THE SEMI-WEEKLY TRIBUNE. NORTH PLATTE, NEBRASKA.
Lilies for
OBSERVANCE OF
EASTER SUNDAY
THE- observanco of Easter Sun
day dates back to tho founding
of tho early Christian church,
In commemoration of tho resur
rection of Josus. It Is generally bo
Itevod by all Christians that Jesus was
crucified on Friday and burled. Tho
following Sunday certain womon of
Judea wont to tho tomb early In tho
morning to anoint his body.
Saturday was tho Sabbath day of tho
JGws. That accounts for tho dolayod
visit to tho tomb. Jesus was burled bo
late Friday tho womon did not have
tlmo to anoint his body. As soon as
day dawned that Sunday morning the
women wont to tho tomb, and, accord
ing to sacred accounts, found Christ
bad gono.
Tho stone which scaled tho mouth of
the tomb was rollod away. At first
they woro filled with grief, believing
his body was stolen. Thon they re
membered tho words of their Master,
that ho would riso from tho tomb tho
third day. Ills rcappoaranco and as
surance that all could conquer tho
grave was tho causo of great rejoicing.
From tho tlmo of tho flight of tho
children of Israel from Egypt, tho
Jowa had observed tho Passovor to
commemorate tho night when tho an
gel of death passod over tho houses of
the Hobrowa nnd slow tho first-born
in tho houses of tho Egyptians. Tho
feast of tho Passover was being ob
served by tho citizens of Jerusalem nt
tho tlmo of the crucifixion. Tho fol
lowers of Christ contlnuod to obsorvo
tho feast of tho Passovor, but tho ob
Horvanco took on a now mcnnlng.
Tho exact tlmo of tho feast was not
nettled until tho council of Nico, called
by Emperor Constantino of Romo in
tho year 32(5. It was thon decided that
tho feast should bo obsorved tho first
Sunday after tho first full moon nftor
tho spring equinox. Tho only great
astronomical obsorvatory In tho world
at that tlmo was at Alexandria, Egypt.
It was left to tho astronomers thoro to
determine whon Easter should corno.
Tho early Christians did not know
tho feast by tho naino of Easter. Tho
name la of Saxon origin and camo
Ifrom tho foast of tho paschal lamb of
the early Christian church with tho
feast of tho coming of spring of tho
Saxons.
Oatara, tho goddess of spring of tho
Saxons, was worshiped in England and
Germany before the first missionaries
to the north of Europo brought tho
Htory of Christ. The Saxons, in ac
cepting Christianity, continued to ob-
nerve their old feasts just as tho Jew-
lab Christians continued to observe
the feast of the Passover. The mis
the Holy Easter Day
O EARTH, upon thy breast,
By the soft winds caress' t,
Bring all thy blossoms forth in
From dusky wood and dell
Sweet herb and lily bell
To ornament his holy Easter Day.
sionaries persuaded tho Saxons to ac
cept tho feast of tho paschal lamb and
simply chango tho name to that of tho
foast of Ostara, which later was angli
cized to Easter.
Tho Easter egg also had its origin
among non-Christians. Tho people of
northern Europo hunted eggs in tho
springtime, bollovlng that it was good
luck to find them and eat them. Of
courso wild birds laid eggB only in tho
spring of tho yoar. Tho Christian
missionaries to our ancestors saw an
opportunity to win men to a bollof in
Christianity by adopting tho egg-hunting
day and combining it with Eastor.
Tho egg was shown to typify llfo. Ab
tho chick lies Imprisoned in tho egg
only to burst forth, so will our bodlos
Ho In tho tomb only to bo rosurroctod
at tho call of God.
Tho hunting and eating of eggs 1b
observed today In Porsla and In othor
Asiatic landB whoro thero Is no Chris
tianity, showing that tho custom does
not como with Christianity.
EASTER IN HEARTS OF MEN
Chain of Witnesses to the Resurrec
tion Has Been Added to Through
out the Centuries.
CHRIST is risen." Tho choirs sing
about It. Tho prcachora proclaim
It. Tho multitudes believe it Does it
seem Btrango that bocauso a small
group of Bod-oycd, diBcouragod men
nnd women, almost two thousand
years ago, suddenly camo to bollovo
thnt a man thoy hnd loved had ro
turnod to llfo after being executed on
tho cross, peoplo Bhould still bollovo
it todny? Nineteen centuries Is a long
tlmo, and Paloatino is far away. How
is It that tho bellof of tho first Chris
tians has laid hold upon us?
mmm u
bright array.
