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A Key to the Calendar: Roman

Shrove Tuesday. In Roman Catholic times it was compulsory upon the people to confess their sins, and be shriven by the priest on this day. A barbarous custom was prevalent that of throwing sticks or stones at cocks; cock-fighting was also common till prohibited by Act of Parliament. The only custom now remaining is that of eating pancakes. The earliest day on which Shrove Tuesday can fall in any year is February 3, and latest March 9.

Ash Wednesday. The first of the forty days of Lent, instituted about the year 130 in reference to the miraculous fasts of Moses, Elias, and our Lord. Ashes were placed on the heads of penitents, and flesh was forbidden to be eaten; eggs, milk and wine were also at times interdicted. After the Litany the Commination Service is this day said in Church. 24. St. Matthias, one of the seventy-two disciples sent out by our Lord, was, upon the apostacy of Judas, chosen to be one of the twelve. We have no authentic accounts of his life; by St. Jerome he is said to have preached the Gospel to a nation of cannibals, and to have died at Sebastopolis; by others he is said to have been stoned in Judea, of war.

MARCH.

The month of March was named from Mars (Lat. Martius), the Roman god This divinity was known as Father Mars, and next to Jupiter, he enjoyed the highest honors at Rome, of which city Jupiter, Mars, and Quirinus were the three tutelary divinities. March was the first month in the early Roman calendar, and the legal year began with March 25th even in England, until the change from Old Style to New Style in 1752. The custom of reckoning the year according to the old style is still retained in Russia, and even the financial year of Great Britain is reckoned from the 31st of March. In historical works, dates are frequently written thus, Feb. 2, 1732, the upper figures representing old style reckoning, and the lower, new style. We also see dates between Jan 1 and March 25 expressed thus, Jan. 30, 164, meaning that the year was legally 1648 (O. S.), but by modern reckoning, 1649 (N. S.) 1. St. David. Patron saint of Wales; hence the name of Taffy. St. David was born of a princely family, and was celebrated for his learning and sanctity of life.

He was bishop of Menevia, since called St. David's, and died, in his eighty-third year, about A. D. 544. On this day natives of Wales wear leeks in their hats; it is by their historians said in commemoration of a victory gained over the Saxons, although there is another version by no means complimentary to the primitive inhabitants of the principality. Ember Days. On these days young men intended for the ministry in the English

Church are solemnly set apart for their office, and prayers are offered up that the "bishops may lay hands suddenly upon no man, but faithfully and wisely make choice of fit persons to serve in the sacred ministry." 2. St. Cedde or Chad. An early English bishop who fixed his see in Lichfield. He died of a pestilence in the year 673. 7. St. Perpetua was thrown into the amphitheatre at Carthage, A. D. 203, and tossed, but not quite killed, by a wild cow; eventually she was put to death by the young gladiators. 12. St. Gregory the Great, consecrated Pope in 590, was regarded with much favor in England, on account of his having sent St. Augustine for the purpose of christianizing it. Although austere, St. Gregory was in every sense an humble, pious, amiable man, devoted to good works. He gave much attention to the revision of the office books and to the music of the Church, hence the popular designation of "Gregorian." His death occurred in 604. 17. St. Patrick. The patron saint of Ireland is claimed by the Scots as a native of their country. They say that he was born near Dumbarton, and that he founded many churches in North Britain before sailing from Fort Patrick for Ireland. Arrived there, he energetically set to work converting the heathen and founding churches. In explaining the doctrine of the Trinity, he plucked a leaf of trefoil, and showed how three leaves might be united and yet be but one. The Shamrock has therefore been recognized as the national emblem ever since. He died A. D. 432, at the good old age of 123, and was buried in the cathedral city of

Down. Eor some pious reason the Reformers left St. Patrick's name out of the calendar, but an Order of Knighthood was established in his honor by King George III. 18. St. Edward, King and Martyr, was son of King Edgar, and ascended the throne at the early age of twelve, in 975, but four years afterwards was foully murdered by order of his stepmother, Elfrida, at Corfe Castle. His body was privately buried in unconsecrated ground, but could not rest, and on the 20th of

June 982, it was translated to Shaftesbury with great pomp. 21. St. Benedict or Benet, patron of the Western monks and founder of the Benedictine order, was born in Umbria in 480, and when only fourteen retired to the desert in order to enjoy a solitary religious life. He founded his first monastery on Mount Casino, and then drew up a stringent code of rules for the government of the inmates. He died A. D. 534. 25. The Annunciation commemorates the visit paid by the angel Gabriel to the

Blessed Virgin, when he revealed the purpose of God and told her of the Savior who should be born.

APRIL.

April, the fourth month of the year, was by the Romans dedicated to Aphrodite Venus, the goddess of all budding beauties, but there is some difficulty in tracing the origin of the name, some believing the root to be Aphrodite-Aphrilis- Aprilis; others that it is derived from the Festival Fortuna Virilis, celebrated April 1. In the French revolutionary calendar, April included most of their new season of Germinal, and the beginning of Floreal. On the ancient monuments, Aprilis appears as a dancing youth with a rattle in his hand, thus symbolizing the gay and jocund spirit of spring. 1. All Fools' Day is traced through every country of Europe to the Hindoos. The Public Advertizer for April 13, 1789, contains the following paragraph: "Humorous Jewish Origin of the Custom of Making Fools on the First of April. This is said to have begun from the mistake of Noah in sending the Dove out of the Ark before the water had abated, on the first day of the month among the Hebrews, which answers to the first of April; and to perpetuate the memory of this deliverance it was thought proper whoever forgot so remarkable a circumstance, to punish them by sending them upon some sleeveless errand similar to that ineffectual message upon which the bird was sent by the Patriarch. The custom appears to be of great antiquity, and to have been derived by the Romans from some of the Eastern nations."