The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1923-03-29
FEASTING AMONG CHRIS
TIANS AT EASTER SEASON
Increasing Importance Now Be-
ing Attached to Good Friday

| the savior OF mankind, and to the
secular mind the formal opening of
the springtime season, but observed
as a festival of joy and feasting by
both, is the oldest of all the festivals
in the Christian calendar. 1t is the
day which marked the beginning of
the preaching of the Gospel of Christ.
Easter even antedates Christmas as a
fixed event; for, while the day of the
| Resurrection has been observed from
the foundation of the Christian relig-
ion, it was not until four centuries la
ter that the natal day of Jesus of
Nazareth began to be celebrated
No less fixed event than Easter is
Good Friday, commemorative OF the
day of the Crucifixion and observed
on the Friday Immediately preceding
the Easter Festival. Increasing i'm
portance has been attached by Chris
tian communities in later years to
Long, or Good or Gods Friday, as it
is variously known. 1t is probably, as
the day on which Christ offered up
His life for the redemption of the
! world,the most solemn and sacred of
! the Christian year. In most of the
churches on that day the affairs are
stripped IF all decorations, the Cross
is draped in black and the hangings
are Of a similar sombre hue, and the
day is given over largely by the de-
vOut to prayer and meditation. This
note of sacredness and solemnity is
reflected even in the affairs of the
secular world, many of The States of
the Union in Difference to its deeply
religious significance, having made it
a legal holiday. The custom of cele-
brating the day is involved in obscur-
ity, except for the fact that it is the
day on which Christ was nailed to the
Cross on the Hill of Golgotha; but
from the earliest times, every Friday
among the Christians has been re-
garded as a fast day, as every Sun
day has been a feast day; and the
connection between the one as MAX
ing the day of the CrucifXion and the
other as making the day of the Res
direction, is easily traced
One Of the most interesting facts in
connection with Easter is that is
origin dates back to the old Jewish
Feast of the Passover. According to
Church historian: "The first Chris
tians being derived from or intimate
ly connected with the Jewish Church,
naturally continued to observe the
Jewish festivals, though in new spirit,
as commemorative Of events of which
those had been shadows. The Pass
over ennobled by the thought Of
Christ as the true Pascal Lamb, con-
tinued to be celebrated, and became
the Christian Easter"
Early differences arose as to the
precise day on which the Easter Fes-
tival should be observed. In the Jew
ish calendar the Passover occurs on a
fixed day of the month; while the
Christians, from the earliest days,
assigned the Easter Festival to a fix
ed day Of the week, namely, Sunday.
that being the first day of the week
and the day, according to Scripture
upon which Christ rose from the dead.
Astronomical problems of a confus-
ing character were largely responsible
for these differences, which continued
until the year 425 A. D. when the
Council Of Mecca decreed that every
where in Christendom Easter should
be celebrated on the same day. But
it was not until the adoption of the
GregOrlan Calendar in 1882 that this
decree secured anything like gener-
al acceptance; and even to this day in
the churches of Greece and Russia as
well as in some of the, Oriental con-
gregations where the modern calen-
dar has not been accepted. Easter
falls sometime before and sometimes
after the date on which the Festival
is celebrated by the Western Church
es.
According to Barry one of the his
torians of the Book of Common
Prayers the name Easter is derived
by Bede from Eastre, a Saxon god
dess in whose honor the great Spring
Festival was celebrated. Its old
name was Pascha,Y says Barry, "both
in the East and the West; and endless
titles Of honor and reverence were
heaped upon it. The Pasch-egg, the
symbol of life out of what seemed
,dead-the alutation-'Christ is ris-
en- of Eastern custom-all show how
from time immemorial Easter has
been the great festival of hope and
love"