The times., 1899-12-17

is held, the votive offerings at the spring
festival in her honor pour in in such album
dance that the Jewels. pins, rings. watches.
coins, cups, etc, sometimes I'll TO the brim
an ordinary flour barrel. The priests whose
duty it is 10 gather up the contributions.
cast by generous hands at the base Of the
Virgins statue, never pretend to make any
estimate Of the aggregate worth Of the
countless trinkets and ornaments received.
The contributions are made freely and
without imposed conditions BY the people
VINO come 10 worship before the beningn
Mother Of Sorrows a few OF the loveiiest
ornaments are preserved to decorate the
statue, and the rest OF the gifts are utilized
IN charity and church Improvement as the
clerical authorities think best
This clearly proves that. though the ado
ration of the Virgin dates almost from the
/ Introduction OF Christianity enthusiastic
belief in and love of her shriu5s and sane
. tuaries are as keen in the nineteenth as in
I the second century. VOJive offerings TO Our
Lady pour in upon the Madonna as freely
in our own country as in Europe and one
little country chapel records gifts to the,
value Of S15Ge0 laid by pious church men
aud women at the feet Of the Blessed La
dy. Taking all things into consideration.
the richest shrine of the Virgin in The world
Is in America This is Our Lady OF Guada-
loup in Mexico.
The figure of the Madonna herself is
partly of pure gold her robes are eucrusJ-
cd with the virgin metal. her shrine so dec
GRATED with it that her altar seems a grotto
Of unalloyed gold Perhaps the snrlnes
that rank next in value Of the offerings
bestowed uDOn them are those of Notre
Dame de Chatrss in France, and NOtrs
Dame in Antwerp The Madonna of Cha
tres is a figure partially wrought Of an
Cient wood and finished with gold, silver.
and Jewels. Her sanctuary is in the great
cathedral Of Chatres and her robes and
gowns fairly beggar description. One jew
eled veil she weaEs Iu sumptU0us prOces-
sion. is said 10 have been given her BY the
Empress Irene in the days OF the Emperor,
Charlemagne and the statue itself could be
easily concealed under the jewels given
by generations Of ardently Pious men and
women
Once in century the Virgin of the Ant
werp Cathedral is borne in a magnificent
procession through the streets of tne Bel
gian city Bishops In gorgeous robes. a-d
statesmen wearing splendid orders wax
before and after the platform on which she
is carried. but with her great diadem and
marvellous cloak she easily OutshiEss them
all, for possibly the English crown jewels
alone are admittedly more glorious than
those the statue wears Her c0r0uet is
immensely tall and encTusted with pre-
cious stones, and in her cloak alone sese eraI
hundred thousand dollars worth Cf flashing
jewels are strewG upon its velvet satin
widths
Far down in the south of France is a
shrine frequently hOnored by the exfIed
royal family of that country and partie-
ularly noted for the unique laces given 20
the Virgin to whom the little church IS
dedicated Our Lady of Betharran is not
Fa.~ L. "a
is much older and has been always ten
DERBY regarded by the ladies of the Bour-
bon house. In 1913 the Countess of Cham
bOrd gave her entire wedding dress and
bridal veil of lace To this shrine. "a gift
of no small value in the art world and
previous to this the Duchess d'Angoutsins
presented the Virgin OF Betharran with
the exquisite lace veil that had been used
by Marie Antoinette at her first eommun-
ion. A little later the Duchess OF Berry
also presented this Madonna with her
wedding ldces and not very long ago the
Countess De Paris sent beautiful and his
rOrical h0uuces OF Venetian point to be
used in this Virgins shrine
Our Lady of LorettO a black cedar
statue Of the Virgin that came from the
Holy Land is one OF the Madouuas rich
est in Jewels. When she left the Holy
Land, she Wore q red wooden gown said
20 have been the property of the Blessed
Virgin herself. Since established In her
shrine and working wonderful cures. the
Lady of LOrettO has been the recipient OF
marvelOusIy fine gems from crown heads
and private individuals Ordinarily on
days of great Importance the Madonna
wears a gown of richest brocade, on which
as many as 500 jewels Of unusual splen-
dor glow and glisteu but with her as
with the other Madonuas. no computation
is allowed of the gifts she has received.
None among the healing shriues IS more
visited and honored than that OF s.. Anne
de Beaupre just outside the city Of Quebec
in Canada.