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Easter is the annual festival kept by many Chris
tians in commemoration of the resurrection of Je
•sus Christ. In honor of this notable event the week
ly Sabbath was changed from the seventh day of the
week tn the first; hence Easter is always observed on
.‘Sunday. Though Easter commemorates the resur
rection of Christ, yet its observance did not begin
at the time of Christ’s resurrection. This festival
was not instituted earlier than A. D. 68. From this
•time until the year A. D. 354 the Christian church
observed only a weekly and yearly festival —Sunday
and Easter. Christimas was not publicly celebrated
until December 25, 354; hence the celebration of
Easter antedates the Christmas festival by about
360 year’s. The early Christians were more deeply
impressed, it seems, with the resurrection of Christ
than with his incarnation.
The Name of Easter.
The English word, Easter, is doubtless derived
from Ostara (Anglo-Saxon Eastre), the name of the
Saxon goddess who was worshiped as the personifi
cation of the morning or East, and all of the reviv
ing forces of spring - . Her name came from Ost—
the Saxon word for East —and it was in the vernal
sunrise that the ancient Teuton saw the glorious
face of this divinity. Her luminous smile shed life
and beauty over every bursting bud and blossom.
This pagan festival was celebrated during the first
eight days of April, which caused that month to be
called by the Germans Ostermonath (Easter-month).
During these eight days the people came together in
the fields daily at sunrise and greeted one another
exultantly with the exclamation, “The sun is risen!”
Later on, when these people became Christians, this
celebration of nature’s resurrection gave place to
the celebration of the resurrection of Christ. Chris
tianity, instead of obliterating this joyous festival,
simply converted it into a Christian holiday. The
festival retained its old pagan name, but acquired
a new character. It was regenerated by putting
into the old form a new spirit. It is celebrated now,
not in honor to Ostara, the Goddess of Spring, but
in honor to Christ, the ‘ 1 Sun of Righteousness. ’ ’
In the Romance tongues —Italian, French, Span
ish and Portugese —the name of this festival is de
rived from the Latin word pascha, meaning “pass
over.” This word pascha is derived directly from
the Greek, and remotely from the Hebrew; and the
Hebrew and Greek words from which it is derived
are translated “passover” in both the Old and New
Testaments.
The Query Anslvered.
Job 14: 14.
“If a man die shall he live again?”
Long had the yearning heart,
To the all-important question
Assuring answer sought.
Men strove with doubts and passed away
Like flowers of the field;
And Sphinx-like death forever kept
Its mystery concealed.
t
r
No departed one had broke
That dark and dreadful bond,
No voice came from the mystic vale
To tell what lay beyond.
And human souls were groping on
Into the shadows gray,
When lo! a Voice from out the gloom:
“I am the Light, the Way.”
O joyful news! Ye Easter bells,
Chime out in glad, sweet strain!
For Christ has risen from the tomb,
And man shall live again.
ANNIE R. SIBLEY.
I? %
THE MISSION GIRL, THAT THRILLING NEW
STORY—SENO FOR IT, SI.OO.
TACTS AS OUT EASTER
/leaning and Origin of Easter —A /lobeable Feast and Holo Date is Determined.
The Golden Age for April 8, 1909.
The account of the institution of the Jewish Pass
over is found in the 12th chapter of Exodus. The
death of Jesus Christ fulfilled the typical meaning
of this passover; and hence, at the last passover be
fore the crucifixion of Christ, the Lord Jesus insti
tuted the Lord’s Supper to take the place of the
Passover. While the Passover typified the prospec
tive death of Christ, the Lord’s Supper commemo
rates his actual death.
After the death of Christ, however, the early Chris
tian church continued to use the word “passover”
for awhile, with reference to both the death and
resurrection of Christ. Later on, the Lord’s Supper
alone represented his death, while the paschal fes
tival (Easter) represented his resurrection. It may
be proper to state just here that the word Easter
in Acts 12:4 (A. V.) is a mis-translation. The Re
vised Version has corrected it by using the word
‘*' passover. ’ ’
From this study of the name of the Easter festi
val we are enabled to note the interesting fact that
Greek and Latin peoples have a Bible name for it
while the Teutonic races have a heathen name for
it. In this respect, at least, it may be fairly said
that the Greeks, Italians*, French, Spanish and Por
tugese are in advance of the English and the Ger
mans.
The Date of Easter.
Why does not Easter, like Christmas, always oc
cur on a fixed date? Why is it a “moveable festi
val,” occurring on different dates from March 22
to April 25? During the second and third centuries
of the Christian era there was great diversity of
opinion and much controversy among the early
Christians on this point. But at the council of
Nicaea, in A. D. 325, it was decreed that the anni
versary of the event that changed the Sabbath from
the seventh day of the week to the first, should al
ways fall on Sunday. The following rules for regu
lating the date of Easter were prepared by the Em
peror Constantine and were adopted by this council:
1. “That the 21st day of March shall be account
ed the vernal equinox.”
