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Show March 29,1923 THE LEIII SUN, LEW, UTAH PAGE THREE EASTER HYMN aT rtl .P"T A T"r V IT i IIP 1" '4 TF I'lfX r I I l 1 1 A I 111 111 h II a a. t' (' ', ' II tt 1I 1 3 Ml 14 ' I U -8T JL V1U UijBAU JJJsUll) f h : rN 'IP V MICE). I 4- v I W nil n rr 111' ! I 1 II 1 X I t5 n Weird Easter Rites of the Penitentes With tlie approach of I Inly we?k the Penitentes forsake the role of stu iid peons and once more take up jhelr yearly scourging. After the assing of Raster, because of fne fljora, each brother has accotiuillsliel ine more act to Ih? used for his sal Ration, has taken another step that Ihould bring him closer to heaxen. I All the year around, the Penitentes re Indifferent Mexicans living In heir Hlobe huts, which tliej liave jwide with their own hands, existing in a land ot inanana. sometlnies raK Ing little fields of stunted pom. oi fliili peppers, or Mexican, beans: miptimes fending tiipir few scrawn fliltkens r gtmts. The) are never lurried, never do anything, yet have jlnle time. If anyone asks them for twining they Invariably answer rilny pom tlempei" -1 have H-tle nine." Thus theirs Is a life of pooo i""ipo, except durfng Unt. I Rarely at an.y other time during the yt'iir do the Penitentes hecome active I' they do. It Is on All Souls' di.?. fwo fir after Halloween time. Tl Jlifj miikf a iirocession to their ceme l7. wlii.in (heir hacks as they eo Paslonallv. when mm of thlr hnith jTliwd has died, they convene at hi f"n to h,.id prayer. chanting a n:e. litanylike song, praying late J'tn the night for the departed soul Lenten Observancet. All during rlinnoh iiiu. iw.iri r'uuea praying, going In small pro fthins In the night. Indulging In felf-tlaylng. hut It Is Holy Krl fl'T which awakens their zeal to the J'-'I'fst pitch. Kw. bllstery winds ot '.m-h or April hlow. swaying the 1ilsh green pinion trees dotting the pln l're the Penitentes live; the M has been pli-turesfjuely named j Siingre de frlsto range-bhHid ot ! nnsthy the. Spnnlsb. explorers be PUi ''e red-statned rocks on uniainsvies, rocks showing a ferric f'mimsltli,!,. 1 0 Friday afternoon the I'enitente C!""" ' he greatest of theli tiiBi i Tllpy ,,i,ve Iwn ving 1'Hi.selves off and ,, ,,urln) H'frl hl.M.,1 Hnd oufragwl fiesh Nev iT' """v heKln a&at Uh aug '"IIM furv.- k..i ... oimruy aner nMn V-lnM "Ut C,n(, ""'T ,n ruser8 and " e w Procession ; the en p of the Crucifixion I Or GrWSOme Ceremonies. Lt.V'f ,he ,,?1f'tes Is tinmen to ' rr,' 0t e' rr,St a"d carrl liioh h" ,,vy. crude ayiiilml aza.H;e DSU""y n hardly drag. lim I 8 Under tne weight Behlnu lbs h the 0thera tl,e sIner8 aDd Wdl t Bay '"emselves with whips ! i "le yncc" or "aP-wd th:an, ,S con,mon throughout the fc'ade,".6? and hear8 ,on fihrrns t au ' . ta 08'1 hy the peons tc r.,i.Inide "aP: 'he tough blade hit n e "cour,n8 themselves 1ntJ Wp f,,rw-'l nd then pause. wi n " Ing rtbers of m, ' H "H5r already much r,lS atk w,tl 'lull thwack. The aids their rvzu If an lac in his ! U"u1 '". bj bringing dvwn a blackstinke on his shoulders, of his remissness; the leather whip cuts the air with a sharp whistling. No Limit to Self-Torture. Often these rigors are not enough: the cholla cactus, one needle of which has known to drive horses to fury, Is packed about their chests, or yet again, the Penitentes walk across these with their bare feet, or fling the brandies of needles on their backs. The cholla needles are long and malignant ma-lignant ; they stick In the flesh as If barbed and barn like fire, working their way inward, where they cause pustules. Imagine many of these needles in one's flesh! And yet the Penitentes, with zealous cries con tlnue their way to the place selected as el Talvarto, all their pain subju gated by their religious fanaticism. Amid loud lamentation, the pilgrim age of the Cross Is enacted, the man staggering under the weight ot the symbol. Ue precedes the group; his back Is now bleeding, now clotted. When he reels, showing signs of being almnt to fall, one of the elder brothers broth-ers In rank helps him. Once attain Ing the spot chosen as Calvary el t'risto Is usually tied with ropes to his cross and raised Indeed, what a siiet'tude; the sky lowers like a cloud ed opal, and the raw, penetrating breeze fans the trousers of the Penl tentes. These people believe that had weather Is synonymous with Holy week, that the weather must be bad because It Is a time when every one mourns. And still they worship, oh livlous