438 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I02 



pesos from the fund ; the deputy chooses the church where he wants 

 the Mass said, and remains in attendance to the point at which the 

 Mass ends ; each priest as he finishes saying the Mass for the deceased 

 member receives the ahns and signs a receipt ; and the deputy is 

 cleared on handing in the receipts. 



1256. And on the first Sunday following, announcement is made 

 to the congregation of the death of a member to be recommended 

 to God ; a statement is read that a Mass is owed him, the treasurer 

 takes it and gives it to the deputy ; the sum deposited is handed over, 

 and each deceased member receives at least 600 Masses ; and in 

 their chapel which is admirably constructed and whose gold decora- 

 tion makes it a glowing coal, they pay him solemn honors with vigils 

 and a sung Mass with Deacon and Subdeacon officiating, and a 

 catafalque with an ample number of 4- wick tapers and white wax 

 candles, and many ordinary Masses which they say for him ; and 

 on the anniversary and commemoration of All Souls in the church 

 of the Company, in the main chapel, they erect a catafalque specially 

 prepared with so much wax and magnificence that it looks like a 

 royal ceremony and not one of a private congregation. 



1257. There is another congregation of boys in the decury ; those 

 who have charge of them, like new Elishas, accommodate themselves 

 to the children and their spiritual condition, bringing them together 

 for them to learn the prayers and Christian doctrine ; they have 

 doctors with their insignia of hoods and tassels ; they give degrees, 

 and have horseback parades through the city, which are a fine sight. 



1258. There is another congregation, of Indians, and another, 

 of Negroes ; these all meet Sundays after noon in dififerent chapels ; 

 there, after a few minutes' reading in public of spiritual lessons, 

 they have their sermon ; on some days the Father who has them in 

 charge invites others to deliver the spiritual discourse. And since 

 the slaves who hold the horses are many in number and stand out 

 in the street in front of the gates of the College of San Pablo, one 

 of the Fathers comes out and takes his position in a high spot and 

 preaches to them, so that they may not be deprived of good doctrine 

 and instruction. All these congregations, and particularly that of 

 the laymen who are under the protection of Our Lady of Expectation, 

 have their festival and communion every month ; the Holy Sacrament 

 is exposed with remarkable lavishness of elaborate decoration. 



1259. Every year they celebrate their festival and invite the Vice- 

 roy and the Circuit Court ; and as a matter worthy of mention, I 

 shall speak of the most solemn Mass given by the Lay Congregation 

 in the year 161 7 on the feast of the Immaculate Conception, the 



