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Show f iL- t-ff : I - ?. tZ it,r r'' ' " By ELMO SCOTT WATSON " - s - x vv. T'S an "early Kaster" thi oai, fin t . .1.A- T I Kaster Suiuiay falls ou lluith f " . v t " i X I Inst year It came on April 3 nnd next f ' "F ' " 7 s'' i t- J year It will come on Apnl lb 1 or N . K 1 .- "T! all the red letter days on out c-tlend a- , , . , v . T fff?4 I Kaster 1S the most van le 'iheonly - v .p T , I flUug certain about it is that it nl- .... v A. i. M'.' 4- yK: V sV5-Sr . J I ways comes on a Sunday and It is ,,k V - Tf. I limited to either one of tuo months, " V vvUM VVV -2? 3) I March and April. Thenthe.ea.e . Vv" Q i other limits, too, that is it cannot X IV. 5iasra. 11 -BBaoBt. come earlier than March 22 nor later 3 & k,s"- p-t- ' than April 25. -V-K iSclvV- A Why ail this variation In such an important . V?v" -v f sM. ttX annual festival? The reasons go back into an- 1 Christian consumption and for centuries after- cient history. 4" - HjjJN wards it was felt that they were endowed with The festival now known as Easter was cele- . some special spiritual qualities. A few cross- By ELMO SCOTT WATSON ""St'S an "early Kaster" this year, for T I Kaster Sunday falls on March 11. X I Last year it came on April 3 and next J year it will come on April lb. h or "JJrj all the red letter days on our calendar ffC?4 I faster is the most variable, 'iheonly oJ'Jj E "liuS cei-Uiin about it is that it al-'SS al-'SS I wa)s co"ies 011 a Sunday and It is -rJ-Sjl I limited to eitlier one of two months, Wy I March and April. Then there are 1 otller li itiUs, too, that is. it cannot maotaaar come earlier than March 22 nor later than April 25. Why all this variation In such an important annual festival? The reasons go back into ancient an-cient history. The festival now known as Easter was celebrated cele-brated by ancient Israel as the Passover for many centuries before the birth of Jesus Christ. It was based upon the events which took place when the Hebrews were saved from the destruction destruc-tion which was visited upon the Egyptians, as given In Exodus 12 :27. The first Christians, being be-ing In the main Jews, continued for a long time to observe the Tnssover 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 Tassover ceremonies. cere-monies. Eventually there arose a difference of opinion between the Christians of Hebrew descent and those of Gentile descent as to the time when these ceremonies should be celebrated. Those cu 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, always 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 Gentile descent, however, wanted the 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 crucifixion without paying any attention to the day of the month, the fast continuing until midnight of Saturday. The dispute over this point was complicated by the Irregularities of the time of full moon In relation to the year. The Hebrew sacred year began at the Instant of the vernal equinox, but this time Is subject to slight changes due to the astronomical fact of perturbation of the motion mo-tion of all bodies In the solar system. The Hebrews based their years on lunar changes, whereas we now determine the exact length of a year by the sun and stars, which Is more accurate. ac-curate. It Is notable that the ancient Hebrews always had trouble with their chronology because be-cause they based the beginning of each month on the first sight of the new moon. The trouble was principally due to the fact that the moon revolves around the earth in 27 days, 7 hours, 43 minutes and IIV2 seconds, and the earth around the sun In 31,5?S,149 seconds. Therefore the moon makes 13.3GS7 revolutions to the earth's one. Full-moon times are also out of harmony with the spring equinox, and this fact ' caused trouble in determining time in ancient times. The result of all these complications was that by applying the Jewish rules to Easter, the dates of the crucifixion and the resurrection, two days which were supposed to be fixed for all time, varied constantly. For 323 years the difficulty between the Chrls-tions Chrls-tions of Jewish descent and those of Gentile descent continued. Not being able to decide the recurrence of Easter, the council of the early Christian church finally appealed to the astronomers 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 mathematicians. They attempted. 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 if to come on Sunday, so-each nation celebrated to suit itself so that it would come on that day. Thus in A. D. 3S7 the Gauls celebrated Easter on March 21. in Italy it foil on April IS, and in Egypt it fell on April 25. Eventually the selection of a certain Sunday was definitely fixed during the Sixth century A. P. It was designated as the Sunday between the fifteenth and twenty-first days of the moon in the first month of the Jewish lunar years. It was directed that the computation should be made nccording to the tables of Victorius of Acqul-taine, Acqul-taine, introduced in 457 A. D. Because of the fact that Britain had ceased to be a part of the Kimian empire, the Sixth century decree did not n fleet the British church at first, and it continued con-tinued to calculate Easter on a basis previously approved at Borne. Tin matter was finally dis- 1. President Hoover greeting the crowd gathered gath-ered for the annual "Easter egg rolling" on the lawn of the White House. 2. Sunrise services on Easter morning in the Garden of the Gods, near Colorado Springs, Colo. 3 The Easter lily, one of the loveliest of all Easter symbols. 