The Washington critic. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1885-1888, 1885-11-26
MOURNING IN ME\ICO.
FAST DAYS AND FEAST DAYS AND
FUNERALS.
Some Curious Customs Connected with
the Traditions and Religion of the
Sister Republic-Rented Conns anj
Temporary Graves.

MEXICO, Nov. 6, 1885. The days of "NU
Saints and Gan Souls, ,' through which We
have just been passing, are the saldest ot
the year to religious McXico-that means
everybody Of Latin blood within her boz
ders. In our own older republic few church
ccremoninls-uulcss II may be those Of
Christmas and Eastcr-call for special oh
servnnce from the people at large, but IN
Mcxico-notwithstan the 'new cpoch,'
in which the state instead Of the church Is
supposed to rule-thc latter ia still the all
Prevailing power. The "holy days In her
calendar outuumber the days OF the year,
but among them all none touches the public
heart so deeply as these two days devoted
10 the dead. "Black Friday
orative Of the cruciiiXion-is sad enough,
for on that day no sound Of wheel or ham
mcr or human labor Is heard; no carts or
carriages are permitted on the streets, anu
the whole nation, dressed In black, goes TO
church to mourn with the Virgin mother.
But that faraway tragedy, with nearly LOO
years between, does not come home to all
hearts like the common sorrow OF every
household, for death is alike u tragedy In
palace or hovel; I'm the home OF the haugh-
iicst don or in the family Of the untutorcd
Indian, who has only mother earth for a
he'd and the blue sky for covering.
ALL SAlNla bAls
On All Saints Day, Immediately after
early mass, the people crowd the ccme-
cries, and Il is about the only day In all the
year when those cities OF the dead are ever
visited, except by sightseeing tourists. But
this day, solemn though II Is, Is more es-
pecially devoted to the remembrance of
those who died in other years-thc saints
and martyrs and GLORIOUS army Of just men
made perfect who are supposed to have
-, Nl,. ,.ntu % a. al
long since become acclmated to the atmos-
phere Of heaven. On All Souls Day peo-
pie pray in the churches, each for his own
dead, and every family in the land, high
and low, rich and poor, rends amenting
Rachels-for true indeed 1t is that
There IS no flock, however watched and
tended,
But some dead lamb is there.
Cathedral services on that day arc long to
be remembered. For hours the bells tolled
dismally, and the streets were filed with
mourning figures with black shawls, or
rebosas, covering their faces, silently
vending their way to the place Of prayer.
In the center OF each darkened church the
black-palled funeral dais was erected, with
its flickering candles and grim suggestions.
The affairs were draped with Grape, the
usual gaudy paper roses replaced by black
ones, and somber banners bore in Spanish
the words: "Remember the dead.h
The kneeling crowd, all with devout
faces turned toward the cross-the symbol
OF their hope-repeated their prayers so ear
Destly that the united murmurs sounded like
the distant roaring of the sea. They were
mostly Of that sex who are 'first at the
cross and last at the tonlb,n and II was
easy to read In the upturned couutenances
whose sorrows were freshest. There were
orphaned children, the widow In her weeds,
the white haired mother berclt of sons aud
\ Ia G.N.
And IL did not distract from the solemnity
of the occasion to know that the floor OF
the sanctuary In which we knelt was
succession of trap-dOors, GOVERN g
vaults filed to the :.brim with the bones
Of two centuries dead.
MEXICAN FUNERAL.
A Mexican funeral is very different from
the same sad ceremony in the United
States for here all that is ghostly is brought
to the front and every charing suggestion
carefully extended. Apparently. these
to the full, and decline to be robbed of Il
single paug. Here no floral tributes are
sent by sympathiZing friends--no pillows
Of white carnations with "Restn In purple
immortelles, nor crosses and anchors o
spotless lilies, and the dear departed are
not laid away in beds of roses with whit,
blossoms upon their bosoms.
IL nONtlo ulC uEti ulls bhNl ult Etl
orally the most gaudy Of artiicials, witt
leaves and streamers of gilt paper, precisely
like those fastened TO iron hooks which are
thrust into the bulls hide at the Sunday
advertisement of the plaza de torros.
have seen o bunch of these monstrositcs,
as big as a cabbage, In the waxen hands o
dead baby, and wreath Of blood-red rose'
crowning the gray head Of an ole
man, which gave the poor corpse a raklsl
mir. most cOmically prOtesule
At whatever hour of day or night per
son dies in Mexico 1t is customary TO ap
point the funeral services just twenty-fou
hours thereafter, or as near to 1t as cat
possibly be arranged. II is a well knowt
fact, the wide world over, that the majority
Of souls go out Of the body at that mystic
hour between night and dawn, when all tho
forces of life are at their lowest ebb and
therefore-in consequence of the nationa
custom aforesaid-most of the funerals ar
conducted before sunrise.
AN INFANTS ISTERMENT
About the saddest sights l ever saw
enough to make any mothers heart ache
are frequently met in the twilight OF tin
early morning; little procession of mel
on foot, with seldom woman among them
winding their way to the Campo Sauto, o
"Field OF Saints" as the cemetery is called
The bereaved father marches in advance
with the little blue coffin balanced on hi
head, while male relatives follow wit
lighted candles, and the rear is brought uI
by a boy carrying the collinlid The deaC
child is plainly visible within the gayl,
painted box, wearing its brightest garment
garnished with many paper flowers ant
often the little features are hardly recog
nizable from the dust of the street that has
settled upon II before the 'dust to dust
process begins.
All the bodies must be carried to TIN
church before being laid In consecrated
ground; but II is not the fashion here 70
women to attend funerals, nor to follow
their dead to the cemeteries. SO the wife
the mother, the sisters, the daughter TAX,
their last farewell en- casa, and the corps
is then borne away by male relatiyes-frs
TO the sanctuary and then to the sepulcher
How mothers can endure this when thei
children die passeth American understand
ing, but the from hand OF custom Is far NOR
inexorable here than In our own country
and none dream Of defying it.
WHY WOMEN DO NOT ATTEND.
At my first visit to Mexican "Field O
Saints' learned the wisdom of eXcludin
women from the last horrible rites. EX
cept among the wealthy, the coffin Is no
buried with the body, but is merely rentet
for the journey between the house AM
cemetery; the same pine box (Which 70
adults is usually painted black, with whit
or yellow stripes) serving the same purpOs
great number Of times Arriving at til
grave, whether the body is Inferred wit
or without coffin, it Is alway
first covered with lime, that 1t may TIA
more quickly decompose. In the malorit
of cases the corpse is taken out Of the coIr
laid in the dirt without any covering tofte
the sightless eyes wide OPEN, quantity q
unslacked lime thrown in and earth sho,
eled lupon II, the sexton now and the
jumping In and stamping the din
down with his feet, to make a
snug and secure. Even then, thoug
buried like dog, the poor g,
daver cannot be said 10 have gor
to his "long home," for he is not sure
his grave time enough 10 decay decent
On 10 &c nm actuaI fnct alI nyer tha I.pfrt