Observance of Easter

Waiapu Church Gazette, Volume 31, Issue 1, 1 March 1940, Page 3

Observance of Easter

Notes on the Calendar These last three Sundays m Lent have special names of their own. Refreshment Sunday is a sort of break halfway through the severity of Lent, and there is also an. allusion to the Gospel for that day. Look it up. Another name for the fourth Sunday m Lent is Mothering Sunday, which may be a reminder of children visiting their homes (compare the modern mothers' day) or of the congregations of outlying chapels visitthe Mother Church of the Parish. (See the Epistle for the day.) The fifth Sunday is Passion Sunday (not the sixth). The awful shadow of the Cross is getting nearer. Palm Sunday. The sixth Sunday, as' everyone knows, is called Palm Sunday, because it commemorates the triumphal entry of our Lord into Jerusalem. The beautiful old custom of distributing palm leaves has been revived m. many churches m New Zealand. A procession with palms on that day was the custom of Christians at Jerusalem sixteen centuries ago. In England sprigs of catkin willow are often used instead. Holy Week. Special solemn services are ordered for every day m the Holy Week, the week before Easter. It will be observed that the four stories of the Passion from the Gospels are read during the week — from St Matthew m the second lesson and the Gospel on Sunday, from St. Mark m the Gospels for Monday and Tuesday, from St. Luke m the Gospels for "Wednesday and Thursday, from St. John m the second lesson and the Gospel for Good Friday. , The Thursday is commonly called Maundy Thursday — the day of the commandment (Latin: Mandatum). "A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another"— see St. John xlll, 3-4. This day is the birthday of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper.

The Most Solemn Day. Good Friday, the anniversary of the agony and death of the Son of God, is the most solemn day of the year, arid the usual manner of its observance is no particular credit to what still calls itself a Christian country. The Saturday, Easter Eve, reminds us of our Lord's descent into hell, and of the state of the departed. Ignorant people sometimes call this day Easter Saturday. That, of course, is really the name of the Saturday m Easter week, a week later. Easter Day, the queen of seasons, comes very early indeed this year. The earliest possible date is March 22nd, and m 1940 it is on March 24th. As most people ought to know, it is ruled by the moon. The first Sunday after the first full moon, which comes on or after March 21st. That is the rule. It comes from the Jewish Passover, which came at the full moon after the spring equinox. There are very complicated and very ancient rules for calculating the ecclesiastical full moon, which very rarely indeed fails to coincide with the real full moon. When that happens busybodies get excited and confused. But it does not matter. The great thing is to keep with proper joy and thankfulness the victory over sin and death. Christ was "declared to be the Son of God with power by the resurrection of the dead." There is one special peculiarity about the Easter services, the .special; anthem which is sung, m place of the "Venite at Morning Prayer. „,.;.