1916
Episcopal Bride to "Keep," Not "Obey," Husband.
NEW YORK — Brides married under the new form of ceremony proposed in the Episcopal Church substituting the word "keep" for "obey" will not pledge themselves to support their husbands, the Rev. John A. Maynard of the "Little Church Around the Corner" explained.
Under the new ritual marriage becomes a 50-50, according to the Rev. Mr. Maynard. The bride's pledge to "keep" her husband, which it is proposed to substitute for the word "obey," doesn't mean that at all, said the rector.
"It means simply that she promises to keep herself for him alone," he said. "As far as the promise 'obey' goes, that has been a dead letter for a long time. Our wives do not obey their husbands. Very frequently, indeed, the husbands obey their wives."
—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Sept. 16, 1916, p. 5.
Showing posts with label 1917. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1917. Show all posts
Friday, April 18, 2008
Friday, July 27, 2007
Patriotism and Religion
1917
Draw a little circle around your personality and it will include your family; draw a larger circle and it will include your friends; a still larger circle takes in your fellow countrymen; the last and largest circle of all embraces all humanity.
As the circle enlarges the objects of our love increase in number and the intensity of our love naturally diminishes. We are not bound to all mankind as strongly or as tenderly as we are to our fellow countrymen. We are not bound to do for all our countrymen as much as we are bound to do for our neighbors next door or on the nest street or in the next township. Our highest human obligation is to those of our own household.
The supreme duty we owe to One, and One alone, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God." — Christian Herald.
Draw a little circle around your personality and it will include your family; draw a larger circle and it will include your friends; a still larger circle takes in your fellow countrymen; the last and largest circle of all embraces all humanity.
As the circle enlarges the objects of our love increase in number and the intensity of our love naturally diminishes. We are not bound to all mankind as strongly or as tenderly as we are to our fellow countrymen. We are not bound to do for all our countrymen as much as we are bound to do for our neighbors next door or on the nest street or in the next township. Our highest human obligation is to those of our own household.
The supreme duty we owe to One, and One alone, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God." — Christian Herald.
Military Men Stumped by Acts of Mennonites
1917
Associated Press Telegram
Camp Sherman, Chillicothe, Ohio, Nov. 1. — Officers at Camp Sherman were further perplexed today when another delegation of Amish Mennonites joined the ranks of rebelling conscientious objectors and refused to obey orders.
Thirty of the fifty recently transferred to non-combatant service at the base hospital now are in open rebellion and there are prospects the strike will include the whole number of the religious sect. Efforts to give them some task at which they can not object have proved of no avail.
Although most are excellent judges of livestock, they refuse to do work about the remount station because it is part of the military camp. They were questioned as to what they would like to do and to find if there was something at which they could raise no objection but that did not solve the problem.
"What would you do if you saw that women were forced to walk about the hospital in mud?" was one of the questions put to them by an officer.
"Build walks," was the reply; so they were to start building walks about camp. But they rebelled, declaring that the walks would be used by soldiers. Anything a part of Camp Sherman or having to do in the slightest way with the men of Camp Sherman is disapproved and they have openly and successfully evaded all tasks. Guard house confinement was given up when it brought no results. Other punishment is of no avail. The men likewise have refused to permit their beards to be cut or to shave. It is contrary to one of their religious beliefs to shave. So far as officers here know, the thirty now on strike are the first to balk military rule in war times, and "get away with it" as officers frankly admit the Mennonites are doing.
Associated Press Telegram
Camp Sherman, Chillicothe, Ohio, Nov. 1. — Officers at Camp Sherman were further perplexed today when another delegation of Amish Mennonites joined the ranks of rebelling conscientious objectors and refused to obey orders.
Thirty of the fifty recently transferred to non-combatant service at the base hospital now are in open rebellion and there are prospects the strike will include the whole number of the religious sect. Efforts to give them some task at which they can not object have proved of no avail.
Although most are excellent judges of livestock, they refuse to do work about the remount station because it is part of the military camp. They were questioned as to what they would like to do and to find if there was something at which they could raise no objection but that did not solve the problem.
"What would you do if you saw that women were forced to walk about the hospital in mud?" was one of the questions put to them by an officer.
"Build walks," was the reply; so they were to start building walks about camp. But they rebelled, declaring that the walks would be used by soldiers. Anything a part of Camp Sherman or having to do in the slightest way with the men of Camp Sherman is disapproved and they have openly and successfully evaded all tasks. Guard house confinement was given up when it brought no results. Other punishment is of no avail. The men likewise have refused to permit their beards to be cut or to shave. It is contrary to one of their religious beliefs to shave. So far as officers here know, the thirty now on strike are the first to balk military rule in war times, and "get away with it" as officers frankly admit the Mennonites are doing.
Odd Marriage Belief
1917
An unmarried man or woman of marriageable age is something that is rarely seen in the Fiji islands. The reason of this is not far to seek. The natives believe that if a person dies while in an unmarried state his or her soul is doomed to wander about through endless ages of eternity in an intermediate region between heaven and hades. At the end of each moon they are allowed to look into heaven, but are never permitted to enter.
Ancient Pillory
The prophet Jeremiah was confined in the pillory (Jeremiah 29:26), which appears to have been a common mode of punishment in his time. Ancient Hebrew prisons contained a special chamber for the pillory. This was termed "the house of the pillory" (2 Chronicles 16:10).
An unmarried man or woman of marriageable age is something that is rarely seen in the Fiji islands. The reason of this is not far to seek. The natives believe that if a person dies while in an unmarried state his or her soul is doomed to wander about through endless ages of eternity in an intermediate region between heaven and hades. At the end of each moon they are allowed to look into heaven, but are never permitted to enter.
Ancient Pillory
The prophet Jeremiah was confined in the pillory (Jeremiah 29:26), which appears to have been a common mode of punishment in his time. Ancient Hebrew prisons contained a special chamber for the pillory. This was termed "the house of the pillory" (2 Chronicles 16:10).
Discoveries in Palestine
1917
The discoveries which the British and Indian troops are making in Palestine of old churches and their sacred dust have reminded one of the soldiers of Sir Henry Layard's description of the excavators at Nimroud.
When the first of the enormous figures began to appear above the earth Arabs raced to him — "Hasten, O Bey, for they have found Nimroud himself. Wallah, it is wonderful; we have seen it with our eyes. There is no God but God!" And they hied them in terror to their tents. The Anzacs were filled with different emotions, for like all the forces their ranks were furnished with highly educated as well as men of the old type of privates.
Sayings
All men are born equal, but they mighty soon get over it.
No man is so fast that retribution won't sooner or later overtake him.
The discoveries which the British and Indian troops are making in Palestine of old churches and their sacred dust have reminded one of the soldiers of Sir Henry Layard's description of the excavators at Nimroud.