It Is not enough to exnlaln it as an
old tradition, handed down from nen-
orntlon to generation. If tho experi
ence of tho apostles and tho three
Marys and tho flvo hundred brethren
to whom ho mnde himself known wero
tho only reason for kooplng Easter, it'
Is not probablo that Eastof would Btlll
bo kept. Faith that is onlv handed
on does not survive as this faith has
survived. Thoro must bo another rea
son. Tho other reason Is that thoro nover
has boon an ago slnco tho first Chris
tian ago until now whon thero wero
not among tho people of tho earth
those to whom ChrlBt had becomo a liv
ing person. Tho healing of tho seam
less dress has been by beds of pain.
In tho murat of tho storm and tho
stress of llfo, despairing men and
wemon havo reached out to touch him,
and thoy havo touched him and been
made whole again. Martyrs, stretched
on tho agonizing rack, havo heard him.
Othor martyrs, bound among the burn
ing fagots, havo soon him In tho fire.
Tempted men havo sought him In tho
hour of their temptation, and his arm
has sustained them. Such as they do
not need to bo told that long ago, on
a Sundny morning in tho spring, the
gravo released him. They know that
ho is released, for ho has becomo tho
living power of their Hvcb.
When the olovon, nftor tho tragic
death of Judas, choso a twelfth apostle,
they did bo that ho might bocomo a
witnoss with them of tho resurrection.
smco thon, from all nations and tribes,
a great company whom God alone can
number hns been added to tho chain
of witnesses. Dnily tholr number Is
incronsod. Eastor Is Easter, not bo
causo Josus roso long ago, but bo
causo Jesus still lives, and because
thero aro among ub thoso who know
that ho lives. Youth's Companion.
-MJ&Vfr"'
K
1
GOT me flowero to strew thy way,
I got me boughs off many a tree;
But thou wast up by break of day,
And brought'st thy sweets along with thee.
Yet though my flowers be lost, they say
A heart can never come too late;
Teach It to alng thy praise this day,
And then this day my life shall date.
Author Unknown.
i
RAYMONDB ROUSSEAU was a
frail, pretty littlo French artist,
who lived In a tiny studio In a
great building. She made her
Uvlng by painting wonderful water
color danco orders, dinner cards, holi
day greetings and fanciful conceits for
social entertainments of all sorts. Also,
she added to her Income by singing In
the choir of a big church.
Until the Europoan war had broken
out Rnymondo's brother, Jacques, had
lived with her, but when his country
entered the conflict ho was called to
join his colors. Raymondo cried for
days after her brother sailed for
Franco, but sho know sho would have
been ashamed of Jacques had he been
unwilling to go.
Tho approach of Easter brought
much work to Raymondo, and the
lights In her studio burned late every
night as she sat over her desk making
water colors. She looked very much
Hko a French print herself In the
quaint costumes she always designed
ror her own wear. Her straight, black
Eastor Brought Much Work.
hnlr and her Ivory skin and scarlet
Hps mado her a conspicuous beauty
anywhere. Added to this, her unique
tasto In droBs mado her more than at
tractive. Perhaps It was her continental man
nor, perhaps merely her natural diffi
dence, that mado her difficult of ap
proach. But sho was admired by ev
eryone who camo In contact wjth her,
and In tho choir whoro she sang sho
had many friends oven though sho did
not perhaps realize It.
Choir rohearsals for Easter music
mado her attondnnco necessary, and
she found horself hurrying from her
studio to tho church,, without taking
proper time to eat nourishing meals.
Raymondo was very conscientious and
sho did not want to neclect either hor
painting or hor choir work. ,
It was tho week before Palm Sun
dny and Eastor day that found tho
littlo French girl nearly exhausted. A
boat had arrived bringing her lottors
and papers from her homo In tho sub
urbs of Paris. Sho picked up her
mall and went to church for a rehear
sal without so much as getting a bite
of dlnnor. Sho feared being lato and
conspicuous In cntorlng tho choir
stalls.
Instend of being late, Raymonde
found herBoir thero boforo any of tho
othors, and sho was glad of a few quiet
moments in which to read hor mall.
Sho looked at her hemo lottors, and
thon opened up a newspaper from the
suburb lu which sho lived. Her face
suddenly became as sot as tho fnco of
an ivory Imago sho had Boon her
brothor'a name among tho list of boI
dtors who had failed to return with
tholr regiments.
