Show V A K 0 r r D 7 N mr mr by ELMO SCOTT WATSON VATSON HERB appeared recently la in american amerl newspapers an As associated socia ted press frees dds patch from moscow which read la in part anif na follows i with the approach of easter and catholic and protestant days of bilter intercessory prayer on behalf of christina russians soviet athea atheist at officials are busy formulating an intensified as sault upon god and religion rell gion ignoring the worldwide world wide outcry against corn com sunlata for their attitude toward the church which ht athey they hey say Is only a cloak for an economic blockade the soviet sovie t union these leaders bave issued instructions to members of the league of f Cow communist youths numbering members to have special shock brigades lirlea ds and groups of light cavalry during easter week lead the anti god od movement and investigate the schools seli universities versi ties and clubs to see bow ho w the antireligious anti antl religious edu education catin of the young Is being abeln carried out members are directed to organize mock relt rell slow sious carnivals atheistic meetings torchlight pro 0 sessions cessions ces andlee and lee lectures tures and also to ight fight for ext extermination erml izatt on of the kulak the complete collectivisation collectivization of all forms farms in russia and fulfillment of the 5 year industrialization plan on easter day huge bonfires of icons will be made in all large jorge cities and towns around which un believers will celeb celebrate the extinction obrell of relt rell lon dealing with its ita newly prepared 5 year od plan the society ot of militant atheists embracing nearly three million members has box issued a manifesto asserting means must be found for exterminating religious teachings among camill es and eliminating from the a schools teachers who believe belaev e li in god so thit that in the end odthe of the 5 year plan alan there will be no such thing as religion in SoT soviet lei schools i 1 I in its antl anil aas easter ter program which it says bays will be carried out ou vinot not only among christians jews and moslems but among among all other religious faiths tn in the soviet union the society of militant atheists says by intensifying the struggle against rell religion glon we will hasten tile the of peasant farms fame by liquidating the kulak rich peasant as a class wo we will quicken the fall of his chief support which is religion n we will convert the state stata and co collective I 1 farms into great centers of atheism bilam at thus will Rus russia sla under the soviet government f not lint only turn from the celebration of easter which under the theold old regime was visa a deeply imbres gilve ive religious ceremony but it will challe challenge the faith of more mor e than one third of alithe all the peoples of the earth ali boina the observance of this day is an essential part of their religious relli fous belief for out of a total of people tn in the world today who accept a some ome form of religion are christians and although their observance of easter m may ay vary ln in formin form in different countries the essential spirit of their celebrations of ef the day to Is the same whether it be in the orient or the occident on one e of the most interesting bu of all the easter i celebrations to Is that which takes place tn in jerosa lem centering around the church of the holy sepulcher St where took place the event eien thle which h gives easter its Is 61 deepest significance for fo r christians of this celebration maj edward keith roach writing 1 in the national geographic Mig magazine azine says mys the supreme ceremony odthe of the eastern churches the up appearance P barance of the holy fire takes place at r midday on easter eve according tal to the th eca calendar lendar of ct pastern eastern christendom tn in the churchon Church of the holy sepulcher Pe x its origin Is uncertain but that it Is derived from ritual and symbol isn tn in usage by the he very early church is undoubted ln in essence thi ithe c ceremony symbolizes the triumph of the christian falth faith renewed yearly tn in commemoration of 61 the first victory after calvary the orthodox patriarch the primus inter pires pares among iho the princes of the eastern chur churches churchia chii enters the i over the tomb in which for this one occasion all lamps iaan sare are extinguished from here re lle he passes out hilyaro holy alre and I 1 distributes aitto it to the crowd throng thronging ii g the il church which carries it farand far and wida before thil the world war ahr the fire was borne to the far farthest thit camera of russia the patriarch Is abelsted by bi a bishop p of the armenian patriarch patrini cli ate at of coptic and Jacob jacobite fie or sects take part as well tha ceremony Is however essentially a rite lite of V f z A A j t V yb I 1 the orthodox church I 1 and representatives of others othera obtain permission from the orthodox x pair patriarch laich by proceeding to the orthodox altar and doing obea sance A franciscan monks Is p present throughout the ceremony first the armenian patriarch i passes in groces slon sion around i the rotunda and retires then th the e moslem alosie in guardian of the holy sepulcher in the presence of one orthodox and one Armen armenian archimandrite I 1 mand rite exercises his big traditional privilege 0 of if sealing the doors of the sepulcher af noon moon the representatives of the other churches do obeisance before the altar of the ca tho licon to to the orthodox patriarch patr larch who I 1 awaits I 1 them vested in white ind and gold with voth a crown of gold scintillating with