Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-03-27
A MEXICAN LOURDES
Where Thousands of the Sick
and Sinful Congregate in Lent.
LEGEND0F A WOODEN CROSS
Had Been Sent to the Shrine of the
Virgin of Guadalupe.
STAYEDAT FRAY MARTINS CAVE
Body Of the Friar in Its Casket Of
Glass Brought Down on Ash We'd
nesday to Amecameca.
sTAYEDAT FRAY MARTINS cav
BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS
Special Correspondence Of The Star and Chicago
Record Herald

BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS.
Special Correspondence Of The Star and Chicago
Record Herald
AMECAMECA. Mexico March "a. 1906.
II you would like to make the acquain-
lance OF two very eminent volcanoes take
the train On the Interoceanic railroad some
morning and make trip to Puebla, the
CITY Of the Angels winding all day around
the feet of Popocatepetl and IxticcihuatI.
and observing them from every direction
and in every light and shadow
The track occupies an ancient causeway
built by the aborigines to connect what
Is now the City Of Mexico with an old
Toltec town called Texcoco, where, you
Will remember, Cortez stopped to build
fleet OF brigantines with which to ferry
his army across the water Of the lake Of
the same name. After a while the train
enters one Of the largest and richest val
leys OF all Mexico, and you finally arrive
at the pretty little town Of Amecameca
which. next to Guadalupe, is the most sa-
cred place in the republic. Shortly after
the conquest Pope Adrian VI, at his per-
sonal expense, sent twelve missionaries Of
his own selection to assist in converting
the Indians. They were known as the
Twelve Apostles Of Mexico. One Of them,
Fray Martin de Valencia, a holy, kindly
man. who was greatly beloved by the In
dtans and exercised an almost universal
influence, had retreat in cave at the
top of mountain which rises about 700
and is covered with venerable live oaks
and other trees. 1t is called "Saoro
Monte" and two chapels have been built
upon It. One crowns the summit and the
other is built over the cave which the good
friar used as a retreat.
There Is a legend that short time after
his death. in 1547. large wooden cross
was sent from Rome to the shrine Of the
Virgin Of (SnadalNna thu DafrOn I3inf of
Mexico, just outside the capital. At Vera
Cruz 1t was strapped on the back of a
burro to be conveyed up the royal road
through the mountains in charge Of lay
brother, who lost his way. The burro
wandered around through the woods until
II came to the cave in which Fray Martin
had been living. and refused to go any
farther When this fact was reported to
the bishop he construed II as an express
sion of the will of the virgin that the
cross should remain here, and therefore
cave: and the body Of Fray Martin. which
had been buried at Thalmanalco, was re-
moved here and placed in a glass sarcoph-
agus beneath the altar. The chapel was
dedicated to the Virgin of Guadalupe with
great pomp and ceremony. and the mirao-
ulous experience of the cross and the pres
ence Of the body of the holy man have
for more than 900 years. The chapel is
reached by wide pathway winding up the
side of the mountain bordered with trees
and paved with stone, and II Is customary
for penitents to climb their knees all
the way from the base to the chapel at
the top.
Among other objects of interest and
sanctity is a life-sized image of the
Savior which weighs only three pounds.
1t is skillfully made of ptth, and the fea-
lures are colored in a very ingenious man
ner.
During Lent Of each year thousands OF
pilgrims come here from all parts of the
country, the sick and the sinful, the halt,
the lame and the blind. and then Ameca-
MEGA looks very much like 11ourdes and
other shrines of the old world. A large
portion of the paaple live upon the money
expended by the pilgrims.
Body Brought Down the Mountain.
AS a matter of convenience, or for some
other reason, the body of Fray Martin IN
its casket of glass is brought down from the
mountains on Ash Wednesday, attended by
a. procession that often numbers thousands
of pilgrims and is placed before the altar
of the village church, where It remains I'M
til Good Friday. Then occurs a represen-
tation Of the Crucifixion, sort of Passion
Play rudely given by the peasants under
the direction of the parish priest. The per
Torrance begins early in the morning with
the celebration Of the Last Supper and con-
tinues until midnight, when the peon Sc
lected to impersonate Jesus Is taken from
the cross and the entire population, with
thousands of singing and praying pilgrims,
most of them carrying torches, escort the
body of Fray Martin back TO the summit
of the Sacred mountain, where 1t is re-