When the first of the enormous figures began to appear above the earth Arabs raced to him — "Hasten, O Bey, for they have found Nimroud himself. Wallah, it is wonderful; we have seen it with our eyes. There is no God but God!" And they hied them in terror to their tents. The Anzacs were filled with different emotions, for like all the forces their ranks were furnished with highly educated as well as men of the old type of privates.
Sayings
All men are born equal, but they mighty soon get over it.
No man is so fast that retribution won't sooner or later overtake him.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Practical Religion As Great Sculptor Felt It in His Life
1917
John Bacon, the noted English sculptor, whose genius was immortalized in prose by Lord Macaulay and in verse by the poet Cowper, was a man of pronounced and practical piety. No matter how much he was occupied with business, how exalted by applause, or how tempted by wealth, religion was always his greatest concern.
One day when Bacon was hard at work in his studio a lady visited him, and in the course of the conversation he happened to make a remark about religion. The lady then said: "My religion is to fear God and to keep the commandments." Then she showed plainly that she did not care to discuss religion any further; whereupon Bacon said quietly: "Do you not recollect that it is said, 'They that fear the Lord spake often one to another?'"
In other words, he believed that if two people with true religious feeling met they should never be afraid or feel embarrassed to talk about their religion.
On the day of his death, Bacon desired to bear such testimony that it would be lasting and have a good influence upon others, and so he dictated the following and requested that it be placed near his grave:
What I was as an Artist
Seemed to me of some importance
While I lived; but
What I really was as a Believer
In Christ Jesus
Is the only thing of importance
To me now.
—From Home and School.
The Source of Its Beauty
Once there was a brier growing in a ditch, and there came along a gardener with his spade. As he dug around it, and lifted it out, the brier said to itself, "What is he doing that for?" Doesn't he know that I am only an old worthless brier?" But the gardener took it into the garden and planted it amid his flowers, while the brier said, "What a mistake he has made, planting an old brier like myself among such rose trees as these!" But the gardener came once more with his keen-edged knife, made a slit in the brier, and "budded" it with a rose, and by and by when summer came, lovely roses were blooming on that old brier. Then the gardener said, "Your beauty is not due to that which came out, but to that which I put into you." This is just what Christ is doing all the time with poor human lives. — Selected.
John Bacon, the noted English sculptor, whose genius was immortalized in prose by Lord Macaulay and in verse by the poet Cowper, was a man of pronounced and practical piety. No matter how much he was occupied with business, how exalted by applause, or how tempted by wealth, religion was always his greatest concern.
One day when Bacon was hard at work in his studio a lady visited him, and in the course of the conversation he happened to make a remark about religion. The lady then said: "My religion is to fear God and to keep the commandments." Then she showed plainly that she did not care to discuss religion any further; whereupon Bacon said quietly: "Do you not recollect that it is said, 'They that fear the Lord spake often one to another?'"
In other words, he believed that if two people with true religious feeling met they should never be afraid or feel embarrassed to talk about their religion.
On the day of his death, Bacon desired to bear such testimony that it would be lasting and have a good influence upon others, and so he dictated the following and requested that it be placed near his grave:
What I was as an Artist
Seemed to me of some importance
While I lived; but
What I really was as a Believer
In Christ Jesus
Is the only thing of importance
To me now.
—From Home and School.
The Source of Its Beauty
Once there was a brier growing in a ditch, and there came along a gardener with his spade. As he dug around it, and lifted it out, the brier said to itself, "What is he doing that for?" Doesn't he know that I am only an old worthless brier?" But the gardener took it into the garden and planted it amid his flowers, while the brier said, "What a mistake he has made, planting an old brier like myself among such rose trees as these!" But the gardener came once more with his keen-edged knife, made a slit in the brier, and "budded" it with a rose, and by and by when summer came, lovely roses were blooming on that old brier. Then the gardener said, "Your beauty is not due to that which came out, but to that which I put into you." This is just what Christ is doing all the time with poor human lives. — Selected.
The First Submarine (Jonah Had No Periscope)
1917
The first submarine of which we have any record was invented by God, and the first passenger to travel in it was his disobedient prophet, Jonah. This submarine was created and on hand at the moment of Jonah's greatest need. God's providence was over him even in his sin, and God would not let him perish until after he had had time for serious reflection. In this submarine Jonah was the only human passenger, and he had no periscope to show him what was going on outside and to distract his mind. Those few days of undisturbed communion with God, while it did not broaden Jonah into a prophet with a world vision, did lead him to decide to obey Jehovah, and through his obedience to save his own life for worthy service for God. This decision being made, Jonah was carried, free of charge, in God's submarine, and landed at a point nearest to Nineveh, where he was able to do the greatest work of his life. — Watchman-Examiner.
Shallow Waters and Deep
I remember walking across the intervening mile between Loch Lomond and Loch Long. Loch Lomond is an inland lake, and when I left it its waters were disquieted and boisterous, lashing the shores with angry waves. Loch Long is an arm of the sea, and its waters were perfectly calm, and I could look through its lucid depths and see the seaweed rooted on the rocks beneath. And the life of the soul, when it is like a small, measurable lake, is easily disquieted, and little disturbances toss it into convulsions. But when the soul knows God, when it recognizes its vast relationships, when it feels the tidal flow of the infinite within the waters of the breast, it has the secret of a great calm, and the little things leave it undisturbed. When the soul knows God it can be still. — Rev. J. H. Jowett in The Christian Herald.
"The bird that sings in winter is dreaming of the orange grove, and the land of sunshine, and of flowers. We learn to sing in our winter of trial as we dream of Canaan, the Lord's land."
The first submarine of which we have any record was invented by God, and the first passenger to travel in it was his disobedient prophet, Jonah. This submarine was created and on hand at the moment of Jonah's greatest need. God's providence was over him even in his sin, and God would not let him perish until after he had had time for serious reflection. In this submarine Jonah was the only human passenger, and he had no periscope to show him what was going on outside and to distract his mind. Those few days of undisturbed communion with God, while it did not broaden Jonah into a prophet with a world vision, did lead him to decide to obey Jehovah, and through his obedience to save his own life for worthy service for God. This decision being made, Jonah was carried, free of charge, in God's submarine, and landed at a point nearest to Nineveh, where he was able to do the greatest work of his life. — Watchman-Examiner.
Shallow Waters and Deep
I remember walking across the intervening mile between Loch Lomond and Loch Long. Loch Lomond is an inland lake, and when I left it its waters were disquieted and boisterous, lashing the shores with angry waves. Loch Long is an arm of the sea, and its waters were perfectly calm, and I could look through its lucid depths and see the seaweed rooted on the rocks beneath. And the life of the soul, when it is like a small, measurable lake, is easily disquieted, and little disturbances toss it into convulsions. But when the soul knows God, when it recognizes its vast relationships, when it feels the tidal flow of the infinite within the waters of the breast, it has the secret of a great calm, and the little things leave it undisturbed. When the soul knows God it can be still. — Rev. J. H. Jowett in The Christian Herald.