ot the cold winds, lifting theli cries and chants, whipping vigorous ly. El (Ylsto hangs until he no longer shows much sign of life and then Is taken down, wrapped In a cloth and carried away. Deaths Not Uncommon. Formerly, nailing the victim to the cross was quite common ; death came also as often to their ranks. The corpses were ferreted away and probably prob-ably buried. Hut nothing definitely has ever been proved against the cult; In the past, rumors have circulated about this Penltente or that not being be-ing seen after Holy week; men have been known to die from the excessive fanaticism of their ritual. Now. the news that one of them has been killed during the crucifixion spreads, now. one has died fro.n exhaustion and too rigorous self-torture, but these stories are short lived. Should a Penltente be) ray his brotherhood, then the pen alty is to he buried alive. Conse iiuently. no one has ever talked. However, at present, the crucifixion is more guarded and merely takes the form of tying the victim to the cross with roies. Even now, the spectacle EASTER MORNING 171 0. I :r. T4 What could be mora In season than thi. gprlna maiden with her Easter symbols. of tying el Crlsto Is beginning to be eliminated, or else performed at night, on Thursday evening. Guards with guns are usually posted at the ceremonies cere-monies In order to keep away the overcurioos stranger. Any one approaching ap-proaching too close la duly threatened. threat-ened. Boys have taken hikes Into the mountains, to behold the spectacle of the Penitentes whipping themselves. Many have crouched behind a rock or a bush on a hill, watching the ritual closely, while expecting any minute to receive from their rear the shot of dreaded and doubtful "bacon rind." Such hikes provide great thrills for the youths and also material for a story which they can recount to thelt less fortunate comrades. A person not having seen the Penitentes Is considered con-sidered unworldly-wise and a "nlnny." Cult Is Dwindling. Thus does the cult flourish In New Mexico, southern Colorado, southern Utah and eastern Arizona. But each year this sect Is becoming less and less conspicuous, withdrawing more and more Into the fastnesses of the mountains. Undoubtedly, tourists have beheld the Penitente miniature crosses erected erect-ed along some highways as they have ridden over the rough, dirt roads In the neighborhood of the colonies Piles of rocks hold these, crosses op right They are some three feet high But the passing of the Holy week marks the cessation of their cere monies and of their greatest activity During the rest of the entire year, they are peaceful people who carry on their meager farming. As a people, peo-ple, they are superstitions, Impressionable, Impres-sionable, and are commonly known as mestizos; that is, half-breeds of In dian Spanish descent hut oftener, they are of Indian descent alone. Easter Lily Blossom Unknown to Palestine It Is wholly uncertain what flower Jesus had In mind when he spoke of the "lilies of the field," whlch-though whlch-though they toiled not, neither did they spin were adorned more beautifully beauti-fully than Solomon in all his glory. Certainly he was not speaking of any blossoms of the type now represented by what Is called the Easter lily, because be-cause no such lilies were known In the Palestine of His day, all of .them being exclusively of eastern Asiatic origin. Of these lilies there are many varieties, as everybody knows, the finest of them all and the one generally gen-erally grown at the present time in the greenhouses of this country being be-ing a native of Japan Llllum longl-florum. longl-florum. A similar Illy, though of a different variety, Is the Llllum candidum, or Madonna lily, which is so called because be-cause It Is the flower that Is supposed to have been presented to the Virgin by the Angel of the Annunciation. One finds It thns depicted In one of the most famous paintings of Mnrilio. Origin of Colored Egg$ The custom of having colored eggs at Easter time seems to have a heathen heath-en origin. Easter time was the time of the ancient spring festivals that marked the return of the warm weather, with flowers and birds and animal life revived. The egg from which a Uve bird may emerge is a most fitting symbol of this spring awakening- The bright colon with which eggs are decorated aymboltze the hues of the Easter un, also the universal Joy at this time after the whiteness or graynesa of winter. The