The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-12-12

make 8 brief Obeisance before the sacred shrine. For nearly four cen turies the twelfth of December has been the great religious holiday of Mexico, and the congress of the repuh- lie made the day a national holiday Millions of prayers will be uttered to- day beseeching the intervention of the holy Virgin of Guadalupe, patron saint and protectress of MeXico,' in the affairs of unhappy Mexico. While rival leaders struggle for military and political supremacy, and rapacious bandits, the great masses of Mexican peons pray only for a return of peace and comparative prosperity and secur- ity. The pitifu1 petitions of the perse- cuted and poverty-stricken peons will ascend today from thousands of: :kneel- figures gathered in the great cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
 The magnificent church that is Mex ico's national shrine is in a suburb of the capital It is alleged that the cathedral marks the spot where, in the year 1531. the Virgin appeared to an Indian peasant, Juan Diego. The Vir- gin, according to the legend, directed Juan to go to the Bishop and make known to him that she desired to have 8 church erected on that spot. The Indian was unable to obtain an audi ence with the church dignitary, and the following day he returned to Guadalupe, which, before the intro ductton of Christianity into Mexico, had been the site of pagan temple dedicated to the worship of the God dess of the Corn. The Virgin appear ed again to Juan, and again the Bisn- op refused to see the Indian. On the | twelfth of December Juan Diego for the third time behe1d the apparition of the Virgin. On this occasion she imprinted on the blanket of the Indian a miraculous image of her face, and this proof so awed the Bishop that he | immediately ordered a church erected | at Qua daIupe in honor of the patroness | of New Spain. What is declared to | be the original blanket is still pre- served in the cathedral. and before il thousands of pilgrims from all over the republic kneel down and pray on each twelfth of December. The jewels and decorations in the cathedral, the gifts of wealthy pilgrims, are said tc
 be worth millions of dollars. The marble altar is a work of art that has few equals in America, and the edif1ce contains a silver railing weighing twenty-six tons.
 l Near the cathedral is the Chapel oi the Little We'll, containing a spring whose waters are said to possess magf
 cal healing properties. Hundreds ot crutches testify to the truth of this
 belief. Guadalupe Day, in a. happier period of Mexicos history, was ceIe- i brated with all sorts of dances, game: | and sports, but since Mex1co has beer | plunged into the turmoil of constan
 revolution the festival has assumed (
 more serious and distinctly religion:
 aspect. Although the cathedral i.
 filled with treasure worth "a kings ransom not the most daring and l greedy of the bandits who roam ove1 Mexico have been guilty of the slight
 est act of sacrilege within the conf1ne!
 of the sacred edifice. They know tha | the pious peons, patient and long-suf fering as they are, would rise in ter
 rible wrath and wreak a speedy ant fterrfb1e vengeance upon any wanda
 who, dared to desecrate the shrine O.
 Our Lady of Guadalupe And tn, 1 bandits themselves are religious, al | though they voice the prayer of tn,
 pirates. Great God. have mercy o1
 our evil souls-and give us loot!''