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EASTER CUSTOMS.

OLD CHURCH CEREMONIES.

SOLEMNITY OF HOLY WEEK,

There is no season in the calendar of the Church more rich in traditional customs and observances than Eastertide, and the annual commemoration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Since apostolic times Easter has been rightly regarded as the queen of festivals. _ It is a. day common to all Christian denominations, though their methods of observing it vary widely. The traditional churches, such as tlie Church of England, the great Church of tho East, so rich in deeply symbolic ceremonies, and the universal Church of Rome, have each preserved in greater or less degree some, if not all, of the customs of the past- in their observance of Easter, and tho preceding period of J It’has ever been the. practice of the traditional churches to regard then saint’s days and holy seasons as tokens of the splendour and outward dignity of the Christian faith, as forcible witnesses of ancient truth, to tlie exercise of all piety, and as records teaching the facts of Christianity in the most obvious way. Hence, tlie annual observances of Easter, brino-s to the contemplation of the busy word the faith of tlie Church in the triumph of her Founder in rising from the grave.

CHARACTERISTICS OF LENT. Scptuagesima marks Hie beginnings of the Easter cycle of seasons and V‘raids the approach of Lent, tlu* solemn period of forty days—exclusive of Sundays—which precedes the joyous anniversary of the Resurrection. JJiuni Septuagesima until the s*st service i t Easter dav, the word ’•Alleluio . is never uttered in the Church service. The sanctuary and altar assume a more severe aspect, as flowers are removed and violet hangings take the place l the green of ferial seasons. As Wednesday, the first day of Tent, ls •° called from the ancient , custom or placing ashes on the forqoead on this day, in token of penitence. lus observance dates very mr bae, . c > F™' ablv to the first century of Chi istianity, when the martyre worshipped in the catacombs. The blessed _ ashes are taken bv the priest, who signs a small cross with them on each person s forehead, saying: “Remember, O man, that dust thou art, and to dust, shalt thou return.” The ‘curtli Sunday in Lent is known as Refreshment Sunday and in monastic times was hailed as "a welcome relief from the severity of the long season of lasting. On tins day a harvest festival may properly be held in countries where Lent coincides with harvest time. Jhe rosy Eucharistic vestments, proper to freslnnent Sunday, wore connected m their origin with the golden rose idled with perfumes which the Pope used to bless on this day, and give to the Emperor with his own hand.

VEILING OF THE ORNAMENTS. Passiontide, the beginning of the most solemn period of Lent, begins a fortnight before Easter, and the Sunday with which it opens is known as Passion Sunday. This season is marked with the veiling of ail crosses, pictures and images, "he last week of Lent is Holy Week, and is marked by the most .striking ceremonies of the year. Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday, the commennnoration of Christs triumphal entry into Jeruaiem, when the townsfolk spread palms in His path. Lefore the principal service on this day, the general traditional observance was to bless palms and distribute them to the faithful. A procession followed. This procession of very great antiquity, dating hack tor litteen and a half centuries, Ims a liolßnant appeal to the emotions, unlike anything else in the Christian year, since it is a vivid reminder ot the historic procession into the Holy City. Palm branches are carried m the procession, and the sub-deacon beais a cross, veiled in violet. The proceslon goes outside the church, where a hymn or psalm is sung, and the sub-deacon then strikes the censed door with the foot of (he processional cross. Thereupon the door is opened, signifying that the way into Heaven is opened by the Cross of Christ. This service may be seen to-day m many Anglican Churches in London and elsewhere. On Palm Sunday, the Gospel is of extraordinary length, containing the whole ot St. Matthew’s I account of the Passion, ancient

times it was much longer still, and it was commonly sung through by three deacons, one of whom took the part of our Lord, one of the Evangelist, and the third of all the other characters. Every deacon had his own musical cadences, which were of extraordinary beauty. The final stage of beauty and dramatic effect was reached when the whole choir joined in to represent the crowd. At the words narrating the death of Christ, it is still the custom in many churches for the congregation to kneel.

THE ALTAR OF REPOSE The last three days of Holy Week are treated with still greater solemnity. On Maundy Thursday, the service of Holy Communion, or, as it was anciently termed ; the Mass, is celebrated with tho dignity of a high festival. The reason for this is that it is a thanksgiving for the gift of the Holy Eucharist itself. It has ever been tho custom to have only one Mass on this day, in order to reproduce as faiy as possible the conditions of the institution of tho Blessed Sacrament by Jesus Christ. At the end of the Mass, the consecrated elements are taken with much solemnity to the < so-called altar of repose.” Many Anglican churches at the present time and all the Roman Catholic congregations, observe this custom, the explanation of which is that the Eucharist is not to be consecrated on Good Friday, “because tho Shepherd is smitten and the flock; scattered abroad.” But, in order that Communion might still be possible on Good Friday, tho custom arose in the early Middle Ages of consecrating enough on Maundy Thursday to provide for Good Friday as well, and reserving it in some convenient place in tho church. Mvstieall.v, the procession to the altar of repose represents the departure of Christ from the upper room for the Garden of Gethsemane. It is the custom to surround the reserved Sacrament on the altar with an abundance of flowers and many lighted tapers, the faithful keeping watch all through tho day and night. It is sometimes the custom to wash the high altar in wine and water on Maundy Thursday.

“DARKNESS AVAR OVER THE EARTH.”

Tenebrae, a service common to a’l the traditional churches, is sung on the last tlirco days in Holy Week. It is known as Tenebrae (darkness), from the fact that candles on a special stand are extinguished one by one during the recitation of the psalms, and those on tho altar during the Bonedictus. Darkness ensues when all the tapers have been put out, and tho confusion in the world nt the death of Christ is dramatically brought to mind. Good Friday has its own solemn services, which vary according to use. The Devotion of the Three. Honrs, so popular in many Anglican churches in New Zealand, was invented by the Society of Jesus less than a hundred years ago.

LIGHTING THE PASCHAL CANDLE. Easter Eve, or the Saturday before Easter Sunday, lias a service with many distinctive features, including the blessing of the. new fire, representing Christ’s new life from the dead, the lighting of the enormous paschal candle, which burns during all Eastertide services, the unveiling of all pictures and statues, and the blessing of the font, a service full of primitive ceremonies. On this day is celebrated the first Mass of Easter, the service having been pushed ahead progressively through the centuries till in modern times the celebration occurs early in tho morning, altliousdi in more primitive times it was celebrated late in the evening. Easter Siindav is marked with elaborate ceremonial and special mtisie. frequent “alleluias” being a feature. Ascension Day, forty clays after Easter, marks the end of the festal season, ancl commemorates Christ’s ascension into Heaven.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/THD19260410.2.17

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXIII, 10 April 1926, Page 7

Word count
Tapeke kupu
1,327

EASTER CUSTOMS. Timaru Herald, Volume CXXIII, 10 April 1926, Page 7

EASTER CUSTOMS. Timaru Herald, Volume CXXIII, 10 April 1926, Page 7

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