Easter rabbit baa a German origin and Is the result of an attempt to account ac-count to children for the presence of the colored eggs; of course every child knows that bent do not lay sock decorated egga. Clirbt U Uri b rUra today, ' 1 Son at bm and an U m?i Rain four iojra and triumph kith, Sln, r baarau, aaa aartb npljr. Lavm't rrt mini work la F ought Mm fifht, lha battla Woal La! our Sua' aclipa la e'ari Lot H art hi Vaia lha ctoaa, tb watch, th aaalt Christ hath buret tba fata of haU, Death la vaia forbids Hta rls Christ hath opaoad Paradlaal Lives afaia our f larious Khtfl Whera, O Death. U Bow tb atlatT Ones Ha died, our souls to aava Wbsra thy vktory, O Grava? Wtlr. Arose Out of the lEmp Easter commemorates and Incarnates Incar-nates the resurrection of Christ It la the annual festival of eternal hope, inspired by that fact "He Is not here ; for Be Is risen as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay." They looked and the tomb was empty. Christianity rose out of that empty tomb. Christian civilization with all of its physical, mental, moral and religious re-ligious phenomena, rose out of it Christian art In architecture, sculpture, sculp-ture, painting and music, comes from the same source. Philosophy and science follow a risen Lord. The uplifted up-lifted moral and spiritual life of the Individual and the world Is a vital witness to this fact Rain finds Its radiant proof In blooming flowers. The resurrection of Christ finds similar proof in the growing life and Institu tions of Christianity. The human witnesses wit-nesses to the empty tomb are gone, burXhristianlty Is a living witness giving Incontrovertible proof of a risen Lord. Sin registered Its verdict against Christ in the crucifixion, but the supreme court of the universe reversed re-versed this Judgment In the resurrection. resurrec-tion. God steps out of the shadow in the resurrection of Christ The resurrection resurrec-tion of Christ brought "Immortality to light" The vague was darkened by doubt, was changed to the assurance assur-ance of a dominant faith, and human despair was changed to radiant hope. Let us try the pragmatic test Does the theory of Christ's resurrection workT Emphatically, It does, Rev. H. W. Knickerbocker asserts, In the Houston Post Put to the test of practical prac-tical use. It accomplishes divine results, re-sults, and the truth of the theory Is proved by this fact Can a lie be the source of truth? Can hell be the source of heaven? Is Christianity wltt Its righteousness the product of a stolen dead body? Tou may determine deter-mine the nature of a cause by Its effect ef-fect Like begets like. Christianity rose out of an empty tomb. The resurrection res-urrection of Christ is proved by the fact of Christianity, and the truth of Christianity by the resurrection of Christ The spirit of Christ Is rising Into the heart of humanity, and one day the moral resurrection from the death of sin will be complete In a Christ! ike world. This Is "the one far off divine event toward which the whole creation moves" TO FINETEASTER Even 'the youngest knows by this time that Easter does not come on the same day oi the month year after year like Christmas. Here Is the rule for finding when It will come: Thirty day hath September. Every pertoa eaa reaarmberi But to bnow srfaea Eastera come. Puzzle cveo achelar some. Whea) Maach tba twenty -first la oast, Just eratcb tba silvery asooai And arhea yoa as H fuD and round, Easter eriD be her soon. ' Aftet the easoa ass reached Its full The Easter wfll be here. The vary Sabbath after. A ad I M hay oa Sabbath The aaoaa sneuld reach Its hetcht. The Sabbath feumrmt thte eve WO be tb Easter bricbL April Fool and Easter We have never connected April Fool's day with Easter, but onr ancestors an-cestors did. They said the day originated orig-inated from the mocking of our Lord at Easter time. The Jews, on the other hand, say the day has nothing whatever to do with Lent but a great deal to do with the Bible, for It was on the first of April that Koab sent out the first bird to find land a foolish fool-ish errand I So do we send April fools o fools' errands. SP l dr! ST Model37 ) Wlmi a ycai? f ov Hsieniitl 3on9t bo left oat PRESIDENTIAL YEAR! Politics popping all over the lot! Remember "Twenty-four votes for Underwood' four years ago? Remember how you said the thrill of that ono convention repaid many times the price of your radio let? 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