"The bird that sings in winter is dreaming of the orange grove, and the land of sunshine, and of flowers. We learn to sing in our winter of trial as we dream of Canaan, the Lord's land."
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Rev. Little to Tell Why He's Presbyterian
Fort Wayne, Indiana, 1917
Famous Wabash Divine to Speak at First Church Here Sunday
Rev. Charles Little, D. D., pastor of the First Presbyterian church at Wabash for over forty-two years, and one of the leading and best known ministers of his denomination, will speak Sunday evening at the First Presbyterian church in this city on "Why I Am a Presbyterian." The address is one of the series being conducted at this church.
Dr. Little is one of the really big men of the Presbyterian church. He comes from a family of Presbyterian preachers, most of his brothers. His son, Robert, is pastor of the leading Presbyterian church in Scranton, Pa., at the present time.
Dr. Little is a splendid pulpit orator with a fine wit and sense of humor that always pleases. He is an ex-moderator of the Presbyterian church of the United States, an honor that is seldom conferred upon a man coming from a town no larger than Wabash.
—The Fort Wayne Sentinel, Fort Wayne, IN, May 5, 1917, p. 5.
Famous Wabash Divine to Speak at First Church Here Sunday
Rev. Charles Little, D. D., pastor of the First Presbyterian church at Wabash for over forty-two years, and one of the leading and best known ministers of his denomination, will speak Sunday evening at the First Presbyterian church in this city on "Why I Am a Presbyterian." The address is one of the series being conducted at this church.
Dr. Little is one of the really big men of the Presbyterian church. He comes from a family of Presbyterian preachers, most of his brothers. His son, Robert, is pastor of the leading Presbyterian church in Scranton, Pa., at the present time.
Dr. Little is a splendid pulpit orator with a fine wit and sense of humor that always pleases. He is an ex-moderator of the Presbyterian church of the United States, an honor that is seldom conferred upon a man coming from a town no larger than Wabash.
—The Fort Wayne Sentinel, Fort Wayne, IN, May 5, 1917, p. 5.
Monday, May 14, 2007
Doctrine of Expediency Questioned Concerning War Effort
Indiana, 1917
DOCTRINE OF EXPEDIENCY
Rev. Masters Delivers Sermon on the War Question.
Rev. H. B. Masters, pastor of the First Presbyterian church, delivered on Sunday, April 1, a sermon, which is considered masterful in its treatment of the war question and the cry of pacifism. The subject chosen by Rev. Masters was, "Shall We Adopt the Doctrine of Expediency," and the text was taken from the events leading up to the crucifixion of Christ, in which the people sacrificed principle to expediency.
It is by this giving up of principle that men and nations fall, according to Rev. Masters. When a nation allows another country to disregard its rights in order to save a sum of money and when men fail to offer themselves in one way or another to the service of their country in such a crisis, the nation and its people are doomed to the contempt of all nations. Rev. Masters also pointed out that a failure on the part of this country to protect its rights would be a blow to democracy.
—The Fort Wayne Sentinel, Fort Wayne, Indiana, April 9, 1917, p. 14.
Note: The pastor's name is given as Master, without an "s" a few times. That the article says his sermon was "considered masterful" does not appear to be a pun.
DOCTRINE OF EXPEDIENCY
Rev. Masters Delivers Sermon on the War Question.
Rev. H. B. Masters, pastor of the First Presbyterian church, delivered on Sunday, April 1, a sermon, which is considered masterful in its treatment of the war question and the cry of pacifism. The subject chosen by Rev. Masters was, "Shall We Adopt the Doctrine of Expediency," and the text was taken from the events leading up to the crucifixion of Christ, in which the people sacrificed principle to expediency.
It is by this giving up of principle that men and nations fall, according to Rev. Masters. When a nation allows another country to disregard its rights in order to save a sum of money and when men fail to offer themselves in one way or another to the service of their country in such a crisis, the nation and its people are doomed to the contempt of all nations. Rev. Masters also pointed out that a failure on the part of this country to protect its rights would be a blow to democracy.
—The Fort Wayne Sentinel, Fort Wayne, Indiana, April 9, 1917, p. 14.
Note: The pastor's name is given as Master, without an "s" a few times. That the article says his sermon was "considered masterful" does not appear to be a pun.
Life Beyond The Grave
Indiana, 1917
Rev. H. B. Hostetter Tells Why He Believes in Immortality
"Some of the Reasons Why I Believe There Is a Life Beyond the Grave," was the subject of the morning sermon by Rev. H. B. Hostetter at the Third Presbyterian church Sunday.
"Humanly speaking there is no absolute proof of the immortality of the soul," he said. "But the great preponderance of evidence is in its favor and any man who makes a candid, unprejudiced inquiry can come to but one conclusion — though a man die he shall most certainly live again.
"Life's voyage is to end not in the rocks and shallows of an unmerciful sea, but in the Haven of Eternal Rest — not a kingdom of darkness, but a kingdom of living light; not the cramped and suffocating confines of the grave, but heaven's broad arch; not the dark and narrow house, but our Father's house, where many mansions are. 'He that findeth Me, findeth life,' said Christ, 'and because I live ye shall live also.' "
CHURCHES CROWDED SUNDAY
Easter Services Attended by Throngs of People
An unprecedented number of people attended services in the various churches of the city Easter Sunday.
Special services were held in all the churches and music appropriate for the day and season was heard everywhere. Downtown churches were especially well attended, many of them being full to the very doors. Every service at the Cathedral attracted a record crowd.
A patriotic strain was carried through the services of practically every church and the Stars and Stripes mingled with Easter decorations everywhere. Many of the sermons touched upon the crisis in which the nation now stands, and called for the support of the people in the process of upholding the nation's honor.
—The Fort Wayne Sentinel, Fort Wayne, Indiana, Monday, April 9, 1917, p. 14.
Rev. H. B. Hostetter Tells Why He Believes in Immortality
"Some of the Reasons Why I Believe There Is a Life Beyond the Grave," was the subject of the morning sermon by Rev. H. B. Hostetter at the Third Presbyterian church Sunday.
"Humanly speaking there is no absolute proof of the immortality of the soul," he said. "But the great preponderance of evidence is in its favor and any man who makes a candid, unprejudiced inquiry can come to but one conclusion — though a man die he shall most certainly live again.
"Life's voyage is to end not in the rocks and shallows of an unmerciful sea, but in the Haven of Eternal Rest — not a kingdom of darkness, but a kingdom of living light; not the cramped and suffocating confines of the grave, but heaven's broad arch; not the dark and narrow house, but our Father's house, where many mansions are. 'He that findeth Me, findeth life,' said Christ, 'and because I live ye shall live also.' "
CHURCHES CROWDED SUNDAY
Easter Services Attended by Throngs of People
An unprecedented number of people attended services in the various churches of the city Easter Sunday.