4. The Hollywood Bowl, Hollywood, Calif., where an impressive Easter morning service is held every year. : 5 posed of at a synod held at Whitby in Yorkshire In GC4 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 (or fourteenth four-teenth day of the moon) on or next' after March 21. So it cannot be earlier than March 22 nor later than April 25. Thus it Is possible for the astronomers and mathematicians to tell in advance ad-vance on what dates Easter will come each year, and they are now known for more than a century in advance. That', of course, Is based upon the assumption that our calendar will continue unchanged. But there is a possibility that some time within the next few years a new calendar system will be adopted and in that case Easter Sunday will be a fixed date instead of a variable one. So, in case you're interested In knowing what will be the Easter dates for the next few years, here they are: 1933 April 16 1934 April 1 1935 April 21 1936 April 12 1937 March 28 1938 April 17 1939 April 9 1940 March 24 1941 April 13 1942 April 5 ' 1943 April 25 1944 4 April 9 1945 April 1 191(5 April"21 1947 April 6 194S March 28 1949 April 17 1950 April 9 Just as Easter is now a variable date, so has It a variable meaning to many different people. To the child, who cannot grasp its religious significance, sig-nificance, it means a day whose symbols are rabbits, rab-bits, little chickens and Easter eggs. To those children, too, who like to think of any festival time in terms of something good to eat, Easter time means candy eggs, candy rabbits and other candy symbols of the day, not to mention those fragrant, sugary piles of the mystically marked confection, known as hot cross buns. How did a bakery product come to be associated asso-ciated with Easter anyway? It goes back to the days of the ancient Saxons who worshipped Easter as goddess of the dawn and benign giver of new life with the coming of the vernal equinox. equi-nox. That was long before they had ever heard of Christianity and the Resurrection. In their joy at the return of new life in the springtime they brought the Easter goddess their sweetest cakes, at the same time eating great numbers of them themselves. They clung to this custom even after they had embraced Christianity. Some of the early Christian Chris-tian leaders were a bit dubious of preserving such a relic of a heathen religion but some tolerant tol-erant person who was nlso a genius for compromise, com-promise, suggested to the priests that they bless the pagan cakes, marking them with the cross. Thus the Saxon Easter biscuit was made fit for Christian consumption and for centuries afterwards after-wards it was felt that they were endowed with some special spiritual qualities. A few cross-buns cross-buns baked on Good Friday not only would not molder, as would other bread, but If kept throughout through-out the year they would be an efficient medicine for various ills when crumbled in a cup of water and thus taken into the body. To most people Easter means a time for coming com-ing forth In new clothes and although some of our philosophers have bewailed the extravagance of the "Easter style parade" as a sign that we have lost the spiritual significance of the day in reality it is in keeping with the- essential spirit of Easter, which is shared by Christian and pagan alike. It is the idea of "resurrection," "resurrec-tion," of revived life after apparent death. It marks the climax of the year when all nature awakes from sleep, throws off the death-like chill of winter and beings to live anew. With all nature pointing the way by bedecking herself in new raiment, it is only natural that mankind should celebrate the surge of new life by putting on new apparel. So when milady appears at church on Easter Sunday in a new frock and a new hat, It is not mere human vanity expressing itself. She puts them on because she must ! She has responded to the fundamental instinct by responding thus to the call of spring, to the message of renewed life. There Is an old British tradition that It is "good luck to wear something new on Easter day," but that is a mere outgrowth of the essential essen-tial idea of the Eastertide. Far as some of the symbols of Easter and their meanings for different' people may seem to be removed from the essential spirit of Easter, they are in reality not so far removed. For all of them are based upon the idea of "ressurec-tion" "ressurec-tion" and if "resurrection" is the spirit and the message of Easter, then the inmost essence of that spirit can be summed up in the one word "immortality." If man can find an answer to the old, old question that has troubled him through the ages, the question "Does death end all?" he can find it in the message of Easter. It is reassurance reas-surance that he does not' face a hopeless task. Even if he did not have the comfort of his religion re-ligion to help him arrive at that belief, he finds it in the mere fact of living. Each day, each year and each lifetime he sees the cycle repeated. The sun comes up in the morning and goes down into darkness at night. But he knows that it will come up again the next morning. Each 24 hours he sees the miracle of resurrection. New life is manifest in the animal and vegetable kingdoms with each recurring spring. - It ripens in 'the heat of summertime and mellows into maturity in the autumn, only to die in the cold of winter. But he knows that life will begin again next year. Each 12 months he sees the miracle of resurrection. A baby is born, passes through childhood, grown into youth, reaches man's estate and then declines into old age. What if the darkness of death is only a matter of a few years away? He has seen the recurring miracle of resurrection every 24 hours and every 12 months. Why should not man, reasoning logically from this evidence of which he is aware every day of his life, believe that the cycle of a lifetime includes a resurrection just as does the daily cycle and the yearly cycle? He does so believe and from that belief comes his belief in the life everlasting, in immortality. im-mortality. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say he chooses to believe. For few men, of any, have ever solved the riddle of life to their utter satisfaction. sat-isfaction. They constantly grope for the truth, seeking, always seeking, the answer to the unsolved un-solved problems of life. They have the never-ending never-ending longing in their hearts for everlasting life and they choose to believe, and take comfort from the belief, that they shall have it. So whether he be primitive man or modern, civilized man, whether he be Christian or heathen, the essential spirit of Easter, the message ot Easter Is the same It Is a message of hope, a message of joy and a promise and a fulfillment In one. ( by Western Newspaper Union.) |
