The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1909-03-02

miraculously conducted across the
sea; it is here that the bones Of the
three Saintes Maries are exhibited
once every hundred years to the &C.
static gaze of the faithful; it is to-
ward this consecrated spot that
great pilgrimage Wends its way every
year, a pilgrimage that has preserved
in wonderfully vivid manner the
picturesque customs and curious ere
dences of the middle ages.
The strangest part of this pilgrim
age is the part played by the Bohem-
ians, that mysteriously organized and
secretly governed race of nomads,
who are Incorrectly termed "Gyp-
sizes" in America, and sometimes,
more properly, Zingari. These pro-
fessional wanderers, whose patrle Is
the public highway, come hundreds of
leagues to take part in the religious
procession and pay special honors to
the remains of their celebrated pat
ron saint, Sarah. This famous shrine
is the Mecca Of the GEpsies. During
the days which precede and follow
the fete, the Bohemians, flocking
from all directions, form an encamp-
ment on the outskirts of the village,
with their queen, their chiefs, their
picturesque wagons, their dreamy
eyed, undulating, velvet-elad beauties,
their ragged and pitiful infants, their
dogs and horses. Kneeling in rever-
ent devotion, they pray Saint Sarah
for the salvation of their souls, and
at the same moment skillfully pick
the pockets of some bourgeois Gatho-
lie pilgrim. They are very devout
and very clever; the result is they are
seldom, if ever, detected in their ro-
query, but during the period Of their
sojourn they are the terror of the
neighborhood.
"Look here" said one Of them to
a comrade, "what a splendid candle I
have brought to illumine before
Saint Sarah s shrine"
"Where did you get it," inquired
the second.
"I stole it from the cathedral of
Barbbentan On the day of the last
communion" was the reply.
The church Of the Saintes Maries
lis composed Of three superimposed
chambers, crypt, and chapelle su-
perieuce. The crypt is Saint Sa"
rah s exclusive domain, and her pre-
cious casket, exposed to view during
the fete, is guarded by the Bohe-
mians. During the great revolution,
when so many shrines were violated,
this >casket disappeared mysteriously,
to be replaced only upon the corona
ton Of Napoleon. It had been seized
by the Bohemians and hidden in a
place of safety.
In this crypt, upon the night Of the
fete, the Bohemains choose their
queen. The ceremony is seven centur-
les old.
Above the crypt is the chapel that
is to say, the main part Of the church
in which the French pilgrims assem-
BILE. The ohapelle superieure forms
a higher story in which are preserved
the venerable bones Of the Saintes
Maries. The caskets, which, by their
size and shape, remind one Of minla-
ture trunks, are formed Of scul lptu:ed
cypress, lined and draped with cloth
Of gold. Each casket is locked with
four keys.
At the supreme moment Of the fete,
a trap door is opened in the ceiling of
the main chapel and the sacred relics
are lowered by windlass, descend
ing slowly through the space above
the heads of the crowd, and drop
ping gently into place upon the altar,
where they are approached and
touched by the plIgrlms, especially py
the unfortunates who hope, by the
contact, to be cured miraculously OF
their diseases and Affections.
At this hour the church is packed
and jammed by pilgrims who crowd
the aisles and Chamber upon the pews,
cling TO the columns, climb upon each
others shoulders in sort Of religious
frenzy, and cucumber the steps Of the
altar; the great brazen bells elang in
the trembling tower, enormous bombs
and cannon-erackerS are exploded
each moment outside the windows;
the ,trap-door opens, while from a
thousand throats arises the cry. "Vl-
vent Les Saintes Maries," and to the