At length the organ ceased playing, and the notes of a military band
were heard. Then we saw a banner moving slowly down one of the aisles,
followed by a train of lighted tapers. Over the heads of the people
we could only see the banner and the lights; they passed down and
paused to take the Bambino. Then they marched slowly all around the
church--people falling on their knees as they passed by.
Out at the front door they went, and that sacred image was held high
aloft, so that all the people on the great stairway and in the square
below might get a sight of it, and be blessed. Then up the middle of
the church they came, to the high altar. This was our chance to see
them perfectly.
First the banner with the image of the Virgin on it was borne by
a young priest dressed in a long black robe and a white short gown
trimmed with lace; next came a long procession of men in ordinary
dress, carrying long and large wax candles, which they had a
disagreeable habit of dripping as they went along.
"Servants of great houses," remarked a lady behind me.
"They used to come themselves," answered another.
Then followed Franciscan monks in their brown copes, each with a
knotted rope for a girdle, and sandals only on his bare feet. After
these came the band of musicians, all little boys; and now approached,
with measured tread, three priests in rich robes of white brocade,
enriched with silver. The middle one, a tall, venerable-looking man,
with hoary hair and solemn countenance, held erect in his hands the
sacred dolly. As it passed, believers dropped upon their knees.
When he reached the high altar, he reverently kissed its feet, and
delivered it to its custodian to be carried to the Sacristy!
[Illustration]
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Schenk's Theory. By LEOPOLD SCHENK, M. D., Prof. of
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THE STORY OF AMERICA.
The latest and best Young People's History of the United States. By
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SPAIN IN HISTORY.
From the days of the Visigoths, 350 A. D. to the present hour. By
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CONQUERING THE WILDERNESS.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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