Milford chronicle., 1889-09-20
THE DANCING SAINTS.
PROCESSION o. RELIGIOUS ENTHU-
sIAsTS AT ECHTERNAcH.

A Singular Form Of Worship which Is
Celebrated in Luxembourg on Whit Tues
day-An Exceedingly Difficult and Ex-
haustins Kind of Dancing.
/ On Whit Tuesday morning of each year
/ the little village of Echternach, in Luxenl-
/ burg, is the scene of a curious religious cele-
/ bration, popularity known as les saints dan
SAINTS, or the leaping procession In the
cages Of FAITH men looked on this disorder
| as Judgment from heaven because Of their
| sins, and thought that by imposing on them
! selves voluntary penances they might, like
the NiLevites arrest the hand Of God. Act
ing on this belief, while some tasted and
prayed, others moved and writhed convul-
sively for hours at tune as if they were
really afflicted with the disease they sought
to avert. Sometimes whole communities
adopted this extraordinary modification;
, but, abuses arising the Catholic church con-
demned such practices; and though traces of
the custom may be found in several German
towns, notably in Cologne, where every year
a dozen young men and women under the
name of die heiiigen Maachen ind Knechte,
dance in the carnival procession, this celebra-
ton mt Echteruach is the only one of its kind
sanctioned at the present day and which con-
tinues to retain many Of Its original features.
THOUSANDS OF PILGRIMS.
The village was once a famous place of pill
grimage, and is still frequented by crowds of
sufferers from paralysis, epilepsy and similar
affections, who come from the Eife Upper
Moselle and Saar chiefly to obtain for them
selves or for some one dear to them the cure
Of any nervous complaint. They are nearly
all peasants, and sometimes come from a great
distance, arriving almost worn out Huge
dormitories are annually prepared-great
barn like apartments each capable of ac-
commOdating about sixty inmates, who make
the best Of the situation, and seek repose on
beds Of straw Each in his own corner eats
the food which, If prOvident he has brought
with him, or has, if careless, purchased in
Echternach at a somewhat higher rate. The
pilgrims arrive in detachments of thirty,
forty, or more, with their parish priest and
the banner of their patron saint. Many come
by train, and all are met by the local clergy
men, who welcome them, direct them, answer
their questions, and, dividing them according
to sex, conduct them to their respective dor
mitories, Great order and good humor pre-
vail as a rule. The toughest peasant lads
obey their priests with ty& utmost docility
There is no drinking or confusion, and most
seem impressed by the belief that they are
taking part in a solemn act Of religion.
There are few visitors Of the better classes,
and such are easily accommodated at the inns
or in the farmers houses.
All day long on Whit Monday and until
far in the night the pilgrims pour in; the
total seldom amounts to less than 1900. As
soon as it is light on Whit Tuesday morning
the village is astir; by 6 a. m. large parties
pass along the street on their way to the
church, chanting as they go. There they
confess and communicate, that they may OBJ
serve more solemnity in an exercise which
might easily degenerate into a frolic and
need to be suppressed. By O'Clock all are
assembled round a wooden pulpit erected'in
meadow near the bridge over the Saar. At
fifty priests or more, in abs and stoles, pre-
coded by cross bearer and acOlytes, advance
from the little town singing the "Veni
Creator Spiritus." One among them mounts
the pulpit and breaches on the life and virtues
of st. Wilhbrod, exhorting his hearers to put
aside vanity and levity, and to perform the
devotion in spirit of faith. As many of the
pilgrims are too old Or too feeble to join in
the exertions of the more robust, n clergy
man now crosses the bridge, followed by all
who do not intend to take part in the leaping
J
Of st. W1librod as they go, invoking him as
Destroyer of Idols; Continual Preacher Of
the Gospel; Untiring Laborer in the Vine
yard of the Lord and Healer Of the Sick"
THE DANCING SAINTS.
The way is now cleared for the dancing
saints After few preliminary chords the
Echternach local band strikes up a volkslied
called, "Adam He Had Seven Sons" and
simultaneously the thousands of heads begin
moving from side to side in time to the melo-
dy. 1t takes ten minutes or Il quarter of an
hour to get the multitude into order; but at
last they are placed five or six abreast, keep
ing the lines unbroken by holding handker-
chiefs OF taking arms-a needful precaution
where many are epileptics- At last all are
placed and off they go; but their rate of pro
gress is very slow. The short tune runs al
most automatically up and down. and the
rule is that by the ascending melody the pill
grims should dance or hop three steps for
ward, and by the descending melody two
back. If any one cares to try the experiment
he will find there is much labor entailed with
but little result.
Each contingent usually brings its own mn
sic-a fife, a violin. an Old concertina and
drum, or any one Of these Instruments; but
should they come unprOvided, there are many
itinerant musicians willing to play for a con
sideration. Soon the exertion begins to tell;
the faces flush and the breath comes short,
the movements grow slower and slower and
almost cease; then, after a brief interval, the
pilgrims resume their dancing movements
with renewed vigor, only to relax their efforts
as before They do not stop once, however,
until the prescribed distance is accomplished.
From the bridge the dancers make their
way through the village street, by the steep
hill to the church, up the sixty-two steps,
three forward and two back all the time,
through the right aisle of the church, round
the altar, beneath which lie the bones of st.
Willibrod, down the left aisle through the
churchyard, twice round great cross that
stands there; and then the exhausted crowd
seatters, the leaping procession is over.
Not the least curious feature in this cele
bration is that many who are unable to take
part in it hire others to dance in their stead.
Boys and girls may be had by the judicious
expenditure of a few sous, who viii leap with
a vigor proportionate to their hope Of earn
ing an extra gratuity when all is over. The
more wary among the pilgrims often refuse
TO pay beforehand, and insist on their repre-
sentatives accomplishing a certain distance
before they express themselves satisfied. They
thus secure that a certain amount Of work is
done; but there is even with this precaution,
a drawback; no one can be sure that those
who offer their services have not previously
been engaged by Others, and thus earn double
or treble fees for a single exertion. AS soon
as the ceremony is over the pilgrims disperse,
returning to their homes as they came, with
band and banner and under the guidance of |
their priests By nightfall the village has
resumed its wonted air of sleepy quiet, from
which it will not vary until Whitsuntide
comes again, and with it a fresh band Of
dancing saints.-St. James Gazette.
Incompatible.
Sniggles-Well, my motto is Live and let
live.n
Gazzum-Is III thought you intended to