enamel and pre precious clous stones upon his file heid head about this time groups of young men enter the rotunda through the orthodox clapping their hands and singing the actual service now commences with the procession of the patriarch from the orthodox preceded by 13 banners home borne by representatives of leading orthodox families they circle the rotunda a through the throng three times chenall the then nall all excel except t the patri patriarch patriarca arc h retire to th the orthodox catbe cathedral diml ae he disrobed dis robed of miter and veit vestments vestro ments enta before the doors of the sepulcher che r enters abom accompanied palled by the he armenian bishop the copt and syriac take position before the doors tense reuse excitement prevails all eyes prefixed are fixed upon the tomb voices ore lifted up the ir crowd holding candles aloft presses forward wave upon wave self rei restraint thrown away the secondo second seem loni long drawn out minutes suddenly an orthodox priest waiting without the shrine with alth a sweep withdraws hla his arm from a liol hole eln la the edi culee hol holding dinga a burning torch the flate flame appe appears ars from the armenian side also the burst of flame me Is greeted with frantic cheering the clapping of hands the ringing of bells an dhigh and elgh bler piercing clug ulu ululations latIons from the women the priest gives the fire to a selected representative senta tIve of the community and the crowd opens to allow him to rush with the sacred fire and light the lamps lamla on the altar of the the and jacobite enter the door of the sepulcher and receive the fire from the orthodox patriarchy patirck emerges followed by the ar menan ji a flaming torch in each wind hand the focus for a boive converging i crosh ot of worshipers frantic to light candles from his torches the TheAr armenian coptic and syriac process procession ions now BOW fona ond circle the rotunda but the climax 4 T of if french catholics to the 1 the pilgrimage grimage colosseum in roma for outdoor services during A 2 children of the near east relief orphanage greece pl planting inting the tha cafter moroea above aboa their school home the custom of planting th the cross it at easter ha has s been observed vedin in greece for many i centuries 3 the living cross i formed by nurses and enlisted sunrise services barvic a hold held at wal wa I 1 men a at t th the a easter ter reed general homp hospital ital in washington D C 4 throngs gathering foran for an easter sunrise services on top of mo mount at riverside calif b of interest has been reached the visible symbol of resurrection having been divided and passed on no longer burns burne beside the sepulcher slowly the cro crowds ads meW awny some climbing past the garden of gethsemane to the summit of mount 01 olivet ivet almost as interesting as the easter celebration in jerusalem Is that in another old world city rome italy therea cross Is erected in the center of the colosseum where so many chr christian alan martyrs suffered suffer eddeath death because of their faith and impressive services are held around this cross during easter week especially on good friday in the united states the open air sunrise services on easter morning have bien been gaining steadily burlo agthe recent years it originated in california and the first firs t service of this kind wa was 8 held in 1909 on tile ake summit of mount rubidoux doux near riverside where stands a cross erected to the ahe memory of fra serra the pious franciscan monk who first brought the cross to Calli california ornia and found founded edthe the missions in that state jacob ails the famous writer Is said to have first conceived the idea of an easter sunrise service on mount rubidoux doux during a visit to riverside ind and it Is said to have sprung from a recollection of his childhood to in denmark when his people were accustomed to make a pilgrimage at yuletide to the summit of a venerated mountain near by singing christmas carols as aney went on easter mom morning ing 21 years yeara ago a little group of less than a hundred people made their way up the slopes of the mountain from riverside in the darkness before dawn so that the service could beheld just at sunrise the first service was a brief ailef one simple but sincere and impressive but as ails hod hao predicted the religious feeling brought about byan by an easter sunrise service left an impression pres slon which guaranteed guarante id its continuance continual lm each year ya F thereafter the interest and attendance at this service krew grew in 1917 more than 1 persons ascended the summit of rubidoux doux dour at eastertide and the next year saw the same number of pilgrims there they had come not only from riverside but from other cities in california other notable easter morning services tn california each of thousands of wor are those iti in the great los angeles coliseum in the hollywood bowl at the tower of legends in glendale Glenda leand and in pasadena at stove pipe wells wella in the famous death valley a c ross cross has been erected ana aid there services ts tire are held on easter morning in memory of the pioneers who lost their lives ori on the desert every year thousands of people attend an east er sunrise 5 service ervle anabe in the garden of the gods beai colorado springs colo cole and in the wichita moun bains of southwestern Olia homa for the last four or five years a I 1 service has been held on the summit of one of the rugged granite hills the chief fes feature t U re at f the service Is the Page rage antof the resurrection presented pres anted by fifty demgen mem liers of abi sunday chool 1 I park |