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A Key to the Calendar: Richard

Palm Sunday. So named in memory of the triumphal entry of our Lord into Jerusalem a few days before His Passion. Branches of willow are now gathered and placed in many churches. 3. St. Richard, Bishop of Chichester, was born at Droitwich, and educated at Oxford and Paris; he then travelled to Bologna, and on his return was elected Bishop of Chichester, although King Henry III. had nominated another. Richard was supported by the Pope, and the king was compelled to give way, and restore the revenue which he had sequestered. Richard died in the full odor of sanctity in 1253, and was canonized eight years after. 4. St. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, one of the great early Fathers, was born at Treves in 340, and, although he had not then been baptized, was chosen Bishop of Milan. He was a strenuous opponent of Arianism, and a staunch defender of the rites of the church; on one occasion he went so far as to refuse to admit the Emperor Theodosius to his cathedral. He is the reputed author of the Te Deum.

Maunday Thursday, is the day before Good Friday. It was on this day that our

Savior bequeathed to His Church the dying legacy of His love in the Most

Holy Sacrament of the Altar. On this day Christ washed the feet of His disciples, and gave them a command to love one another, hence it is called Dies Mandati-Mandate or Maunday Thursday. Formerly the church doors used to stand open for the whole day, signifying that all who would might come in.

The ceremony first commenced in 1362, and for a long time the English kings observed the custom of washing the feet of a number of poor men equal to the years of their age, and of giving them shoes, stockings and money. Good Friday. So named from the good and blessed work performed by Jesus

Christ in submitting to a shameful, ignominious and painful death on the cross for the salvation of mankind. Next to the first day of the week and Easter, this was the earliest of the days set apart in commemoration of the chief events in the life of Christ, but when first celebrated we have no record. By the Roman Catholics and by the Greeks, as well as by the English Church, it is regarded as a strict fast. It is also a close holiday in all the government offices in England, but in Scotland it is not observed by Presbyterians. Hot cross buns are probably a relic of paganism. In London they are eaten for breakfast on this day, and the superstition that a cross bun preserved from one

Good Friday to another will prevent an attack of whooping-cough has still some believers.