New-York tribune., 1897-01-24
'ME7w-"'

,rasos,,c and harmonious and IL curiously divided
by gallery reached by winding stone stairways
on the right is the chapel. with Its altar and GIT
Gothic shine Of the saint. about and over which
innumerable candles are burning On this occasion
one side OF the tomb is opened and priest stands
there TO receive whatever offerings may be handed
him. to place them for a moment on the relics be-
fore handing them back and TO give blessing II
asked for while the recipient puts "A two-sou piece
In the plate before him. Most OF the crowd kept
severely In lire by the officials. hand the priest
large bundles Of which the interior H. only to be
coniectured and have also candles. which. passing
behind the tomb they either light themselves and
place on one OF the tiny spikes provided or hand to
q small boy II the candle Is sufficiently large to be
placed I'm the front of the tomb. Familiarity with
his office may have destroyed the small boys sense
Of the dignity behtung it, for at times. when the
ranks grow thin he may be seen rearranging the
tapers TO suit his own ideas or to blow out one to
hold 1T as far as possible from Il lighted one and
yet have IL catch fire.
The church during these nine days is draped with
pale blue and gold banners. and services commence
early in the morning and continue until late in the
evening: indeed, the chairs and pre-dieus are no
sooner emptied Of one congregation than they are
filed by another.
Ste. Genevieve H. the most Interesting character of
French religious history. Her birthplace at Nan
terre. now almost a suburb OF Paris and flourish
ing little town. holds every spring. Whisun-
day and the two following days. the Ftte OF the
Rosiere. The 'roslere Is supposed to be the girl
OF the village who has most virtuousy followed In
the footsteps Of the gentle maiden who was born
there in ~. but she is generally the pretticst
popular girl. and is chosen among the daugh-
ters OF influential citizens She Is the queen of the
three days fate. which, on the first day. has
religious meaning. on the second mock civil mar
rage at the Marie. and on the third means the
usual French fate. with roller skates. travelling
theatrical troups and good patronage for cafes
and gingerbread booths.
Ste. Geneveve was a little peasant girl. born
when Christianity was only partly accepted by a
small proportion OF the Franks. As the story of
her life goes she most pious child from her
infancy. ana 81. German. passing through the then
tiny village. consecrated her 10 religious work.
From that time she worked miracles Her mother
and (enevicvc. by her prayers and by bathing the
shut eyes with the water OF the well in front of
the house restored the lost sight. The well be-
came sacred. and during famine she Is said to
have made nourshing soup Of its waters for the
Of the chapel that marks the site of Genevievc's
home. and pilgrims 81 flock to it. Later on
Geneve,e entered Paris to encourage the people
under the various attacks Of the Huns. Her works
confined 10 religious aid or prophecies
for she commanded boatoad Of grain which
during of the sieges was brought down the
Seine the starving people OF Paris. and 1t is
supposed that she converted the final conqucror
the tales of the miracles she wrought during this
period numberless
Cenevieve was undoubtedly born at Nanterre
tomb; she was also buried the hill iopped now
by the building of the Pantheon. but her original
gold ddecorat ted tomb was carried to the public mint
during the closing part of the last century and
the bones burned few years later by OF the
Republican mobs. Both the Wh;sunday fete al
Nanterre. which is reached by "A steam tramway
from the Etoe that caps the Champs Elysee and
the midwinter fete at the Church Of St Etienne
de Mont. interesting French events that the
tourist usually misses partly. perhaps. because
they have been going on for so many hundreds
OF years that they are rarely spoken OF by the
French themselves.