The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1913-03-20

.'Barbarous Mexico il one of the
most intensely religious countries OF
the globe, and this fervor of spec
tacu1ar piety will reach it's utmost
pitch during the three days begin
ming to-day. Coming on the heels of
a national tragedy, and commemorat-
ing the great tragedy of oChristendom,
la Semana de los Muertos is not a sea-
son of unrelieved gloom. AS of yore
the streets of the City of Mexico will
blossom forth with many booths in
gay colors, where hawkers will sell
clay and paper Judases, male Judases
and Mrs. Judases and child Judases
and animal Judases, as well as Mex
lean CONNECTIONS, popcorn. fruits and
other wares. ,To-day's observance of
Holy Thursday in Mexico is character
lied by rejoicing rather than sorrow,
tuition of the Eucharist by Jesus, upon
the occasion of the last supper with
His disciples, and the Mexicans hold
that it should be day of, thanksgiv-
ing for the great gift that the Christ
made to the church.
In the cathedral at Mexico City the
most elaborate religious services of
the day will center. On Holy Thurs
day the altar holding the blessed sac
rament is brilliantly decorated with
flowers, and ab1aze with hundreds of
candles. Upon this altar are also
placed statues Of the patriarchs and
prophets, as well as OF the leading fig
ures among the early saints. On
Holy Thursday morning the blessed
sacrament is carried in procession,
with pomp and ceremony, to the al
tar.
The catch-penny figures of Judas
which are sold by tens of thousands in
Mexico will be the objects of pious
derision tomorrow, Good Friday. call
ed by the Mexicans Ell Sabado de la
Gloria. Judas in q hundred forms,
human, animal and diabolical, will be
strung up In the streets, burned in eff
fgy and blown up by gunpowder,
amid universal boisterousness. In
the early morning Of Good Friday i'm
pressive and mournful services are
held in the cathedra1s and churches
of Mexico. The affairs are stripped
Of all ornamentatson, the sacred edi-
fees are draped in black, and all IA
ces wear expressions of grief and sor-
row. The Sena, a weird and solemn
ceremonial held. only in countries
where the ritual of the Spanish branch
of the Catholic church predominates,
is enacted, and the sacred relics, in
Guiding what purports to be a portion
of the true cross, are exposed to view.
The public ceremony of Furnishing Ju-
das, the arch betrayer, takes place
at 10 o'clock in the morning, the time
at which Christ is believed to have
assembled out of hell after ministering
to the damned. At TEN the church
bells, muff1ed during the earlier hours
of the day, peal out La Gloria, and
this is a signal for setting fire to or
exploding the ef1gies of Judas. The
function is popular among the poor
because the larger effigies contain
Ioaves of bread, and the explosion
scatters the 1oaves among the hungry
poems below.
A riotous holiday follows during the
remainder of the day and continues
through Saturday and Easter. Most
of the wealthy people leave the city
on vacation trips, and the Mexican
metropolis is turned over to the poor.
All of the larger business houses of
Mexico usually close their doors on
Holy Thursday, to remain closed until
Monday. In the cathedral on Good
Friday afternoon the ceremony of
washing the feet, in commemoration
of the bathing of the feet of his dis
ciples by Jesus, takes place. Twelve
very poor men are selected to play
the part of the disciples, and their
feet are washed and afterward kissed
by the dean of the canons of the ca
thedra1.