The Pulaskian., 1919-04-11

SzsaS gssg kg
 year for the reason that it eommemorates the res. urrection of Jesus. In the words of Paul, If Christ be not risen then is our preaching vain and your faith is also vain" But" he says "nOw is Christ risen from the dead and become the first fruits of them that sleep" Which is to say that the Christian religion stands the resurrection of Jesus
 Pagan Rites Survive
 But the Easter season is observed by millions Who are not even nominally Christians. They do not celebrate the resurrection of Christi but rather the end of winter. the approach of spring, the be- ginning of life in nature after the long sleep of winter. Celebrations of this kind antedate re- corded history. When Christianity came into the world the Christian church adopted and modified such of these pagan rites of celebration it could not abolish. This accounts for the many queer rites of the Christian observance of Easter in various parts of the world They are pagan rites that had their origin in the remotest past, and have been modified by time and custom and q changed meaning
 Thus the parade of fashion to Easter morning church services in the large American cities had its origin ages ago in the superstition that failure to wear at least one new piece of clothing would bring bad luck during the year. The of the egg as q symbol of life is far older than Chris tanity. The Easter rabbit is a survival of old old superstition. The use of flowers as an expres- sion of rejoicing is probably almost old as man himself The paschal candles are in another form the bonfires lighted by our remote ancestors to celebrate the arrival of spring.
 Just how the rabbits managed to get into the Easter celebration nobody seems to be able tC find out with any certainty. Anyway, they are not properly rabbits; they are hares. Undoubtedly the association of the hare with Easter and its eggs was introduced here by the Germans but where they got the idea is what none of the anti quarians have been able to learn to their satsfae tion. AS far as they have gone they figure this way: The relation between the moon and the hare is fairly close. The relation of the moon to Easter Is very close. Gradually in ancient times the hare seems to have become associated with Easter and with Easter eggs
 Easter anc the Egg
 Easter without eggs-fresh laid dyed and sugar would be like Christmas without Santa Claus the stocking and the tree. And the association ot the egg with Easter is easily explained. Many oi the old peoples of earth have used the egg from time immemorial as the symbol of the germ o1 life The wise men of old taught that the world matched from an egg. All over the pagaT world it signifed fertility and potential life. The place of the egg therefore firmly fixed in the spring celebrations that long antedated Christ an( the Christian Easter. The Christian church found the egg so firmly established as an Easter symbo that it could not be dslodged. Therefore th' church adopted the egg and adopted it as sym bol of the resurrection In the transition of Easter from heather to a Christian festival the tradi tion of the egg stands unbroken When the col bring of eggs began, to the Christian the white stood for the immaculate conception; the red fo the blood of the redemption. and the yellow fol the dawn ef the resurrection morn.
 It is natural that many queer relics of ancien egg customs should have survived, while man! have died on the way For instance, the rulers O earth no longer indulge in Easter eggs wholesale After the Easter celebration found its way int France every hen roost in the country wa searched for the largest eggs, which takel as a tribute to the king And after the Easter high mass in the chapel of the Louvre there were brought into the royal cabinet pyramids of gildet eggs decked with verdure. The chaplain afte blessing them, distributed them among the persons of the court in the presence of his most Christian majesty.
 In the time of Henry l, eggs were in great de mand on Easter morn. In the tower is an olt royal roll with an account of entry, "l8d for 4O eggs to be used for ornamental purposes fo Easter
 That the whole world associates the egg witl Easter is shown by the fact that the Christian children in Mesopotamia play the same game a Easter of picking eggs that American boys do In England in many places the boys and girl sroll" their coored eggs just as the Washington children do on the White House grounds. Th White House egg-rolling by the way, is quite celebration and as a curious spectacle is wortl seeing.
 There are many curious customs that obtain a Easter that have nothing to de with the day