2. “That the 14th day of the moon, happening on
qr next after the 21st of March shall be taken for
the full moon of the Jewish month Nisan.” (It
was always at this time that the Jews held their
Passover.)
3. “That the Lord’s day next following this 14th
day of the moon shall be Easter.”
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Character of Jesus.
(Continued from Page Three.)
satisfy to the very limit the longing of the human
heart, Jesus gave Himself.
My brethren, I close with the thought that the
world is now just like it was then; it has never
changed; humanity will never change in so far as
its needs are concerned, especially the things of this
character. Humanity will never come to the place
where it will not need all this. Humanity will al
ways need our time and our thought and sympathy
and love. Humanity will always need ourselves.
Oh, that today w 7 e could feel the grip of the Mas
ter’s Spirit that would cause us to sacrifice some of
the things we are wasting our time for, and just re
solve here this morning that for so much blessing, I
am going to give myself like the Master to helping
those that I may help, and in so doing I know that
I am revealing to the world the Christ of salvation.
I read a beautiful story some time ago of a boy
who went into one of the old cathedrals of Europe
where there was a most beautiful bust of Jesus
made of some material into which had been stuck
little bits of fine glass arranged in such away as
to reflect the light which lighted up the entire cathe
dral. It was a beautiful conception of Jesus, the
light of the world. Those bits of glass threw the
light out from the face of Jesus all over the build
ing. This boy was found there by one of the priests,
and he was picking off thpse little bits pf glass anti
4. “But if this 14th day of the moon happens on
a Sunday, Easter shall be the Sunday after.”
From this it is evident that Easter must always
fall oil the first Sunday after the 14th day of the
moon that occurs on or next after the 21st of March.
It is also evident that from these rules that the ear
liest date on which Easter can occur is March 22*
and the latest date is April 25. Easter happens on
March 22 when the 14th day of the moon falls on
Saturday, March 21; and it happens on April 25
when the 14th day of the inoOn falls on Sunday,
April 18. The next Sunday, April 25, is Easter.
Easter occurred on March 22 in 1818, but will not oc
cur oil that day of the month again during the 20th
century. In 1886 it happened on April 25, but this
will not occur again until 1943.
It is interesting to note that the date of Easter
determines the date of all the other “moveable”
feasts an dfasts. The nine Sundays before Easter
and the eight Sundays after, are held especially sac
red by the Catholic church and by some Protestants.
The first of these is Septuagesima Sunday and the
last is Trinity.
The Pasch (On Easter) Egg.
The egg, as a religious symbol, is as old as the
pyramids of Egypt. The sages of Oriental philoso
phy taught that the world was hatched from an egg.
We are told that the Persians, when they keep the
festival of the solar new year, mutually present one
another with colored eggs. The Jews also, it is
said, used eggs in the feast of the Passover. The
egg has always been regarded as an appropriate
symbol of life; and the early Christians, under this
impression, easily adopted it as the symbol of the
resurrection. As the egg contains the germ of a new
life, it was used by many Christian teachers as an
illustration in refuting the arguments of those who
denied the possibility of the resurrection. By the
repeated use of this illustration the egg finally came
to be intimately associated with Easter. It is to be
regretted that in modern times the Easter egg has
ceased entirely to have any religious significance.
It has been degraded into a ludicrous and senseless
association with rabbits, and used only as a surprise
for children. This is perhaps the silliest supersti
tion that was ever connected with a sacred institu
tion. Like the matter of “Christmas gifts,” its
true and sacred significance has been lost sight of
entirely by the masses of the people.
Bev. 0. W. Meyers,
was putting them into a bag. The police was called
and the boy turned over to him. He was taken be
fore the court and the judge asked him what he
meant by his conduct, and with tears running down
his face he told the story of his mother at home, sick,
a shut-in, and he said that he was taking them along
so that he could make for his mother a Jesus,
“For,” he said, “it is so dark in our house, and I
wanted a Jesus there.” Oh, my friends, after all,
that is what the world wants. It is so dark down
here where we live. If it is not dark where you
live, it is dark where the average man lives. It is
dark sometimes in the mansion. It isn’t always
true that because a man lives in a mansion that it
is lighted with pleasure. It is dark on the side
street, and in the back alleys, too, and the world
wants the light of Jesus, and there is no way that
the world can get the light of Jesus unless it gets
it through a saved and sanctified church. Jesus is
absolutely locked up, tied hand and foot; not a
ray of His light can the world get except through
us. Oh, to lift up in the world the light that will
lift up the darkness and shine in the glory!
n n
The Most Interesting.
Teacher of Elementary Physiology: Can any one
of the class tell me which of all the bones in the
body is the most interesting?
“Yes’m,” promptly answered a boy in the pear.
“Well, which bone U Eddie?”
i“The wishbone!” ’
