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St. Mary's Church, Haverfordwest.

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- -The Milk Tax.

j NEYLAND NEWS. I

COMING EVENTSAT NEYLAND

 MILFORD H??M M?W§.

PEMBROKE ROYAL GARRISONI ARTILLERY…

Dates to be Remembered at…

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GOOD FRIDAY.—AN EXPLANATION. o ihe Editor of the Milford Haven Telegraph." Sir.—None of your readers having ventured to Live any information on the above subject. I shall endeavour to give a satisfactory answer to the correspondent who. in your issue for May 5th. seems to argue that because the anniversary of bis father's death always falls on the same date each year, there is no reason—in fact it appears to him absurd—that be should be asked to consider Good Friday, which varies in date, as the anniversary of the death of our Divine Saviour. First of all let us consider, as a matter of fact and not of mere sentiment, the real reason of these variations. The feast of the Pascb or Passover amongst the Jews. was celebrated each year on the 14th Nisan (14th of the moon of March), but this feast fell by turn on each day of the week. Now the Christians who kept the Resurrection of our Lord. as the new Pasch. wished to celebrate this feast each year on the first day of the week hence it was decreed that Easter Day should be kept every- where on the Sunday following the day on which the obsolete Jewish calendar still marks the Pasch. At the same time it was necessary, out of con- sideration for the Jewish converts, to bring about this change very gradually, so that even in the time of Pope St. Victor iW3 A.D.i the Jewish Christians of Asia Minor still clung to the lith Nisan. asthelday of the Pasch. Not long afterwards even the churches of Asia Minor conformed to the new law. for Anatolius. Bishop of Laodicea 1271> A.D. < in his book on the Pasch mentions this fact. and after the decrees of the Councils of Nicaea and of Aries (314 A.D.i. the feast of Easter was kept all over the Christian world on the first day of the week. Unfortunately, the want of precision in astronomi- cal calculations still caused a great deal of variation as to the tlioa, not as to the day." in the different nations, for there was great diversity of opinion as to the exact time of the vernal equinox. It was generally recognised that a reform was needed in the calendar, but no one was found com- petent to undertake it until Gregory XIII. was cnosen Sovereign Pontiff, it was this Pope who published a decree, dated February 24th. 1561, by which he ordered that ten days of the following year, namely, from the !th to the l?th October, should be SUl't')rèSsed. thus re:,torli3,, the time of the equinox to the '21st of March. England, and the Lutheran States of Germany, preferred following for many years a calendar which was evidently at fault rather than adopt the new style. because it was the work of a Pope, but in the year 1752 it was adopted in Great Britain by Act of Parliament. In fine it should be noted, without going into unnecessary details, that the decrees of the Council of Nicaea and of Gregory XIII. were founded, not on sentiment, not in an arbitrary manner, but on the most exact calculations of astronomers. I hope, therefore, it may now be clear that the varying date of Easter Day ;the Pascb) and consequently of Good Friday, is not only not absurd, or ridiculous, but much more reasonable than some other anniversaries we might mention. 1 wonder (since your correspondent. Mr John Harris, is so exacting as to the date of the monthi whether he would. supposing be were born on the 29th I ebruary. celebrate the anniversary each year, or wait until the next leap year! He speaks of keeping the Sabbath holy ? Does he mean the Saturday or the Sunday, for in the Scriptures the Sabbath means Saturday the last day of the week. There are other matters in which I cannot agree with your correspondent, but as they are extraneous to the primary subject under dis- cussion, I prefer not to call attention to them. Yours faithfully. R. BURRE. Catholic Church. Milford Haven. May 13. liKiif.

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