling the great number of worshipcrs who
seek admission. Despite the length md socmniy
Of the Good Friday service the desire to attend
II 70 ercnt thnt II II uncommon thing to see
dcvout men md women standing In long lines In
front Of the offices where the cards nre distributed
fearful tnt they may even then be too Int to gnin
admission.
The most popular Of tho secular customs con.
ncctcd with this dny In the serving Of hot cross
buns The genuine hot cross bun is rather n small
one. spicicr than ordinary buns and has brown
sugnry surface marked with crosA II II snid
that tho hot cross bun In Of pagan origin nnd can
be trnced back TO mn ancient custom Of worship
ing tho Queen Of Heaven by the cniing Of sacred
cakes hut the huns TINT existed previous to tho
Christian crn were not In reality those Of today.
t,cnuse they bore no cross. In very early times