Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-01-17

bayonets Things looked pretty dark for the
| hve jolly tars, unsrmed, against q bowling
mob. but they squared their backs against
| a wall. doubled their fists and prepared 20 fight
| TIL the last gasp. At this alarming juncture a
Young Arequipean. more enlightened than most
| of his neighbors and known TO all to be q good
and pious citizen well the representative
OF one Of the first families" sprang between
the soldiers and the undaunted Englishmen
and proceeded to harsngue the crowd. Said
he: Il am ashamed Of my country and NV
church for such a scene this. Are we bar
barians. that foreigners cannot come among rs
without being assaulted and perhaps murdered2
these gentlemen who have come to view our
city know nothing Of our language. have diff
ferent religious customs in their own country
| ana are entirely ignorant Of the purport Of this
| procession. They do not know that they should
kneel. or that their hats should be removed in
accordance with our ideas The constitution
OF this republic guarantees liberty Of con-
| science and religion to all men within our
borders; is this the way we carry out its princi-
ples9''
TIE CORPUS CHRISTI FESTIVAL.
On the cay of Corpus Christi (body of CHRISTI
we went out to a suburban village TO witness
the celebration. Words can hardly do Justice
to the quaint and curious scene. Cor to fully
appreciate II one should see the people. the
pianketed Indians and equally earnest Gevotees
OF higher degree. the adobe walled casas and
DlS, DIM church, the glorious sunshine. never
TOO hot nor too cold in this favored altitude.
| and above all the snow-topped mountains. At
| one END OF the street, named The Devils
rocket n curious altar had been erected of
trees and bushes. representing hanging of Alb
| salon by his long hair, a figure being actually
| suspended In that manner TO a tree, while
another image, dressed like a royal robber, ap-
peared in the act of shooting him with bow
and arrows. On the other side of the street
| was a huge cross. higher than the houses. upon
which appeared all the emblems of the cruciiix-
ion including common two-gallon Jug a dice
| box and a wooden rooster tied to the top.
| A little farther down the street was another
| wooden altar. upon which was dramatically de-
plcted the history Of Judith and Holofernes.
The heroine was dressed in a gown of scarlet
| and yellow. OF rather too modern make. having
| iooped-up.polonaise and a suspicion of psnier.
| while Holofernes looked As stolidly wooden as he
| really was.
| DECORATED WITH wREATHs OF FLOWERS.
Every balcony and window was decorated
with wreaths of flowers mostly artificial, and
crowded with ladies dressed in their best-ball
dresses TO our thinking-being mostly Of pale
hued silks. satins and muslins low-necked, mo-
sleeved and set off with jewels and flowers. At
| length the procession issued from the church.
| taking both sides of the stree: at once, each
person IN II carrying lighted candle Then
came several young men. the beaus Of the town.
IN full evening dress carrying tail black crosses
| entwined with purple flowers. These walked
| IN the middle of the road up and down. TO
clear the way. Then came a group Of little
children, in white satin dresses. white satin
| shoes. white kid gloves and white wreaths on
| their heads. strewing flowers in the path Of
the priests who carried the sacred symbols. the
inter and the cross and the KEYS Of St. Peter
| an archbishop's crozier, several golden staffs
/ and a magnificent white satin banner heavily
embroidered with gold. Behind these walked
the archbishop. bearing the host in both
hands. surrounded by score of priests. who
carried a canopy fringed with gold above his
head and accompanied by the papal nuncio. a
troup of soldiers and five or six bands of music
playing gay military airs.
THE ONLY AMERICAN SAINT.
By the way. the only American woman who
ever had the honor of canonization lived and
died in Peru. She was Santa Rosa, hereabouts
known as La Patrona de todas las Americas
The patroness of all the Americas" She was
born in Lima. in April of 1856. of the usual
| poor but honest parents and was one of a
very large family. From earliest child
hood she is said TO had displayed supernatural
amount of holiness. but. unlike the usual fate of
good children IN story books, she did
not die young in consequence. At five
years Of age, against the wishes of her
parents, she consecrated herself. body and
| soul. to the most vigorous conventual order
then known, that Of st. Catherine of Siennos.
4 taking VOWS to eschew the world and all the
pomps and pleasures thereof. never 10 eat meat
| or to sleep in bed. perpetual celibacy ard
other promises whose full meaning a child
| could not have understood. When fifteen
years old she was examined by six noted theolo-
gians. appointed for tina: purpose by the arch
| bishop of Lima. who came to the unscriptural
conclusion that she had never once in her life
departed from the right path, in thought
| or deed. After this she entered the third
order OF St Dominic, that Of Saint Catharine.
| and thenceforth never ceased To eNhort the
| priests to go forth and seek martyrdom among
the wild heather tribes Of the Montana. Mar
tyrdom for herself and others seems to have
been her holy hobby. for or one occasion when
a Dutch squadron was reported to be off Callao
| she fervently prayed that they might take and
pillage Lima, SO that she might attain TO the
honors of a martyr. petition which, to say
| the least OF 1t, was somewhat selfish.
DIED AT THIRrY-oSE.
| But she died peaceably at the age of thirty
one. and her funeral was made the occasion of
extraordinary pomp, not at all in accordance
with the austere life she had led no. the Gus
toms of her sisterhood of Saint Catharine. to be
buried uncoffined. at dead OF night. in an I'M
marked grave which none Of the world peo-
| pie" might be able to identify. The reigning
viceroy. Prince de Esquilache. the archbishop
and all the dignitaries of Lima followed her
| corpse to its last resting place: and in the
Church of st. Dominic. whose tall. graceful tower
is one of the most picturesque objects in the old
| Peruvian capital. BY the side of its great high
altar. may today be seen a beautiful statue of
La Patrona reclining on q bed Of marble At
the suggestion of Cardinal Azzolini Pope Glenn
ent TX proclaimed her a saint. and her canon
ization was completed by Pope Clement Y in
| the year 1911. The 10th of August was set
aside for her fiesta throughout the Roman
Catholic world. and the day has ever since
been celebrated in Lima by splendid process
sion. participated in by all the clergy. monks,
| nuns and thousands of the faithful. who leave
her shrine laden with flowers.
Peru has supplied one other saint to the
Catholic calendar-San Martin de Poras who
was a Dominican monk and q negro. He is
always represented with a broom in one hand
and pile of small loaves of unleavened bread in
the other, supposed to indicate his clea nliness
and his charity. as well as his life Of seryitude
| and aims asking FANNIE b. WARD.