Special services were held in all the churches and music appropriate for the day and season was heard everywhere. Downtown churches were especially well attended, many of them being full to the very doors. Every service at the Cathedral attracted a record crowd.
A patriotic strain was carried through the services of practically every church and the Stars and Stripes mingled with Easter decorations everywhere. Many of the sermons touched upon the crisis in which the nation now stands, and called for the support of the people in the process of upholding the nation's honor.
—The Fort Wayne Sentinel, Fort Wayne, Indiana, Monday, April 9, 1917, p. 14.
Prayer and Power
1917
If you want your spiritual life to be more healthy and vigorous, you must just come more boldly to the throne of grace. The secret of your weakness is your little faith and little prayer. The fountain is unsealed, but you only sip a few drops. The bread of life is before you, yet you only eat a few crumbs. The treasury of heaven is open, but you only take a few pence. O man of little faith, wherefore do you doubt?
Come boldly to the throne of grace, where the Father is ever waiting to give, and Jesus stands by him to intercede. Come boldly, for you may, all sinful as you are, if you come in the name of the great High Priest. Come then boldly and ask largely, and you shall have abundant answers, mercy like a river, and grace and strength like a mighty stream. Come boldly and you shall have supplies exceeding all you can ask or think. Hitherto you have asked nothing; ask and receive, that your joy may be full. — Bishop J. O. Ryle.
If you want your spiritual life to be more healthy and vigorous, you must just come more boldly to the throne of grace. The secret of your weakness is your little faith and little prayer. The fountain is unsealed, but you only sip a few drops. The bread of life is before you, yet you only eat a few crumbs. The treasury of heaven is open, but you only take a few pence. O man of little faith, wherefore do you doubt?
Come boldly to the throne of grace, where the Father is ever waiting to give, and Jesus stands by him to intercede. Come boldly, for you may, all sinful as you are, if you come in the name of the great High Priest. Come then boldly and ask largely, and you shall have abundant answers, mercy like a river, and grace and strength like a mighty stream. Come boldly and you shall have supplies exceeding all you can ask or think. Hitherto you have asked nothing; ask and receive, that your joy may be full. — Bishop J. O. Ryle.
Children of Mysteries
1917
"The little isle of knowledge," says a recent writer, "shelves off suddenly on every hand into water that is too deep to wade and too wide to swim." When the rim of the earth slips up and shuts out the sun, we say it is sundown; and when in the morning the rim of the earth slips down past the golden plaque in the east, we say it is sun up. Meanwhile we have been flying through darkness and space at a terrific rate, clinging like great beetles to the under side of a world. No fear of falling off.
We are the children of mysteries, the heirs of a life and a world more full of wonder than the crags of the Yosemite, or the great gray mountain spurs that shine the face of God as the face of the Savior shone when he met the commissioners from the throne. How little we know. How little we realize of the wonder of our daily lives.
To him whose eyes are but half awake to the land he lives in, there should be no questioning of the incarnation of Jesus, or the mysteries and miracles of his wonder-working hand. "Truth is a continent in whose interior are forest-covered valleys and towering mountain ranges and broad rivers sweeping through wide plains, but we touch it only as Columbus touched the shores of the new world, coasting a little way along a small segment of its beach." — United Presbyterian.
"The little isle of knowledge," says a recent writer, "shelves off suddenly on every hand into water that is too deep to wade and too wide to swim." When the rim of the earth slips up and shuts out the sun, we say it is sundown; and when in the morning the rim of the earth slips down past the golden plaque in the east, we say it is sun up. Meanwhile we have been flying through darkness and space at a terrific rate, clinging like great beetles to the under side of a world. No fear of falling off.
We are the children of mysteries, the heirs of a life and a world more full of wonder than the crags of the Yosemite, or the great gray mountain spurs that shine the face of God as the face of the Savior shone when he met the commissioners from the throne. How little we know. How little we realize of the wonder of our daily lives.
To him whose eyes are but half awake to the land he lives in, there should be no questioning of the incarnation of Jesus, or the mysteries and miracles of his wonder-working hand. "Truth is a continent in whose interior are forest-covered valleys and towering mountain ranges and broad rivers sweeping through wide plains, but we touch it only as Columbus touched the shores of the new world, coasting a little way along a small segment of its beach." — United Presbyterian.
Monday, May 7, 2007
The First Easter
1917
Rosily dawned the day in the far east. On the shore the cool waves broke gently, fluttering foamy drops on the yellow sand. Away from the rocky stretches of green, lilies bloomed slender and tall, while with cups curving to catch the errant little breeze which carried their sweetness beyond the hills. In the stony crevices wild flowers glinted out from dew wet leaves. Half hidden by pale lily blooms, a dark stone guarded the entrance to a cave among the rocks.
Early in the dawning Sabbath glow, two women, gentle voiced and sorrowing, came slowly down a flowered path, bearing in their arms perfumed napkins and precious spices in carved boxes. They were clad in flowing gray garments, and their heads were bent in meek weeping.
As they drew nearer to the lily sentineled tomb, the one who walked ahead raised her eyes, dark with pain, to the open doorway, and quick wonder lighted their depths, and she turned, whispering: "Ah! Mary Magdalene, the stone already is rolled away. He hath done this thing."
With eager steps they left the growing day and entered the darkened sepulcher. But as they went they saw two angels seated at the tomb, two men with strong, glorified faces and glad, bright eyes, and their robes were bright as if the sunlight were shining through. The two Marys paused, startled, awed by the great light.
Then the mother of Christ knelt low and wept but a voice thrillingly tender called to her saying, "Woman, why weepest thou?"
And she lifted her eyes at the words and answered softly, "Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him."
But the voice came again, glad and full of rejoicing: "Fear not ye, for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified He is not here, for he is risen!"
Wondering, the mother gazed, her starry eyes searching the brightened sepulcher. Then she rose and walked with Mary Magdalene from the place.
Descending the path in the golden sunlight, her gray robes brushed against the uplifted flowers, dew flecked, wondrous sweet. Stooping, she bent her head to the shining lilies "Live," she murmured, "as expression of the divine beauty of the Son of Man, as examples of his wondrous mercy and boundless love and as the symbol of his resurrection. Henceforth you shall be the flower of purity and spiritual beauty of the holy Easter day, of the great new life which floods the earth through the power of the Son of God." — Patricia Gray in Philadelphia North American.
Rosily dawned the day in the far east. On the shore the cool waves broke gently, fluttering foamy drops on the yellow sand. Away from the rocky stretches of green, lilies bloomed slender and tall, while with cups curving to catch the errant little breeze which carried their sweetness beyond the hills. In the stony crevices wild flowers glinted out from dew wet leaves. Half hidden by pale lily blooms, a dark stone guarded the entrance to a cave among the rocks.
