The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-05-06

is The day Of the crowd. And what "A crowd! All
day long The churches are full Of people making
IN. number prescribed BY ths relig lous authofl'
ties. This day il celebrated the Last SupI*f,
the sacrament being removed from The hlgh nitaI
ana placed e Wh ,hs s AZ ,h "' ,s."s " he A church is
stripped ui Ornh ment aud the affairs are Ielt hinl"s'
bare, this one Of the sepulchre Is nblnDe MIN .2 TX
DO and the chapel containing II j. oank'n VIII
flowers or entirely covered AZ 10 It's "alls WIN
scarlet hanglngS. In many places the tn'iihHn,
steps and altar are covered with pots ana pnNrs
Of yetch, which, having been grown III lhe unnh,
IN n mass 81 long, whit. shopts, among whlCn
shaded lights ARE placed, producing a slia,Ee
effect During the day everybody, including ..,o
Queen, makes the prescribed pilgrimage, u! .m'
seven churches, and at I o'clock 'hr, people t,'u,
safe ~ say that there Mere 2j,OOO persons IN ,ns
basilica, perhaps more. That does not mean tha'
II was crowded, except AT one end Prunirnadiik'
10 be sure, was attended with more or less am
Guilty, especially for women, whose sklfH were
liable u en,Anglomcnt with the spurs 81 countess
cavalry officers, clanking aimIessly aDou' VII"
On the steps Of the coniessionals sat peasant
women. with bright hand s%erchieis on their heads
and bright corsets outside their dresses ihS,ne
the confessional the children played, On lhe
steps Of the many affairs groups OF Italian women
Of the well dressed class Chartered ana laugn
and gossipp-d. Geniarmes IN bie, hhEl MN
tow ering scarlet plumes. bersaglicrl,, WIN lhelf
faces hidden under a mass OF cpks iea'he,N,
recruits in FED fel with a long blue tass.l. monks
with s0ndalled feet and shhtpn heads, lhill1het'
able officers In brilliant uniforms, iuotmen wait
ing for their masters and mistrnsSes, b.eggats,
young men about town with molIucleS ana sleks,
and the army Of the invaders the tourists made
A / one side. the Cardinal Peni,eniary, seated
on a high platform, touched with q long "and
the heads of the looils Who kne!' .einre MN =.
,he other tide, the leople were ,nieihE, saaT'i ,hs
whole great church, By that time shado"ed by,
the early dusk # a cloudy evening, was iuli nI
mysterious noises; nothing definite. eheep. ms
wall 81 the "Miserere, which amt from
in the olscurity and was repeated over anu over
again, as II II WAS an appeal " the crowd, when
nevertheless continued rhee,iuliSr to WAX A a,, ana
candles were lighted at the altar, one for each oi
the psalms sung. These were exiinguished one
by one rs the psalms were finished, except ihe
last one which represents Christ The o'hef
fourteen represent the twelve Apostles, and i,he
two Mays During the "Miserere" tail candles
we're placed on STANDARDS Throughout the church
and lighted in order to keep Ne pace ace IRON Deins
ness Of the picture, even II they did not have, n
very aplreciable effect on the gloom. AIet NE
""Miserere, the Papal altar under 'he gtea' biohle
baldacchino was washed with wine by Tie priests
a long procession going around II and passing
over II a sponge made II cut white payer Inc
tourists later buy these sponges from men VINO
get them In the same mysterious way In which
they secure all these salahle Articles and privileges
Finally the relics were shown from one oi the
balconies which must he nearly. 100 feet apoNs
the floor Of the church, So that NJ thai height hha
in the evening dusk the relics are not visible
Ordinarily, when sacred relics are exhibited n
bell is rung as a sort Of ANNOUNCEMENT, iut az
no bells may he rung between THURSDAY noon
and Saturday noon, a sort OF rattle Is wound up
and this is called grinding Judas's bones
On Good Friday, the tourists scattered more
or less, many Of them going to st John ls,tran.
directly opposite the Scala Santa. The Holy
Stairs are black with people every day during
Holy Week, and on Friday the crowd IL greater
than ever, hundreds continually aScen1ing On
their knees and kissing the wounds in the image
Of Christ which is at the top OF the stairs Not
very far away is another church, Santa troce
In Gernsalemme, which. ~ always crowded on
Good Friday because Of the exhibition here on
relics. The list oi the relics here includes The
finger Of st Thomas Apostle with which he
touched the most holy side Of our Lord Jesus
Christ, one NJ the pieces Of money with which the
Jews paid the treachery Of Judas; great part OF
the veil and Of the hair Of the most blessed Virgin:
a mass Of cnders and charcoal united in the form
one bottle II the most precious blood Of our Lord
Jesus Christ a little piece Of the stone where Christ
Was born; a little piece Of the stone where our ora
sat when he pardoned Mary Magdalen; a piece
Ia Moses on Mount Sinai 81 the stone where re
posed SIS Peter and Paul Of the cotton which
collected the blood Of Christ; Of the mama which
fed the Israelites Of the rod Of Aaron which -four.
ished in the desert; IT the relics OF the eleven
prophets" The chief relic is the inscription
which was put on the cross when ShIist was cruci-
ned. MS was eAnlhlru lhS' IIuhN piuih
as well as one Of the nails from the cross, a thorn
from the Crown Of Thorns, and the bottle oil The
blood Of Christ
Those who went 10 st, Peters for the "Tene-
br@' on Good Friday heard exquisite music,
that il, they heard as much as they could hear
above the scraping VI feet, the chatter of the ltal-
ians and the greetings OF tourists. There were
not half 80 many people as there had been ON
Thursday but when 10, 1000 pairs OF shoes, more
or less. scrape along on a marble pavement, ones
enjoy ment OF heavenly music Is i~nterfer'd with.
Saturday has It's interesting obse ryances, too.
In the first place. all lights having been put out
at yespers, a new light Is struck with a flint, IN
the portico: a little Are Is kindled from this spark
and after the fire Ia blessed il Is used for the light
ing Of the Easter candle, an enormous one, which
burns during high mass and verspers until Ascen-
SATURDAY. the priests also bless the water and,
at ST John L.atersn. they baptze converts, who
when they are not Jews are called Jews In order
10 carry out a tradition. Then there is ordaining
Of priests and a high pontifical mass, when tho
balls are rung and the purple coverings are taken
from the crucifxes and the affairs are covered
with whi,e and lighted with many candles;
perfect day. After weeks q all kinds Of bad
wraiher, the latter part Of Holy Week was de-
lightful and Easter Sunday, left nothing 10 be
desired Of the weather clerk. The ceremonies
were not 80 individual as those OF the preceding
days. but the music WAS hne. Also II was spoiled
BY the confusion quite as much az II had been
before. The tourists were rather more talkatiye
than usual, but this time the air was fnll ~ good
hys, for the exodus from Rome began with dawn
on Easter Monday. II is still going on, but as
fast as the Americans leave the pilgrimages from
other countries arrive and Rome has a continual
air Of being about to put up a sign: This IS
my busy day"