The Washington times., 1902-02-09

fashion complied with. the carriages are
filled with colorcd dust, the bits of fancy
paper and the Streamers which have been
thrown at them.
But that drive sees the last OF the
gaye'y. When it is over there is little
more than sufficient time for the fair oc-
cupants OF the carriages TO go home. have
their dinner and don the black garments
which they wear to the midnight service
observed in all the churches. As they en-
ter, while the bells are tolling. it is evil
dent at a glance that time OF prayer and
fasting has come to The churches.
The affairs. which are usually gorgeous
with gold, silver, laces ana the marvel
Gus silks which have been the collections
of generations Of the pious believers, are
covered and s-rouded in black clo,h. Only
dim lights glimmor from The candclabra
and the credJ buildings are almost as
dark as the streets outside. only the altar
is illuminated us usual, tuT even that
seems gloomy in its dark dIaperv and the
service which The priests say is more
impressive h5n ever.
The Season of Lent.
With this str.ice commences Lent.
During all that period none of the affairs
viii be uncovered. All will wear their
sable nantes ard all will show 'he diff
ference between The ordinary service and
these that are daily celebrated during
this time.
During all of Lent there are almost
continual services in the churches, but
none of them is OF especial picturesque
ness or of interest to the sightseer un-
til that of Palm Sunday. On that day.
from long before sunrise. the Indians
have been gathering. each one of them
loaded down with palm branches or with
crosses most sfillfully woven from bits
Of palm leaves. In the task OF making
these they have been engaged for weeks
and now their day of profit has come.
The palm leaves themselves. great
branches. many of them from six to ten
feet long, are sold cheaply. But the
crosses cost more. The Mexican Indian
may have had no training in the making
of fancy articles. but the old instinct
which enabled his ancestors to design the
wonderful feather work which modern
skill cannot duplicate, has come down to
him in modified way. and men, women
and children can weave most beautiful
and artistic things out of the simplest
materials
Artistic Designs in Crosses.
So it is that the crosses which they
have been making and with loads of
front Of the churches are really works of
art. There are hundreds of designs ami
hundreds of sizes. Some of them are
five or six feet long and some of them are
not more than two inches Some of them
closely woven from which seems to be
the finest fbres of the palm and some are
coarse and hastily made. But as the size,
the design and style of work varies, so
does the price. Some of them are worth
50 and others can be brought for
cents. With such a selection to choose
/ from there is no reason why anyone en-
tering the church should be without
palm and there is none that is.
AS in all Catholic churches these palms
, are blessed by the priests and then car
ried home and carefully preserved But
while in the north it is necessary that
they should be carefully put away within
doors; the opposite is the custom here. In
stead of being kept in the house the palm
branches here are at once bound to the
balconies fronting on the street, and there
they remain throughout the year, never
being taken down until they are replaced
by the new ones which come on the next
Palm Sunday.
On Holy Thursday come the strangest
and most remarkable services of all Lent
en- season. Years ago ii was observed in
every Roman Catholic church throughout
the Republic. But ii was distasteful TO
all but the most Jealous priests. and it
was quietly but effectively fought until
the rule making its performance obliga-
tory was done away with.
Washing Beggars' Feet.
In spite of this the old ceremony is OBJ
served in hundreds of churches The
quaint observance is the washing of the
feet of twelve beggars and is emblemat-
ical of the washing of the feet Of The dis