Early in the dawning Sabbath glow, two women, gentle voiced and sorrowing, came slowly down a flowered path, bearing in their arms perfumed napkins and precious spices in carved boxes. They were clad in flowing gray garments, and their heads were bent in meek weeping.
As they drew nearer to the lily sentineled tomb, the one who walked ahead raised her eyes, dark with pain, to the open doorway, and quick wonder lighted their depths, and she turned, whispering: "Ah! Mary Magdalene, the stone already is rolled away. He hath done this thing."
With eager steps they left the growing day and entered the darkened sepulcher. But as they went they saw two angels seated at the tomb, two men with strong, glorified faces and glad, bright eyes, and their robes were bright as if the sunlight were shining through. The two Marys paused, startled, awed by the great light.
Then the mother of Christ knelt low and wept but a voice thrillingly tender called to her saying, "Woman, why weepest thou?"
And she lifted her eyes at the words and answered softly, "Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him."
But the voice came again, glad and full of rejoicing: "Fear not ye, for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified He is not here, for he is risen!"
Wondering, the mother gazed, her starry eyes searching the brightened sepulcher. Then she rose and walked with Mary Magdalene from the place.
Descending the path in the golden sunlight, her gray robes brushed against the uplifted flowers, dew flecked, wondrous sweet. Stooping, she bent her head to the shining lilies "Live," she murmured, "as expression of the divine beauty of the Son of Man, as examples of his wondrous mercy and boundless love and as the symbol of his resurrection. Henceforth you shall be the flower of purity and spiritual beauty of the holy Easter day, of the great new life which floods the earth through the power of the Son of God." — Patricia Gray in Philadelphia North American.
Easter Feeling
1917
It Begins With Simple Faith In Beautiful Story of the Day
Easter feeling begins with some faith in the great story of the resurrection or else in a beautiful, even reverential respect for all those who bare it. It continues with gratitude for the new life that is shown in field and tree, in a freshened heart for all earth, in a love that strives to forget self in all the little dealings at home and abroad. The disgruntled heart and sour countenance have no place with Easter joy any more than has a willful conduct that mocks scornfully at a neighbor's piety.
Granted we are sometimes denied faith, common sense, the mere fire of spring will tell us that we have much to rejoice for. The garment of the winter locked earth has been made over. Bud and leaf are near to tell us, too, that old fears may pass. And lovely music and resplendent flowers of the churches are telling us more — that there must be something in a story that loses no whit of its sublime beauty after 2,000 years.
It Begins With Simple Faith In Beautiful Story of the Day
Easter feeling begins with some faith in the great story of the resurrection or else in a beautiful, even reverential respect for all those who bare it. It continues with gratitude for the new life that is shown in field and tree, in a freshened heart for all earth, in a love that strives to forget self in all the little dealings at home and abroad. The disgruntled heart and sour countenance have no place with Easter joy any more than has a willful conduct that mocks scornfully at a neighbor's piety.
Granted we are sometimes denied faith, common sense, the mere fire of spring will tell us that we have much to rejoice for. The garment of the winter locked earth has been made over. Bud and leaf are near to tell us, too, that old fears may pass. And lovely music and resplendent flowers of the churches are telling us more — that there must be something in a story that loses no whit of its sublime beauty after 2,000 years.
What Easter Should Mean
1917
Does Easter mean to you only the wearing of a new hat, a new frock and the studying of fashions as worn by others? Do you let it bring to your little ones only the rabbit's nest of colored eggs or the fluffs of yellow chicks? Does it strike no higher chord in your being than the fact that spring is at hand and you must have light and becoming apparel?
Easter is more than all these. It is the force in nature that brings the leaf, the bud and at last the glowing blossom from the clod. It is the resurrection of the life of those things we call inanimate because they cannot talk to us; how much more than the springing into being of the good that may be dormant in our hearts.
What the little ones should be told this Easter morning is that the life of the world itself is new; that the grave cannot hold within its confines the mighty spirit of growing things. So I beg of you to not dwell too largely upon the sadness of the cross and the crown of thorns, but rather upon the glorious truth that those were but small in comparison with the glory of Christ's rising.
If the remembrance of the freeing from the tomb means anything in teaching Christianity it means the beauty of the resurrection; it means that the very spirit of "Christ risen from the dead" is to be carried out in real life; that joy and fresh glowing happiness are to be taught and believed in. Gloom has no place on Easter day. What is past is past; troubles that have come are gone; pain that has been suffered and cured is to be forgotten, and this is the meaning that Easter should bring into every mother's morning greeting to her little ones.
"You were ill yesterday, but you are well today." You are to live as if the sun was newly born, the skies newly washed in their sunny blue, the stars but just freshly placed to shine to give you pleasure, the moon sailing like a beautiful round globe for your eyes to see. All these mean a keener enjoyment, a better understanding, and you will find response in each small body and loving heart if the practice be the teaching of the Golden Rule, not only today, but all the year. — Emma Irene McLagan in St. Louis Globe Democrat.
Does Easter mean to you only the wearing of a new hat, a new frock and the studying of fashions as worn by others? Do you let it bring to your little ones only the rabbit's nest of colored eggs or the fluffs of yellow chicks? Does it strike no higher chord in your being than the fact that spring is at hand and you must have light and becoming apparel?
Easter is more than all these. It is the force in nature that brings the leaf, the bud and at last the glowing blossom from the clod. It is the resurrection of the life of those things we call inanimate because they cannot talk to us; how much more than the springing into being of the good that may be dormant in our hearts.
What the little ones should be told this Easter morning is that the life of the world itself is new; that the grave cannot hold within its confines the mighty spirit of growing things. So I beg of you to not dwell too largely upon the sadness of the cross and the crown of thorns, but rather upon the glorious truth that those were but small in comparison with the glory of Christ's rising.
If the remembrance of the freeing from the tomb means anything in teaching Christianity it means the beauty of the resurrection; it means that the very spirit of "Christ risen from the dead" is to be carried out in real life; that joy and fresh glowing happiness are to be taught and believed in. Gloom has no place on Easter day. What is past is past; troubles that have come are gone; pain that has been suffered and cured is to be forgotten, and this is the meaning that Easter should bring into every mother's morning greeting to her little ones.
"You were ill yesterday, but you are well today." You are to live as if the sun was newly born, the skies newly washed in their sunny blue, the stars but just freshly placed to shine to give you pleasure, the moon sailing like a beautiful round globe for your eyes to see. All these mean a keener enjoyment, a better understanding, and you will find response in each small body and loving heart if the practice be the teaching of the Golden Rule, not only today, but all the year. — Emma Irene McLagan in St. Louis Globe Democrat.
