St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-05-13
Amid tho old fashioned pathways laborers


country, GO In and out, flied with red and
yellow cider apples, leaving behind trail Of
pungent odors. They are driven by peasants,
who sing under the narrow windows old
time love, songs without thought to the
sanctity Of the place. Indeed, around the
Jesuit convent there is an air OF we'll being,
abundance, peace and profound security.
We left the fonda and went out into the
bright sunshine; we wandered through the
flower beds Of this gloomy convent. One Of
its doors opened 1t was that Of the school
building. OF such it seemed, for about thirty
little boys, came out jumping and shouting,
and an old priest, in the black robe Of the
order, fastened to close the shutters Of the
first floor windows-in order to allow them
to play safely. For some time their childish
laughter echoed gayly against the sombre
walls; then they dispersed over the fields and
silence reigned once more, the silence of
nature; ; no one else passed by; as midday
drew near, sun becoming warmer and
warmer frightened the chrysanthemum beds
and shone on the magnificent marble stair
case.
descended to the chapel. The great doors,
gorgeously sculptured from top to bottom
and richly ornamented in copper, are SO well
polished that they shine like new, notwith-
standing their great age. No church has
doors SO carefully cared for. From the very
first moment you receive an impression of
wealth, persistence and strength.
There was no one in sight, we put out
our hands and gently pushed the sculptured
door, it yielded and opened; it even seemed
that there was nothing to keep it closed.
And then the splendors Of the interior burst
upon us.
An immense round church. In the centre
a circular colonnade, massive and elegant of
marble, almost black, enriched with fine
threads of gold: supporting dome much
brighter in color, of grey and rose colored
marble. This dome is decorated with
series of shields in grey and gold marble,
ranged in circle each shield resting on a
royal mantle equally in marble) draped in
graceful folds; the outside of the mantle was
very pale pink and the inside (the lining, if
one might call it SO, was of a brighter pink;
the whole had the appearance of shining por-
celaln. And above each of the black columns,
which supported the rose colored dome,
stood a white statue, standing out from the
beautifully draped mantles, whole company
Of personages of snowy wilderness, in atti-
tudes of meditation and prayer.
At the upper end of the church, facing the
doorway, stands the marvellous sanctuary;
the main altar is entirely of brown agate,
studded with mosaics of precious stones in
different colors, white predominating. Around
the tall twisted agate columns spirals of
mosaic ribbons twined themselves. In the
centre stood a life-size statue of st. Ignatius,
in repousse and chased silver.
Around the outside of the central rotunda
were smaller affairs of brown and grey
marbles, ornamented with beautiful statues,
whose gilded vestments had that peculiar
sparkle which gold takes upon itself when
laid on marble.
Nothing was overladen; there was an
austere moderation amid all this magnif1-
cence; the natural coloring and polish of the
somber marbles; gold employed with ex-
treme discretion, in fine threads in narrow
borders on the robes OF saints; but, always
virgin, sparkling gold.
And this entire church is kept in condi-
ton Of newness (under which, however, its
antiquity can be divined), everything shines,
Not a trace of dust can be found, even upon
the tiles on which we are walking. No
other ,chalrchv in, the. world is SO mute a
witness of the care expended upon it, and
this care speaks in itself Of the great
wealth of the society.
Still nobody in sight. We had entered, no
one taking note of US. by an ever-open door.
The silence, this solitude, in the midst of
the splendor, which seemed hardly religious,
reminds one of an enchanted palace, which
at stroke Of magician's wand might dis
appear.
In a general way found, from a human
point Of view, the thought of the magnif-
cence Of this convent and church, which had
swallowed the wealth of thousands of differ
emit people, who in themselves remained i'm
personal and the creator of which had no
more claim upon it than the passer-by of a
hundred years later, a strange and inexplic-
able one.
After the chapel we desired to visit the in
terror of the clo;ster; we returned to the
chrysanthemum garden and asked some
peasants who were working there where to
knock and at which door?
"Ohp' one Of them answered, sswhere you
will; one door is as good as another, because