This condition of affairs would be less reprehensible, if every member of the priesthood was an intelligent and proper person. It is an unfortunate fact, however, that many members of the priesthood come from the lower strata of society, rather than from the higher. They are persons of low intelligence, rather than men of high attainments. To this class of priests is due many of the strange practices which one will find in the churches, or see done in the name of the Church in the remote districts. Some of the processions are so grotesque that they seem almost ridiculous, and certainly would not have the direct approval of the Pontiff. As one of the priests said: “The ignorant people of these regions are fond of demonstrations in which they can participate, and it does them more good to carry a banner and walk in a procession than you can imagine. If the Church does not provide such amusements, the politicians will do so, and it is very important that we keep our people under our own control.” It is upon this theory, that the ignorant natives demand these public processions, that they are permitted to exist. But the fact that they also provide a considerable source of revenue probably has something to do with their continuation as well. In the city of Santiago a festival is held each year, which is a fair illustration of the origin of many of these local celebrations. On the fifth of May, 1848, there occurred in that city a most disastrous earthquake. It was learned that a woman in that city, who had been disgusted with the refusal of her particular saint to answer her prayers, tore the image from the altar, and, stripping it of its decorations, threw it into the street. At that very moment the earthquake began. As it happened, however, a priest who was hurrying away from danger saw the image, picked it up and carried it into a neighbouring church, where it was reverently placed upon an altar. At that very moment the earthquake ceased, and so from that time to this the fifth of May is a holiday, which is second in importance only to Independence Day. It used to be that this image was taken from the altar on these occasions, carried through the streets under a scarlet canopy, and was followed by a procession which included the president of the republic, his cabinet, members of congress, justices, archbishop, bishop and all of the other prelates of the Church and thousands of people with bands of music and regiments of soldiers. This saint became known as Saint Cinco de Mayo (Saint Fifth of May), because the woman who threw it into the street and her family were killed in the earthquake, and it was impossible to ascertain what particular saint it was originally intended to represent. In recent years, however, this celebration has lost much of its importance, although the Church still recognizes it as a regular holiday in its calendar.