"Jacques! JacaueBl" she bronthml.
Just as a merry group of choristers
camo upon bcr In tho dimly llghtod
church.
"Why It's littlo Miss Rousseau!"
"Sho'a fainted!"
One of tho girls bent ovor her and.
as they laid her on the broad church
seat and administered restoratives, a
man, who bad taken more than a pas
ing interest In tho littlo French girl
and know something1 of her life, picked
up tho paper she had dropped from
her hand.
"It's her brother V)'b among thoso
reported dead in battle. Poor little
girl!" Trenton Knox had alwayB folt
a sort of Indefinable sympathy for the
littlo soprano.
Raymondo opened her eyes. "It it
can't be true can it?" sho asked,
searching tho faces of thoso about hor,
pitifully.
Trenton Knox bent over her. "This
paper is two weeks old It should
nover have reached you," he said,
kindly.
"But why?" sho asked, in agonized
tones- nnd pushing bacK the straight
wisps of hair.
"Tho reports haven't been con
firmed, or you would havo heard," ho
said.
Tho girls helped her to becomo calm
and comfortablo again, and though sho
sat through the rehearsal sho was un
able to bring a note from hor throat,
for the lump that seemed to be chok
ing her.
"You'll let mo walk homo with you
tonight, please?" asked Trenton Knox
gently.
Raymondo smiled a wan littlo smile,
and there was none of tho usual
Bparklo in hor brown eyes. "It would
bo so good of you I I havo been fool
ish nnd weak to faint, but I "
"You havo been overdoing It and
you look as if you hadn't taken time
to rest and eat." tho big tenor said, as
ho guided hor from tho church.
On tho way home they stopped and
had a bite of supper In a quiet restau
rant near Raymonde's studio, and
there, out of sheer weariness, sho per
mitted her veil of reserve to drop bo
foro tho man who had always been so
kind to hor.
As thoy walked around the corner to
tho studio buldllng Bho leaned on his
arm and ho felt as If he could never
leave her alone again.
Tho elevator boy handed her a mes
sage. Sho took it with trembling
hands. Gently but firmly Trenton took
It from her. Ho saw that it was a
transatlantic cable. "Whon wo get up
Btalrs we'll open It," ho said.
And it was he, not Raymonde, who
tore it open and read tho words:
"Jacques wounded, but safo at home.
Love." It was unsigned, but Ray
mondo knew it was from her family,
and she knew, too, that they realized
that she might havo received tho pa
per with tho awful mistake printed
in it
"I I felt as if I could not open it,"
Bhe said to Trenton as she sank Into a
studio chair by tho small hard-coal fire
sho always kept burning. "You are
so good to mo."
"Good? Good?" he said. And then
after a mlnuto in which he soomed to
be pondering his subject, "Raymondo,
won't you let me take care of you?
I see tonight how much you need some
one, and I love you? I havo loved
you for long, but you novor let mo toll
you so till now.'
Tears streamed down the little
French girl's pale cheeks. Tho night's
gamut of emotions had been too much
Now Spring Is Here
HHHE winter's ice and snow are gonet
Flowers bloom, soft breezes blow;
The waking earth laughs in the sun
And all the ivords aglow.
EASTERTIDE
By Jean Ericsson
Nature voices all her gladness,
Lays aside her gloom and sadness,
All is peace and joy and gladness,
At Eastertide.
So let every heart of sorrow
Neither trouble eep nor borrow;
All is peace upon the morrow,
At Eastertide.
Tell the resurrection story,
Tell of him, the King of Glory,
Every tongue repeat the story .
At Eastertide.
Ring, ye, Easter lilies, ringi
In the breezes gently swing;
Every heart for joy shall sing,
At Eastertide.
for her overwrought nerves. "I've felt
so so different from you all," she man
aged to say. "So so alone!"
Trenton leaned ovor her. "Don't'
say alone again, Raymonde If If you
lovo mo."
"Oh," sho breathed, "I do I do."
"And you'll marry me after Eastor
and we'll have the whole blessed choir
, Tore It Open and Read the Words.
hero in your studio to wish us Joy
after wo come back from the Little
Church Around the. Corner, won't wo,
dear?"
And Raymondo nodded even while
she sobbed.
(Copyrleht by the McClure Newspaper Syn
dicate.) PltOTOBY
