El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-03-22

ing the truth, and bade him go to the
top of the hill and bring back an
armful of roses which grew there.
I Juan knew that the hill was a rocky
desert, and covered only with cactus,
but he went and 10. it had changed
to a bed of beautiful flowers He
took down the cloth from his should
{ ers and filled it and the Virgin told
I him to carry the flowers to the bishop.
I Juan did so. He repeated his story
( and spread the flowers out on the
I ground. At the same time he held up
| his mantle, and 10, the portrait of the
! Virgin was to be seen painted upon it.
1t was then known that a miracle
had been performed and the news went
! far and wide. The bishop decided that
I a church should be built and with the
/ money that rolled in was erected the
/ Guadalupe cathedral, which cost more
{ than million dollars IhlS was gen
! eratiOns ago. The sacred picture re-
| posed for a time in the cathedral in
! Mexico City, but later on 1t was brought
! seen on its altar have a photograph
! of il which was recently made by
! Waite, the American photographer Of
/ the Mexican capital
Thousands OF PHErIms.
Every peasant knows of this shrine,
/ and the pilgrims come by the hundreds
I of thousands to visit it. The railroad
! officials tell me that the travel to.
the roads, and that ii is a traffic asset
worth several hundred thousand dol
lars a year.
I wish you could see the indians as
they crawl up the hill on their knees
to visit the spot where Juan found
the roses. I should like to take you
into the mighty cathedral. and show
you the altar of marble and bronze
which cost more than 100000. and at
the same time have brought out the
crown of the Virgin, which is studded
rIrff Vt p a haF mi l.
lion dollars in gold. The crown is OF
gold and il weighs so pounds 1t is
about three feet in diameter.
Another spot at Guadalupe where the
praying always goes on is in the Chapel
OF the Wen back Of the cathedral. Here
is a spring Of sulphur which boils and
bubbles below the pavement within its
walls of wet stone The waters con-
tain sulphur, magnesia and potash and
they smell Ike old eggs. There is a
grating over the well, and upon it are
copper dippers, fastened to chains.
which the pilgrims let down to draw
up the water There are no individual
cups and the microbes OF 10000 diff
ferent mouths are mixed together upon
the rims Of these cups.
Another faVOrite shrine Of Mexico Is
at Amecameca- on the slope OF POpo-
catapetl, and there are others scattered
here and there over the country. In
deed there is scarcely a crossroads !
which has not a crucifiX Of one kind
or other, and you viii find no village
which has not its chapels-
A Country of Churches.
Although the Mexican government
has said that the Roman Catholic
church shall not rule, the officials real I
lie that It has a strong hold on the
people, and it is only a few months
since the Administered ton begged the I
archbishop Of Mexico TO assist in re-
storing order The secretary Of TO-
mentO asked that the pope be requested
to issue a decree to mat end, and, in /
the Catholic churches throughout the !
country a special mass for divine in I
PREVENTION was celebrated At the same
hour the papaI father celebrated mass |
and Joined in the prayers for the re-
storatiOn OF peace.
The Mexican people are really Cath !
Olics, and the great majority Of them /
believe in their religion am told Z
chapels in the republic, and I find a I
cathedral in nearly every city I visit. 4
The church Is supposed to be enor-
mOusly wealthy At the time Of the 4
cOnfiscatiOn it had property amounting Z
to S300,0OO,OOO. and il then owned al /
most 5000 estates which were valued at !
millions It had more than $4,000 lots (
here in Mexico City which alone were 4
worth over SlO0.OOO,O00, and 1t had 4
property scattered here and there !
throughout the republic When Juarez /
put the law Of cOnfiscatiOn into effect /
a great part of this property was put
up at auction and sold to the highest
bidders, but 1t is said that those who z
bought risked the disfavOr of the I
church, and that many took over the I
properties and held them in trust so 1
that the church got them back. others 4
gave to the church the difference be
tween the auction price and what the i
property would have sold for under
other conditions and in this way the
church has regained much Of its mill 4
lions. By the new law marriage was 1
only valid through civil contract but
no WelltOdO woman IN Mexico will con-
sent IN a v-eddfne- unless she is also I
by the church. and no priest
would give this blessing to a family i
VINO had acquired cnurcn property IN
less some restitution was made Today
the ownership of the church is such (
that the party in favor OF holding to-
gether the great estates in Mexico is
known as the church party or Catholic I
party, and there is no doubt but that
the church has enormous wealth, in one
form or other
Churches Worth Millions.
] do not know how much has been
spent in church building in this re- Z
public, but the sum must run high into |
the hundreds Of millions. The Catholic
religion came here Just 25 years after
Columbus discovered the new world .
and the early Spaniards prided them
selves on their support OF the church. /
A gOOdly share of all the gold and sill Z
yer that was taken out Of the mines I
was donated to religion, and every
with ornaments Of silver and gold. /
There is a church at Chihuahua which I
was built through tax Of % cents on I
every pound Of silver produced in that !
neighborhOod, and this church cost
5000 In Zacatecas the cathedral
was erected out Of tax levied on the
silver mines under the city. and its in
come was so great that Europe was
-ansacked for pictures and orna ments
TO decorate it 1t has a font Of solid
silver. which cost more than $4,000 |
md in Spanish times the church was /
lblaze with gold and silver candelabra |
and with cloths Of woven gold. An
)ther church in Zacatecas had an altar
OF gold. and one at Quertaro had a
gold altar which was burned by the J
French. The Spaniards gave their lew !
is and gold to decorate the cathedral I
It the Mexican capital, and they pre- ]
tented ornaments worth about $4,000
100. while the cathedral itself cost an l
quail amount to build.
There is a cathedral at Puebla which I
Ost a million and a half and in which /
100, 900 has been spent on the altar.
Z is said to be the most beautiful (
hurch on the continent GuadaIaiara |
las a cathedral covering about an acre
which was completed about 800 years ! 6
go. It has been almost destroyed by /
earthquakes in the past, and IL may
70 down again by the earthquakes.
which are now common IN that vicin- |
ty The dome of that church was |
urn shattered by lightning and when |