The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1909-02-20
SAINTEs MARES -MER. FRANCE,
Eohrrorv 10Th 1000

SAINTEs MARIEs- DE-LA-MER. FRANCE,
February 18th. 1909.
Aessrs. Editors I'm the eyes of the true be-
liever' this little fishing village on the Mediter-
ranean shore is the cradle of the Christian faith
in Europe. 1t was here that the first missiona-
rIes to Gaul disembarked after having been
miraculously conducted across the sea. 1t is
here that the bones of the three Saintes Maries
are exhibited once every hundred years to the
ecstatic gaze of the faithful. 1t is toward this
consecrated spot that great pilgrimage wends
its way every year, pilgrimage that has pre-
served in wonderfully vivid manner the pictur-
esque customs and curious credences of the
middle ages.
The strangest part of this pilgrimage is the
part played by the Bohemians, that mysteriously
organized and secretly governed race of nomads.
who are incorrectly termed "Gypsies" in Ameri-
ca. and sometimes, more properly. Zingari
These professional wanderers, whose patrie 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
patron saint, Sarah. This famous shrine is the
Mecca of the "Gypsies." During the days which
precede and follow the fete the Bohemians.
fiocking 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-clad beau
ties their ragged and pitiful infants, their dogs
and horses. Kneeling in reverent devotion they
pray to Saint Sarah for the salvation of their
souls. and at the same moment skillfully pick
the pockets of some bourgeois Catholic pilgrim.
They are very devout and very clever. The re-
suit is they are seldom, If ever, detected in
their roguery, but during the period of their So
journ they are the terror of the neighborhood.
Look here" said one of them to a comrade,
"what splendid candle have brought to illu-
mine before Saint Sarah's shrinel'
"Where did you get it ~ inquired the second.
.sI stole it from the Cathedral of Barbentane
on the day of the last communion" was the
reply.
of three superimposed chambers, crypt and
chapelle superieure. The crypt is Saint Sarah's
exclusive domain, and her precious casket, ex-
posed to view during the fete, is guarded by the
Bohemians. During the great revolution, when
so many shrines were violated this casket dis.
appeared mysteriously, to be replaced only upon
the coronation of Napoleon. 1t had been seized
by the Bohemians and hidden in a place of
safety.
Bohemians choose their queen. The ceremony
is seven centuries old.
Above the crypt is the chapel, that is to say.
the main part of the church In which the French
pilgrims assemble. The chapelle 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 miniature trunks, are formed of sculp-
tured cypress, lined and draped with cloth of
gold. Each casket is locked with four keys.
At the supreme moment of the fete trap door
is opened in the ceiling of the main chapel and
the sacred relics are lowered by windlass, de-
scending slowly through the space above the
heads of the crowd and dropping gently into
place upon the altar, where they are approached
and touched by the pilgrims. especially by the
unfortunates who hope, by the contact. to be
cured miraculously of their diseases and Attic
tions.
At this hour the church is packed and jammed
by pilgrims who crowd the aisles, Chamber upon
the pews, cling to the columns, climb upon each
others shoulders in a sort of religious frenzy and
cucumber the steps of the altar. The great
brazen bells clang in the trembling tower, enor-
nous bombs and cannon crackers are exploded
| each moment outside the windows. The trap
| door opens, while from thousand Threats arises
the cry, "Vivent Les Saintes Maries, and to the
| laundering accompaniment of medieval an
them the caskets descend, suspended by an al
most invisible silver wire, which, in the dimness
of the church. gives one the illusion that the
relics are floating unsupported in the air. "Plan,
| plan, lei caisso davalounl'' A sea of waving
arms are outstretched toward the relics, the
lame, the halt and the blind surge forward, each
striving to be the first to touch the caskets. A
crippled girl is trampled under foot, the priests
restore a semblance of order and the other pill
| grims approach many of them touching the
| relics with a tiny cruci1x or some other object
of piety with which they hope, upon returning
home to cure the ailments of afflicted relatives,
who have not been able to make the journey.
Throughout the entire day the crowds throng
the church, circulate around the altar, sing.
pray and even lie down at night to sleep in the
consecrated spot.
Upon the following day the same scenes are
repeated, the pilgrims are, perhaps,m ore numer-
Gus. still singing, shouting and marching to and
fro with an Undesirable enthusiasm. The
young priests circulate among the crowd and
distribute to those who have been unable to
enter the church reliquary in the form of
miniature female arm, which the faithful be-
levers kiss devoutly and preserve until their
death.
However, the hour for the great procession
arrives, announced from the belfry. A long
line of pilgrims emerge from the church and
march toward the beach, pilgrims from Tou-
louise, Montpelier, Narbonne, Beziers, Lunel,
Tarascon, Beaucaire Saint Remy, Aries, from
all Provence; women. children, cripples con-
sumptives, robust, red-cheeked farmers, hardy
peasants bronzed by the meridional sun, fisher
men and sailors, who have come from afar to
chant once more the old canticles, which have
come down through the centuries, and which
they learned at their grandmothers' knees:
"Dans un vaisseau sans cordage,
Au naufrage,
On vous exposa soudain.
Mails lie Dieu la Providence,
De Provence
Vous fit trouver lie chemin."
Each parish has its special banner, its priest
and chants, its particular local canticle. The
effect is very original, very imposing and fright
fully discordant. At length, as the procession
grows longer, the sacred caskets emerge from
the doorway of the church upon a flower COW
cred chariot, drawn by Mediterranean sailors,
l. i