The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1900-06-06

cites of fish which fairly swarm Manila
bay are sufficient for the most carnivo-
! rous. On Palm Sunday all the wor-
| shippers kneel for at least two hours on
| the mahogany floors Of the houses OF
| worship, and then it is that the restric-
| tons of this penitential season are fully
| realized AS a general thing the
| churches of Manila are mostly free from
privileged pews owned by private per-
sons, most of them being entirely free
/ from seats of any kind, The higher
classes carry with them their prayer
| carpets" but for the average class there
are no such luxuries, amid all the sur
rounding magnificence. While the fem
mime worshipers invariably kneel at
their devotions, it is quite general for
| the male population to stand, they per-
| haps, expecting to get into heaven on
the merits of the devotions of the femi-
nine members of the family.
| There is a rest afterthe long Palm
| Sunday service, and then on Maundy
Thursday the whole city goes into
mourning. Not a bell is rung, which
seems rather strange to one accustomed
to so long to being awakened in the
early morning hours by the melody of
the bells and chimes such as only Ma
Mia can afford. There is little business
transacted in the city on Good Friday
now. and Under Spanish rule there was
still less. In Manila every one owns
burial suit and it is invariably worn on
Good Friday, which day witnesses many
strange professions in the Philippine
capital. At twilight there are great
professions of men. women and chill
IN oil
head march the clergy with images of
the Savior, the saints and the virgins.
Then comes the holy strains of the Len
ten season
At sunrise on Easter there are great
triumphant professions, and the "Risen
Christ" with est. Mary Magdalene," is
borne to the great houses of worship.
There are clangings of bells and sounds
of trumpets. No longer do the march,
ers appear in their solemn grave
clothes. High mass in any of the dozen
or more great cathedrals of Manila is a
thing long to be remembered. Under
Spanish rule there was a military mass,
but this feature Is now omitted. But
one can never forget the quaint old
buildings or their magnificent architec-
ture, and ever afterward there fingers
in the mind a recollection of the rare
paintings, gold and silver Candida bra
vestments, rich altar equipments sa-
cred vessels of gold and silver. and the
treasures of the sacristy which are
brought forth to drape the affairs and to
glitter in the floods of waxen candles
which by the thousands light the cathe-
drals of Manila on Easter morn. Jewels
sparkle amid the golden enlbroideries of
friars vestmentS within the altar rail, |
but no longer do the magnificently uni
formed Spanish officers gather without |
to receive the sacrament But the
Spanish civilians, with the reserved sem
oras and gay senoritaS, are still there, |
and besides there are thousands of PEN
itent natives of various tribes and |
much mixedblood, the feminine portion |
all wearing gorgeously colored petit
coats and chemiSes One can see man
tillas almost worth their weight in gold |
and beggars dressed in rags.
Let us omit the Latin which comes
from the sanctuary and listen to tie
music which issues from the organ loft,
to the exquisite music sent forth by the |
chorus of many voices Spanish music |
is always exquisite, and the church mu-
sic seems almost to belong to the angel
ic voices of the eXpectant world I
heard chorus of one hundred and fifty
voices in a Christmas service in the ca
thedral Of San Ignatius in Old Manila
and / yet sometimes imagine that I can
hear these voices thousands of miles
across the blue Pacific, and it shall
henceforth linger as the "Choir Invisi-
BILE" Male or female choristers furnish
the church music, according to the pre-
vailing church order to which the house
of worship adheres.
The converts of Manila are all given
to great Easter services. In these one
sees tasty decorations made from the
tropical vegetation, and here nuns in
their somber garments kneel among
their pupils in reverential worship.
About the houses Of worship in Manila.
the miserable beggars invariably collect
in the hope of receiving aims from the
as they come out. Such is
Easter in Manila, and in other towns of
these vast islands no doubt the simple
natives still mingle prayer for the sue
cess of AguinaldO and his lost cause in
these devotions.-Willam Gilbert Irwin
in the New York Observer.