What We See in Easter
1917
We see in Easter not merely a memorial of a long gone past, but a witness to the truth that the grave is always empty, that the living are never to be sought among the dead and that a divine presence ever walks the earth, the companion now, as then, of those whose eager questioning needs answer and whose earnest but perhaps almost despairing hope needs inspiration which only He can give, says the Rev. Dr. Lyman Abbott.
Flowers in The Churches
Easter is essentially Christ's day. And Christ loved beautiful, simple, reverent things. For that reason, keep your churches simple, beautiful and reverent. Christ would not have enjoyed tight bunches of flowers with their poor little stems all choked up. He would have wanted them to be loosely, gracefully, happily placed. Christ would not have loved the rare orchids and the hot-house palms better than the field daises and the nodding daffodils and the shy arbutus.
Trim your churches with an eye to color and a sense of grouping, and, above all, the spirit of love in your heart.
And your church home, blessed by God's flowers, cannot fail to be beautiful and simple and reverent. — Margaret E. Sangster, in the Christian Herald.
We see in Easter not merely a memorial of a long gone past, but a witness to the truth that the grave is always empty, that the living are never to be sought among the dead and that a divine presence ever walks the earth, the companion now, as then, of those whose eager questioning needs answer and whose earnest but perhaps almost despairing hope needs inspiration which only He can give, says the Rev. Dr. Lyman Abbott.
Flowers in The Churches
Easter is essentially Christ's day. And Christ loved beautiful, simple, reverent things. For that reason, keep your churches simple, beautiful and reverent. Christ would not have enjoyed tight bunches of flowers with their poor little stems all choked up. He would have wanted them to be loosely, gracefully, happily placed. Christ would not have loved the rare orchids and the hot-house palms better than the field daises and the nodding daffodils and the shy arbutus.
Trim your churches with an eye to color and a sense of grouping, and, above all, the spirit of love in your heart.
And your church home, blessed by God's flowers, cannot fail to be beautiful and simple and reverent. — Margaret E. Sangster, in the Christian Herald.
Welcome Easter
1917
Man likes to rule, not merely to wait upon nature. So it is that he has learned through the ages to look for, and love the tiny things that mark the coming of the soil's great Easter session, and give him a hint that spring is waiting for him to commit his hopes and promises to her, that she may carry them on strong and hearty to her more vigorous successor, the sunny summertime.
IN THE HOLY LAND
Easter the Accepted Time for Gathering of Pilgrims From All Countries.
Easter has always been the most popular season for pilgrims and tourists to the Holy Land. Both the Roman and Greet Catholic churches have from remote ages encouraged and promoted the pilgrimages to the Holy Land. Scattered throughout the land vast hospices have been erected for the proper care of the religious pilgrims "under the supervision of the various Catholic and Protestant faiths that are drawn to the promised land. For, as someone has said. "This, the least of all lands, is the one country toward which Christian and Jew, Romanist, Greek and Moslem turn with adoring devotion and longing desire."
About fifteen thousand have been in the habit of visiting the sacred scenes of biblical history every year, entering the country through the ancient seaport or Jaffa. The European conflict has interfered with the plans of many a devoted follower of the Christian faith who proposed this season to carry out the dreams of a lifetime. The writer recalls a band of more than 135 German Catholics whom he frequently met last summer in Jerusalem, under the guidance of Brother Sebastian, formerly stationed at the American Catholic university, Brookland, Washington, D. C. The pilgrims were taken prisoners as they sailed from Jaffa a few hours after they had left Jerusalem with songs of devotion and praise to Christ and his church upon their lips.
One of the principal sights of Easter in Jerusalem is to witness upon Holy Saturday the so-called miracle of Holy Fire. It has been denounced by Roman Catholics and devout Christians of many faiths as a grass imposture, yet year after year for hours the section of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher upon Holy Saturday is crowded with the motley multitude, mostly from Russia, who are waiting for the Holy Ghost to appear unto them in the sacred fire. The people believe that it descends from heaven that day or is brought by an angel to the Holy Sepulcher.
Early in the last century two oval holes were pierced in the walls of the Chapel of the Angels, which is a portion of the Holy Sepulcher, where Greek, Roman Catholic, Armenian and Coptic Catholics worship at the burial place, as they believe, of their Lord. After being shut up in the sanctuary for several hours, the Greek bishop passes the miraculous fire through the little openings.
Immediately the multitude that has waited for over twenty four hours without food or drink becomes a howling mob and the fanatical Russians, Armenians, Copts and Abyssinians contend like maniacs to get their tapers lighted so that in a spirit of penance they may sear their bodies with the burning taper that has been lighted by "the holy fire."
The task of the Turkish guard stationed there in the great Christian temple erected in the cradle of their faith, symbolizing in its worship the unity in diversity of the church, is virtually powerless to keep order, much less to check the rioting and fighting of professed Christians. Frequently the enacting of the ceremony results in leaving upon the floor of the basilica the mangled dead forms of many who came there to worship. Above all the strife and superstition of the various sects that worship in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is the fact that they all stand for a common truth that is symbolized in the sacred spot which for fully fifteen centuries has been considered the most sacred place on the earth.
Man likes to rule, not merely to wait upon nature. So it is that he has learned through the ages to look for, and love the tiny things that mark the coming of the soil's great Easter session, and give him a hint that spring is waiting for him to commit his hopes and promises to her, that she may carry them on strong and hearty to her more vigorous successor, the sunny summertime.
IN THE HOLY LAND
Easter the Accepted Time for Gathering of Pilgrims From All Countries.
Easter has always been the most popular season for pilgrims and tourists to the Holy Land. Both the Roman and Greet Catholic churches have from remote ages encouraged and promoted the pilgrimages to the Holy Land. Scattered throughout the land vast hospices have been erected for the proper care of the religious pilgrims "under the supervision of the various Catholic and Protestant faiths that are drawn to the promised land. For, as someone has said. "This, the least of all lands, is the one country toward which Christian and Jew, Romanist, Greek and Moslem turn with adoring devotion and longing desire."
About fifteen thousand have been in the habit of visiting the sacred scenes of biblical history every year, entering the country through the ancient seaport or Jaffa. The European conflict has interfered with the plans of many a devoted follower of the Christian faith who proposed this season to carry out the dreams of a lifetime. The writer recalls a band of more than 135 German Catholics whom he frequently met last summer in Jerusalem, under the guidance of Brother Sebastian, formerly stationed at the American Catholic university, Brookland, Washington, D. C. The pilgrims were taken prisoners as they sailed from Jaffa a few hours after they had left Jerusalem with songs of devotion and praise to Christ and his church upon their lips.
