Evening star., 1937-03-28
Retreat.

moon appearing on or after the vernal
equinox Of March 81, and if the full
moon should occur on Sunday. then
Easter day is the Sunday following.
However, the full moon had to do
with the fourteenth day Of q lunar
month, according to early ecclesiastical
reckoning, and this must be taken into
consideration in arriving at the date
Of Easter in connection with our pres
ent methods of calendar compilation.
| For instance. from 1916 through this
present Easter, the festival has oc-
Cured II times In April and S in
March. In 1898 Easter will occur on
April II.
It was once thought that the term
Easter was first used when Christianity
was introduced among the Saxons.
there being a similarity in its celebra-
ton to that of Eestre, the Saxon god
! dess, whose festival came early in the
Spring, probably in the month cor
responding to our April. This Eastur
monath, as it came to be designated,
celebrated the rising Of the sun in the
armament and the springing forth
of all growing things, Later authori-
ties set forth the claim that Eastur
monath was so named because it had
to do with the old heather feast OF
Eostur or Easter, so termed because
t the Spring sun had its new birth in
the East.
With the advent of Christianity
among the Tautonic peoples, it was
natural for them to think of their
old heather festivals of jubilation
over the reaWakening of nature after
its long Autumal and Winter sleep
in connection with the added signifl-
canoe of the resurrection Of our Lord.
In commemoration Of Christ's res
direction on Easter day it became the
custom for families and those whom
! they included in the bond Of COM
munal friendship to exchange the
Easter kiss" and to greet each other
with the salutation Christ is risen,'
to which the reply was made, He Is
risen indeed" In many parts OF the
world this custom with its gravely
| reverent interchange OF salutation and
reply still prevails.
Walsh in his 'Curioeities of Early
Customs comments upon the "invari-
able policy of the early church to
give a Christian significance to such
Of the extant pagan ceremonies as
| could not be rooted out" This con-
! version apparently was particularly
easy in connection with the Easter
| festival.
The expression Joyous Easter" is
far from being modern one. Ancient
| chronicles refer to the day as the
Sunday of JOY" the festival Of fes-
tivas," the feast of feasts." the
bright day"
Neither is the custom Of new
Easter clothes in any wise twentieth
century one, for Gregory Of Nyssa
comments upon the happy crowds, who
by their new clothes and devout ap-
pearance at church services did suita-
bic honor to the festival.
Later, it was thought Ill luck would
pursue those who had not taken the
pains to provide some new article of
wearing apparel for Easter day. In
some communities it was actually sup
posed that the birds. especially rocks
or "crakes," would spos! the clothes
of those who ignored the advent Of
Easter day without the magic, some
thing new.
The evolution of an Easter parade"
OF finery from such backgrounds is
not difficult to understand, nor that
| of our modern Easter sales as the
peak Of Spring merchandising.
It was also the custom in early
times to close all courts Of law, to
make gifts to those less fortunate,
to suspend all business and to engage
! in only the most necessary household
tasks, hence the origin OF holiday
feature or Easter vacation 50 beloved
of our modern school world.
Children baptized on Easter Sunday
were supposed to be particularly
blessed In life.
In contrast to their denias during
the Lenten, or 40-day season OF
penance and self denial of spirit and
flesh, it likewise increasingly became
customary after the church services
on Easter Sunday for Christians gen.
orally to give themselves to all sorts
Of popular folk enjoyment.
In many communities the clergy.
for the purpose of stimulating the
"riscus Pachalis" easter smile), often
recited from their pulpits humorous
legends appealing to the simple
credulities of their parishioners. Others
stimulated their congregations to par
ticipate In pageants and plays de-
picting the life of our Lord and His
crucifixion and resurrection. BY many
authorities it Is believed that these
religious plays incident to the cele-
bration of Easter were the beginnings
| Of our modern drama.
One Of the very Oldest and most
prevalent of all the Easter day su-
perstitions was that Of the sun dancing
in the heavens by way Of participat atton
in the general felicity.
| In Scotland the sun was not only
supposed to dance on Easter day, but
to whirl around like mill-wheel and
rive fhrAe lAanS Th0sA who would