Red Lodge daily news combined with Carbon County news., 1934-03-28

ancient Israel as the Passover for many CEN
turtles before the birth Of Jesus Christ. 1t was
based upon the events which took place when
the Hebrews were saved from the destruction
which was visited upon the Egyptians, as given
In Exodus 2:27. The first Christians, being
In the main Jews, continued for a long time
to observe the Passover as well as other ancient
ceremonies. But gradually these early followers
of the cross began to substitute the Christ for
the paschal lamb of Israel In the Passover cere-
monies.
Eventually there arose a difference of opinion
between the Christians of Hebrew descent and
those Of Gentle descent as to the time when
these ceremonies should be celebrated. Those
of Hebrew descent declared that the day of the
death Of Jesus should be the date of the ending
of the paschal fast, which In Hebrew rites al
ways was on the fourteenth day Of the moon In
the evening. Therefore the Easter festival. which
followed, might fall on any day Of the week.
Those of Gentle descent, however, wanted tile
first day Of the week, Sunday, to be the first
day OF the resurrection festival. Thus the Friday
preceding would be observed as the date Of the
cruclhxion without paying any attention to the
day of the month.
For 325 years the difficulty between the Christ
ians Of Jewish descent and those of Gentle
1872 AhsA &NOk b1Ah6 Abk3 w dtLlQt III
recurrence of Easter, the council of the early
Christian church finally appealed to the astron-
omers In Alexandria, Egypt, for aid. However,
the scientists were not of much assistance. for
they had no lunar tables such as we now have.
computed by master mathematician. They at
tempted to make rules, but the variations of the
full moon In reference to the year would not
cause Easter to fall on Sunday any more than
any other day. All wanted 1t to come on Sunday.
so each nation celebrated to suit itself so that
1t would come on that day. Thus In A. ID. 387
the Gauls celebrated Easter on March 21, In
Italy 1t fell on April IS, and In Egypt 1t fell on
April rs.
Eventually the selection Of a certain Sunday
was definitely fixed In the Sixth century A. ID
1t was designated as the Sunday between the
fifteenth and twenty-1rst days Of the moon In the
first month of the Jewish lunar years. II was
directed that the computation should be made
according to the tables Of v~lctorius OF Acoui-
tame, introduced In 457 A. D.. Because of the
fact that Britain had ceased to be q part of the
Roman empire, the Sixth century decree did not
affect the British church at first, and II con-
tinued to calculate Easter on a basis previously
approved at Rome. The matter was finally dis
posed of at q synod held at Whltby In Yorkshire
In 664 A. D., after which the clergy Of the British
Isles conformed to the general practice of the
western church.
Accordingly Easter is now observed by both
the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches on
the first Sunday after the full moon Tor four-
teenth day of the moon) on or next after March
81. SO 1t cannot be earlier than March % nor
later than April rs. Thus 1t Is possible for the
and mathematicIans to tell In nd.
vance on what dates Easter will come each wear
and they are now known for more than q century
In advance. Thus, too, we know how often II "a
that young America viii be confronted with the
problem that c%onfronts them this year-that OF
celebrating on the sam day two occasions which
are at the opposite poles In character even
though they trace back to a similar origin
a BY Western Newspaper Union.