One of the principal sights of Easter in Jerusalem is to witness upon Holy Saturday the so-called miracle of Holy Fire. It has been denounced by Roman Catholics and devout Christians of many faiths as a grass imposture, yet year after year for hours the section of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher upon Holy Saturday is crowded with the motley multitude, mostly from Russia, who are waiting for the Holy Ghost to appear unto them in the sacred fire. The people believe that it descends from heaven that day or is brought by an angel to the Holy Sepulcher.
Early in the last century two oval holes were pierced in the walls of the Chapel of the Angels, which is a portion of the Holy Sepulcher, where Greek, Roman Catholic, Armenian and Coptic Catholics worship at the burial place, as they believe, of their Lord. After being shut up in the sanctuary for several hours, the Greek bishop passes the miraculous fire through the little openings.
Immediately the multitude that has waited for over twenty four hours without food or drink becomes a howling mob and the fanatical Russians, Armenians, Copts and Abyssinians contend like maniacs to get their tapers lighted so that in a spirit of penance they may sear their bodies with the burning taper that has been lighted by "the holy fire."
The task of the Turkish guard stationed there in the great Christian temple erected in the cradle of their faith, symbolizing in its worship the unity in diversity of the church, is virtually powerless to keep order, much less to check the rioting and fighting of professed Christians. Frequently the enacting of the ceremony results in leaving upon the floor of the basilica the mangled dead forms of many who came there to worship. Above all the strife and superstition of the various sects that worship in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is the fact that they all stand for a common truth that is symbolized in the sacred spot which for fully fifteen centuries has been considered the most sacred place on the earth.
The Empty Tomb
1917
Resurrection of Jesus Meant the Unfolding of the Purest Things of Life
When the angel pointed to the stone rolled away from the of the sepulcher and invited inspection of the empty tomb, what a magnificent allegory for life was written to the scrolls of humanity! Life is lived in action, say they who lay emphasis upon the strenuous life. But what action? The action of the ideal, the action of the parable of human existence. Erase the parables of beauty and lore and of love and service from the experiences of mortals, and religion vanishes and life loses its appeals to the higher aspirations and life's service becomes sordid and unworthy. The allegory of the empty tomb is the tremendous contribution of the resurrection to the life of humanity. It is inspiring to dwell upon a risen Lord. It is even more inspiring to dwell upon a risen life — the aggregate life Of hoping and struggling and effortful humanity. Civilization sits at the tomb of the divinest of men and with its mystical loom it weaves into the resurrection of Jesus the theme of advance and unfolding of the purest things of human life.
The dark fates that had cut the thread of the mortal life of the one who served a brief ministry of word and deed among his fellows, at the same time released the mechanism of almightiness. The human passed that the divine might be revealed. The mortal was lost in the immortal. The world has attestation to the limitlessness of life and therefore the illimitable reach of the divinest of its aspirations and endeavors. The risen Christ is adored because he is risen. Had he simply suffered he would have been pathetic. Ennobling as suffering is in triumph, it is useless to defeat. Jesus Christ did not simply suffer — he triumphed. This is the need of the ages and of all time and of all life. It is needful for men that they shall triumph over the deadening facts of materiality. It is necessary that they shall triumph over the cabining and cramping confines of mortal existence. It is necessary that they shall have the horizon of their soul's meaning made coterminous with the expanse of love and of hope and of faith. It is necessary that there shall be fulfillment to life and not an ending of it. It is important above all things that the drama of existence shall not close in a tragedy. The world would have flung the divine claims of Jesus Christ to the winds of sophistry and contempt had he not arisen from the tomb and confirmed the faith of his fellows in the power of the life that he lived in the flesh to abide after the flesh had been impaled by the darts of death.
Let those who would contrive or contest the resurrection take a petal from the lilies of pure ideals that blossomed by the tomb of the Savior. Let those who will enter into discussion as to the scientific aspect of the great Easter occasion — the world is redolent with its glory. Mankind rejoices in its liberty. Humanity is exalted by the vistas of infinity that lay outside the tomb from whose door was rolled away the sealed stone. Life is the one great theme of mankind. Death is an anachronism. Fulfillment, rejoicing, power, strength and endurance, these are the qualities that belong to the risen life — the life spiritual. For only as the announcement was made of the risen Jesus Christ from the dead was there opened to man's range of the ages the spiritual realities this side of the grave and the immortal heritage on the other side.
Resurrection of Jesus Meant the Unfolding of the Purest Things of Life
When the angel pointed to the stone rolled away from the of the sepulcher and invited inspection of the empty tomb, what a magnificent allegory for life was written to the scrolls of humanity! Life is lived in action, say they who lay emphasis upon the strenuous life. But what action? The action of the ideal, the action of the parable of human existence. Erase the parables of beauty and lore and of love and service from the experiences of mortals, and religion vanishes and life loses its appeals to the higher aspirations and life's service becomes sordid and unworthy. The allegory of the empty tomb is the tremendous contribution of the resurrection to the life of humanity. It is inspiring to dwell upon a risen Lord. It is even more inspiring to dwell upon a risen life — the aggregate life Of hoping and struggling and effortful humanity. Civilization sits at the tomb of the divinest of men and with its mystical loom it weaves into the resurrection of Jesus the theme of advance and unfolding of the purest things of human life.
The dark fates that had cut the thread of the mortal life of the one who served a brief ministry of word and deed among his fellows, at the same time released the mechanism of almightiness. The human passed that the divine might be revealed. The mortal was lost in the immortal. The world has attestation to the limitlessness of life and therefore the illimitable reach of the divinest of its aspirations and endeavors. The risen Christ is adored because he is risen. Had he simply suffered he would have been pathetic. Ennobling as suffering is in triumph, it is useless to defeat. Jesus Christ did not simply suffer — he triumphed. This is the need of the ages and of all time and of all life. It is needful for men that they shall triumph over the deadening facts of materiality. It is necessary that they shall triumph over the cabining and cramping confines of mortal existence. It is necessary that they shall have the horizon of their soul's meaning made coterminous with the expanse of love and of hope and of faith. It is necessary that there shall be fulfillment to life and not an ending of it. It is important above all things that the drama of existence shall not close in a tragedy. The world would have flung the divine claims of Jesus Christ to the winds of sophistry and contempt had he not arisen from the tomb and confirmed the faith of his fellows in the power of the life that he lived in the flesh to abide after the flesh had been impaled by the darts of death.
Let those who would contrive or contest the resurrection take a petal from the lilies of pure ideals that blossomed by the tomb of the Savior. Let those who will enter into discussion as to the scientific aspect of the great Easter occasion — the world is redolent with its glory. Mankind rejoices in its liberty. Humanity is exalted by the vistas of infinity that lay outside the tomb from whose door was rolled away the sealed stone. Life is the one great theme of mankind. Death is an anachronism. Fulfillment, rejoicing, power, strength and endurance, these are the qualities that belong to the risen life — the life spiritual. For only as the announcement was made of the risen Jesus Christ from the dead was there opened to man's range of the ages the spiritual realities this side of the grave and the immortal heritage on the other side.
