The Knoxville independent. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1894-current, 1917-04-07

nv tween the devotional rgors of the
- former part of Lent and the last
six days, In which all religious exercises and per-
sona sacrifices redoubled until the coming in
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 or willow slips which have been dis
trbuted by the priests.
In this country palm Is almost always used
for this purpose but in some countries, where
this leaf Is not available it's place is taken by bits
of native green Box and yew also have been
used from time to time 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 women 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 care
of the religious orders, such as 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
fish name for Holy Thursday was so called from
the French ''mande,' from the Latin "mandatum"
lin allusion to Christs words spoken at the Last
Supper, "a new commandment give unto you,
that We love one another. In commemoration Of
s4Christ's act Of humanity In washing the feet OF
his disciples the occasion Of the Last Supper
one of the most important ceremonies of the day,
since the early middle ages has been the washing
of the feet of IL or more poor persons by some
one 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 1t 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 was 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 Begqar.
On this occasion, history rectes the feet of the
hOnOred beggars first washed by the yeoman
of the laundry Afterward the subalmoner washed
them and then the queen herself, kneeling after
washing each IOOC maze the sign OF the cross
upon 1t and kissed it.
In Continental countries this practice is still
kept up. The late emperor of Austria never failed
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
lish, supposedly from Gods Friday" is the most
solemn day of the year in the church. From the
lhapin RI tha and f tha bOY, too
which commentaries Chrst's agony upon the
cross there is no 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, as 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, an ancient cere-
lmony and the mass of the presanctifed, so called
because the elements have been eonsecrated 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 Good Fri
day than on any other day of che year except
Easter. In some Of the churches in New York it
lis necessary to issue cards for the services on
both these days, as there is no other way of
controlling the great number Of worshipers who
seek admission. Despite the length and soemnity
of the Good Friday service the desire to attend
lis so great that 1t IS uncommon thing to see
Adeyout men and women standing In long lines In
front Of the Offices where the cards are distributed
fearful that they may then be too late to gain
admission.
The most popular Of the secular customs con-
nected with this day Is the serving of hot cross
buns The genuine hot cross bun is rather small
one spicier than ordinary buns, and has brown,
sugary surface marked with cross 1t is said
that the hot cross bun is of pagan origin and can
be traced back to ancient custom of Worship
ing the Queen Of Heaven by the eating of sacred
cakes But the buns that existed previous to the
Christian era were not in reality those of today.
a,ecause they bore no cross In very early times