The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1897-01-22
MIDNIGHT MASS IN FLORIDA.
Peculiar Mixture of People ut . Solem
and RAonefful SHrrf~~

Peculiar Mixture of People ut . Solem
~ and Beautiful Service.
Now comes the best feature of al
for the glorious and romantic celebra
ton Of midnight mass is to occur il
the old cathedral. Without the street
are already crowded with happy people
End others are joining them from tn
houses. TO one who remembers vivid
ly the frosty, biting air and the snow
mas. it does not seem possible that thi
can. indeed, be Christmas eve
:: The soft, baImy air, the lightly claS
throngs and the golden color of tn,
oranges revealed in the moonlight
against the black green of the leaves
scarce seem the appurtenances q
Christmas. Everyone goes to mid
night mass, not only all good Catholic,
but numbers Of other denominations
For the finest singers IN the city viii
be In the choir tonight, gathered from
all other churches, and the sermon viii
I be on q subject that lies within the uD
iderstanding of all creeds-the nativity
| Of our Lord.
Within the church Tire Decorations ar
beautiful in the extreme. The a1tai
! and the shrine of the blessed virgin arr
lornamented with long tropical vinesi
palms and palmetto branches are every
where; not the dollhouse products q
our northern cities, but those gathered
from the fields and woods near by, foI
this is the ''land of flowers" and per
Petusl summer. The pictures, repre-
scnting the stations OF the cross arr
draped with festoons Of gray Spanish
moss. and punches of holly leaves AND
mistletoe are fastened on the wall be
tween. Nature is lavish beyond all
comparison in this beautiful climate
and The results of her bounty are finer
than an expenditure Of hundreds o.
dollars would obtain in a colder land.
Among the occupants Of the benche,
one may notice, with a slight degree O:
advertisement, the black, knky headi
of the colored people bowed in prayer
In al! the south the Catholics Is the only
church where white and black may wor
ship together, and kneel In alteration OF
Him who made all men equal in the be
ginning, as they shall be in the end.
A peculiar solemnity and devotion
seems to pervade the whole congrega
ton, from the somber-looking nuns IL
the front pews to the negro boys kneei
ing in the furthermost corner of the gal
lery, with their big white eyes staring
with awe. The feeling grows more In
tense as the midnight hour approache,
and the grandeur of the greatest event
in the worlds history comes home ts
every pious heart.
At the elevation, when all heads arr |
bowed in humble supplication, stimuli |
taneously with the ringing of the altaI
bell, the great bell in the tower bcomI |
nut it's message OF "Glory be to God OF
high, and on earth peace to men O. |
good will" Cut over the river, glitter
ng in the moonlight, the sailors on for
ign vessels hear it and mutter half.
prayer Of Christmas and the
;hrist child. It stirs the leave1 Of the
Rant live oaks and wakens the spirits
f those Catholic cavaliers Of old Spain
Who knelt beneath their branches in the
lead centuries of long ago. And Their
he morning wind blows softly. The
lush of the world s stiffness hovers over
Il and the blessings of peace come down
8 earth, for this Is another Christmas
Magazine