San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1889-09-06
THE DANCING SAINTS.
PROCESSION OF RELIGIOUS ENTHU-
sIASTS AT EcHTERNAcH.
A Singular Form of Worship Which Is
Celebrated in Luxemburg on Whit Tues
day-An Exceedingly Difficult and Ex-
hausting Kind of Dancing.

SAINTS, or the leaping procession. In the
ages of Faith" men looked on this disorder
as a judgment from heaven because of their
sins. and thought that by imposing on them
selves voluntary penanceS they might, like
the NiKeviteS, arrest the hand of God. Act
ing on this belief while some tasted and
prayed, others moved and writhed couvul-
sively for hours at time 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-
demRed 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 heiligen Maachen und Knechte,
dance in the carnival procession, this eelebra-
ton at Echternach is the ONLY che 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 Eifel Upper
Mosele and Saar chiefly to obtain for them
selves or for some one dear 10 them the cure
of any nervous complaint. They are nearly
all peasants, and sometimes come from great
distance, arriving almost worn out. Huge
dGmitorles are annually prepared-great
barn like apartments, each capable of &C
commodating about sixty inmates, who make
the best of tho 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 detachinents of thirty,
forty, or more, with their parish priest and
the banner CT 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 rule. The toughest peasant lads
obey their priests with the 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 5000. As
soon as it is light an Whit Tuesday morning
the village is astir; by a. m. large parties
pass along the street on their way to the
church, chanting as they 60. There they
confess and communicate, that they may OBJ
serve more sOiemnity in an exercise which
might easily degenerate into a frolic and
need to be suppressed. By o'clock all are
assembled round wooden pulpit erected in a
meadow near the bridge over the Saar. At
s 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 pull pit and breaches on the life and virtues
of ST. Willibrod, exhorting his hearers to put
aside vanity and levity, and to perform the
devotion in a spirit of faith. As many of the
pilgrims are too old or too feeble to join i'll
the exertiOns of the more robust, clergy
man now crosses the bridge, followed by all
who do not intend to take part in the leaping
procession. They sing the litany and hymn
of st. Willibrod 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 a few preliminary chords the
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 a 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 handl1er-
chiefs or 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 canoe 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 mu.
stc-a fife, violin. an Old coucertina and |
drum, OF 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 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
twice round a great cross that |
stands there; and then the exhausted crowd |
SratfprS the Iasnino urnceSsi,D - oyar