The Clio messenger. (Clio, Mich.) 1907-current, 1917-04-06

Nv tween the devotional rigors of the
q former part of Lent and the last
SIX days in which all religious exercises and per-
sonal sacrifices are redoubed until the coming in
or 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 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 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 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 are carried In imitation of the
first Palm Sunday procession, is 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
lsh nameE for Holy Thursday, was called from
the French 'mande," from the Latin 'mandatum"
in allusion TO Christ's words spoken at the Last
Supper, "a commandment I give unto you,
that we live one another" In commemoration of
Christ's act OF humanity In washing the feet of
his disciples on the occasion of the Last Supper
one Of the most important ceremonies Of the day,
A., hoe. H.,
Of the feet of II 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
fury 1t became yearly more popular. Finally the
rite came to be performed by the pope, all Catholic
sbverei gns, prelates, priests and mobiles. At Dur
hami cathedral until the sixteenth century every
charity hoy had monk to wash his feet. When
Queen Elizabeth thirty-nine years old she per-
formed this ceremony for 80 poor and women
at her palace Of Greenwich, it being then the
tom for the sovereign to wash the feet of as many
persons she years old.
Emperor and Begear.
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. kneelng, after
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 never failed
to carry out the rite.
The deyotees 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 Gods 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 Christs 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 draped in black. The three hours
service Is used In the Episcopal church, and In
this church. rs 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-
mony, md 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 any other day of the year except
Easter. In some of the churches In New YORK IL
Is necessary to issue cards for the services on
both these days. rs there is no other way of
controlling the great number OF worshpers VINO
seek admission. Despite the length and solemnity
of the Good Friday service the desire to attend
Ia great that IL Is no uncommon thing TO see
devout men and women standing In long lines In
front of the offices where the cards distributed
fearful that they may even then be too late to gain
| admission.
The most popular Of the secular customs con-
| nected with this dry Is the serving of hot cross
buns The genuine hot cross bun is rather small
one, spicier than ordinary huns, and has brown
| sugary surface marked with cross. 1t is said
that the hot cross bun IL Of pugan origin and can
| he traced back 70 an 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,
| hecause they bore no cross. In very early times