Easter Gifts
1917
The very pleasant Easter custom of sending Easter cards to our friends or of making them simple and inexpensive gifts is a good one provided we do not carry it to an extreme. The springtime is a busy season when every one is weeding out one's possessions rather than seeking to add to them; hence numerous large gifts would prove a burden to the recipient. Eggs have always been associated with the day as symbolic of the resurrection. Bonbonnieres of this shape or candy eggs are always popular.
Flowers and growing plants are especially appropriate to the day, Easter lilies being always in demand. A corsage bouquet of violets or of lilies of the valley is a pretty gift to a girl. The man who makes it must be careful to have it sent to the house of the girl in time for her to wear to church on Easter morning. Neckties or scarves are suitable gifts to make to a man who is a relative or friend, provided one knows his tastes. — Florence Howe Hall in Chicago News.
ANGELS
God hath sent His angels
To the earth again,
Bringing joyful tidings
To the sons of men.
They who first at Christmas
Thronged the heavenly way.
Now beside the tomb door
Sit on Easter day.
Angels, sing His triumph
As you sang His birth.
"Christ the Lord is risen,
Peace, good will on earth."
In the dreadful desert
Where the Lord was tried,
There the faithful angels
Gathered at his side.
And when in the garden,
Grief and pain and care
Bowed Him down with Anguish
They were with Him there.
Yet the Christ they honor
Is the same Christ still,
Who, in light and darkness.
Did His Father's will.
And the tomb, deserted.
Shineth like the sky.
Since He passed out from it
Into victory.
God has still His angels
Helping, at His word.
All His faithful children
Like their faithful Lord.
Soothing them in sorrow,
Arming them in strife.
Opening wide the tomb doors
Leading into life.
Father, send Thine angels
Unto us, we pray;
Leave us not to wander
All along our way.
Let them guard and guide us
Whereso'er we be,
Till our resurrection
Brings us home to Thee.
—Phillips Brooks
The very pleasant Easter custom of sending Easter cards to our friends or of making them simple and inexpensive gifts is a good one provided we do not carry it to an extreme. The springtime is a busy season when every one is weeding out one's possessions rather than seeking to add to them; hence numerous large gifts would prove a burden to the recipient. Eggs have always been associated with the day as symbolic of the resurrection. Bonbonnieres of this shape or candy eggs are always popular.
Flowers and growing plants are especially appropriate to the day, Easter lilies being always in demand. A corsage bouquet of violets or of lilies of the valley is a pretty gift to a girl. The man who makes it must be careful to have it sent to the house of the girl in time for her to wear to church on Easter morning. Neckties or scarves are suitable gifts to make to a man who is a relative or friend, provided one knows his tastes. — Florence Howe Hall in Chicago News.
ANGELS
God hath sent His angels
To the earth again,
Bringing joyful tidings
To the sons of men.
They who first at Christmas
Thronged the heavenly way.
Now beside the tomb door
Sit on Easter day.
Angels, sing His triumph
As you sang His birth.
"Christ the Lord is risen,
Peace, good will on earth."
In the dreadful desert
Where the Lord was tried,
There the faithful angels
Gathered at his side.
And when in the garden,
Grief and pain and care
Bowed Him down with Anguish
They were with Him there.
Yet the Christ they honor
Is the same Christ still,
Who, in light and darkness.
Did His Father's will.
And the tomb, deserted.
Shineth like the sky.
Since He passed out from it
Into victory.
God has still His angels
Helping, at His word.
All His faithful children
Like their faithful Lord.
Soothing them in sorrow,
Arming them in strife.
Opening wide the tomb doors
Leading into life.
Father, send Thine angels
Unto us, we pray;
Leave us not to wander
All along our way.
Let them guard and guide us
Whereso'er we be,
Till our resurrection
Brings us home to Thee.
—Phillips Brooks
Garden of Gethsemane
1917
The site of the garden of Gethsemane, on the western slope of Olivet has been recently enclosed — there is about a third of an acre — and is maintained by the Franciscans. Eight olive trees of very great age are among the interesting features of the garden, and it is thought, with some probability, that they may have sprung from the roots of those which were there in the time of our Lord.
Three special sites are shown to travelers — the one known as the Chapel of the Agony, in a cave, and revered by the early pilgrims, the place where the three disciples slept and the spot where Judas gave the kiss of betrayal. The last two are not mentioned by the early chroniclers and have possibly been added at a much later date. In an age when few could read and write and when there were no convenient guidebooks sites and objects were pointed out quite innocently as memorials of the details in the story which pilgrims were following. It must be remembered that vast numbers of pilgrims today — especially Russians — cannot read and expect to see marked the exact spots of the gospel incidents. When a simple minded peasant has traveled hundreds of miles to see the holy places and is shown the scene of the denial of St. Peter he will undoubtedly expect to be told where the cock crew.
Old Easter Customs
The English people formerly had two very large cakes divided among the congregation at the church on Easter. In 1645 parliament forbade this by law, providing that the money spent for cakes should in future be used to buy bread for the poor.
"At Easter let your clothes be new
Or else be sure you will it rue."
The boys in the north of England will tell you that if you do not put on something new on Easter day some misfortune will befall you.
Underneath most Easter customs and carols lies the symbol of Christ's resurrection.
The site of the garden of Gethsemane, on the western slope of Olivet has been recently enclosed — there is about a third of an acre — and is maintained by the Franciscans. Eight olive trees of very great age are among the interesting features of the garden, and it is thought, with some probability, that they may have sprung from the roots of those which were there in the time of our Lord.
Three special sites are shown to travelers — the one known as the Chapel of the Agony, in a cave, and revered by the early pilgrims, the place where the three disciples slept and the spot where Judas gave the kiss of betrayal. The last two are not mentioned by the early chroniclers and have possibly been added at a much later date. In an age when few could read and write and when there were no convenient guidebooks sites and objects were pointed out quite innocently as memorials of the details in the story which pilgrims were following. It must be remembered that vast numbers of pilgrims today — especially Russians — cannot read and expect to see marked the exact spots of the gospel incidents. When a simple minded peasant has traveled hundreds of miles to see the holy places and is shown the scene of the denial of St. Peter he will undoubtedly expect to be told where the cock crew.
Old Easter Customs
The English people formerly had two very large cakes divided among the congregation at the church on Easter. In 1645 parliament forbade this by law, providing that the money spent for cakes should in future be used to buy bread for the poor.
"At Easter let your clothes be new
Or else be sure you will it rue."
The boys in the north of England will tell you that if you do not put on something new on Easter day some misfortune will befall you.
Underneath most Easter customs and carols lies the symbol of Christ's resurrection.
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