The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1886-09-18
a RARE SIGHT.
- Onurch Of the Cspuchlns at Rome and
Its Strange Cemeterv.


- Church Of the CapachIns at Rome snd
Its Strange Cemetery.
Some things are done in Rome in a
way that would seem strange enough
70 the good people Of other countries.
-. me give you an instance. At the
enc OF the Wis Capuccini stands the
mite old church of the Capuchin monks,
q church OF plain exterior, but rich
Within with marbles and paintings.
Here is the celebrated st. Michael by
Guido, a figure known in every Chris
tan land by the aid of engraving and
photography. But it is not Of st.
Mucnaei that wish to tell you; it is of
the good brethren of the Capuchin
order, that noT are with the saints, we
trust Under this church is their
burial place. and their place of resur-
oe.on, too-a temporary resurrection
Deiore the final one. To see that this
Is Properly done is the duty of the liv-
Eig members, not merely their burying
nut their rising again. to be clad in
their monkish garb and placed in the
niche to which they are entitled &C.
cercing to date and regularly estab-
l1lled order.
When in the church 60 to the left
lnand corner near the great altar and
10y high railing that shuts you from
the dimly-lighted side chapels. you will
see bell-rope, pull it. Not always the
safe thing to do, but here entirely SO.
Soon will appear behind the railing
snuff-colored old gentleman
black cap like bowl, fitting tightly to
the back Of his head, feet in sandals, all
ne rest Of him enshrouded in dingy
Orown-ask to see the cemetery of the
brethren and he will bid you meet him
at side basement door outside of the
church; here, after waiting a few
minutes, you will hear the KEY rafting
IN lock venerable with the dust of
ages; the door opens. the monk steps
aside and you pass in and down a little
narrow stairway into long corridor,
1rom which opens q series of rooms.
These rooms are small burial plats.
The 1oor is soft brown earth and
smooth as floor; with rows of cypress
tWigs planted at the head of the many
graves. All the furniture and adorn-
ments of these rooms are made of
human bones-bones of departed
Capuchins. The candelabrum hanging
IN each room is from head, finger
and arm bones. Any one who has
visited an arsenal will remember how
sabers, bayonets, pistols and the various
implements of destruction are woven
into decorative wall designs, rosettes,
stars and the like. Let him but imag-
inc human bones so used and he may
call up picture of the CHASTITY mural
decorations OF this strange place. where
scarce a space on either wall or ceiling
is not embossed with some tasteful de-
sign constructed from the three hun.
dred and odd bones that go to the max
ing of our anatomy. Anyone who
doubts the picturesque and decorative
qualities latent in human skeleton
should visit the cemetery of the Ca.pu.
chins.
Every alc0ve or niche, and ..nere are
many, is occupie by the Skeleton of a
long-since departed Ca.uchin, dressed
in the garb OK the order, their cowIs
falling forwsrd over the grim skull.
Inc eject u heightened by scraps OF
hair and 'Seard still clinging to the
skull and Jaws. The order of promo
ton, or rotation, is as follows: Should
ono Oh the brethren die, the ground
belr. full, then the one who has been
t.4e longest time in the ground is taken
up and dressed, and the brother who is
the oldest occupant of niche has to
give way for the new conner, who takes
his place in the niche, the old one
being dismantled and his bones dis
tributed among the thousands that &c
to the wall building and decoration OF
the place. He has had his day, and
has thus suddenly been merged in the
general whole.
Many of the skeleton statues hold be-
tween their bony fingers a card on
which is written name and date. Some,
il they state the truth, have been so
held for more than century.
These rooms, while not altogether
cheerful, yet are so grotesque and so
decorative in their furniture and up
holstery that the impression made is by
no means so awesome as one would
suppose; and, strange 10 say, there is
no charnel-house odor about them.
This is explained by the fact that the
ground in which the monks lie buried
is holy earth brought from Jel usalem.
and that il absorbs all the impurities
that might otherwise prove offensive.
II this be really so there are other parts
of Rome that should be sprinkled with
. little Of it.
As you pass from these dimly-lighted
chambers of death to the light of day,
a small coin, dropped in the hand OF
the good brother at the door will not
be taken amiss. nor are you likely ever
to regret either the time or money
given for so rare an experience.
Cor. Detroit Free Press.
A Remarkable Bird.