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Show THE DAYCF LIGHT Saxon Festival of Easter Was Regarded by Them as the Queen of All. IN- ANCIENT times the Saxons were worshipers of the heathen goddess Eostre, whose festival fell in the spring. The feast of the Resurrection tailing in the spring also, the name was transferred to the Christian feast which, in the Saxon church, was regarded as the queen of festivals. It was termed the day of light, and from midnight of Easter eve until daylight the churches were brilliantly illuminated illumi-nated and decorated. On Raster morning the people nocked to the elaborate elab-orate service, and especially to wit ness the symbolic resurrection from the sepulcher. This was represented by the priest's elevating in full view of the people the supposed body of the risen Christ. In connection with the celebration in the churches the people indulged in feasting and rejoicing in their own liomes. This was but a natural reac-tionfromthe reac-tionfromthe rigorous fast of Lent imposed im-posed by the church, during which no meat whatever was eaten and on Good Friday no food at all was permitted upon the tables. Even the most devout de-vout Christians must have been raven-iously raven-iously hungry and rejoiced in the prospect pros-pect of the Easter feast. The tables x-ere covered with meats and pas- mu ! m U H - cJiwrfl," A' It i V, t t it s xf S- W H - . ; . - ; Mass of Consecration in Tyrol for clothes, etc. Meadow where the Virgin Vir-gin appeared before Domenica Tar-Sa Tar-Sa a shepherdess. In the Tyrol the piaster festival is one of frreat ceremony. During the Easter holidays bands of musicians visit every valley, singing beautiful hymns to the accompaniment ac-companiment of their instruments as they pass along men, women and children joining in the chorus, bå lighted torches of pine wood. tries, which had been in preparation for days, and the entire week was given over to the celebration. The egg always played an important impor-tant . part in these celebrations of ISaster. In the early English days the :ggs were very highly colored and decorated with landscapes and elaborate elabo-rate inscriptions. While most of the old elaborate displays have fallen into disuse, the egg in some form yet remains re-mains a feature of Easter in modern limes. In Vienna the Easter egg is made of silver, mother of pearl and lironze, filled with all sorts of knick-l;nacks knick-l;nacks and quaint devices. The Tyrolese peasants yet retain a very pretty custom "of celebrating llaster, iu which the egg figures prominently. prom-inently. On Easter eve bands of musicians mu-sicians traverse every valley, singing holiday hymns. Their picturesque Jiats are adorned with flowers. Crowds cf children accompany them and at night carry torches of lighted pine wood. As they pause before each house the people come to the doors and pour eggs into the baskets of the singers, while they themselves join in the chorus. Iu olden times the Polish endeavored endeav-ored to surpass one another in elaborate elabo-rate Easter display and sumptuous feasts. |