THE CHURCH AND ITS CEREMONIES. 173 



NuEBTRA SEifORA DE LAS MERCEDES: Our Lady of Mercies. In other countries annual festival* 

 interrupted from any cause are irrecov. i.ilil. . hero, however, such is not the case : the import- 

 ance of constant appeals to the outward senses of the multitude is never to be lost night of; and 

 it the weather pmhil.it parade out of doors, the church authorities defer it to a more propitious 

 season. Tuesday, the '1 1th, was the legitimate anniversary, but on that day the flood-gates of 

 In a\( ii were opened, ami the rain descended in such torrents as to keep every one at home; the 

 procession was, therefore, postponed to the 29th. The festival was heralded by a novena, or 

 nine-days' service, at the church ; not uninterruptedly, for that would have altered the propor- 

 tions of the plump-looking friars, and made them more like every-day working-men, but by 

 preachings and exhortations just after twilight in the evenings, and confessions and masses at 

 all hours of the period named. So great were the numbers attending night-service, that the 

 streets in front of the church-doors were also filled by women. The church had been partially 

 decorated witli flags some days previously, and at sunrise of the 29th no less than thirty national 

 banners of different sizes were flying from its front and turrets. There was also between the 

 towers a large star made of paper, of the three national colors, which was illuminated by night, 

 adding much to the effect. Nor was the scene inside less flaunting or showy. The procession, 

 in the afternoon, is stated to have been extremely pretty, but not unlike that of the following 

 Sunday, under charge of the Dominicans. 



NUESTRA SENORA DEL ROSARIO : Our Lady of the Rosary. The multitude of silver and tinsel 

 ornaments decorating the altars of Santo Domingo was extraordinary, and the quantity of natural 

 flowers arranged in vases, wreaths, and festoons, not less striking. From each of the longitudinal 

 arches there was suspended a flag of one of the civilized nations of the earth that of Spain 

 occupying the post of honor, if the column next the high altar can be so regarded ; the "stars 

 and stripes" not far from the central arch. At vespers, on the preceding evening, all the side 

 altars, as well as the body of the church, were lighted up, curiosity attracting an immense 

 crowd to witness it. A larger number might be accommodated were there seats, as in Protestant 

 edifices ; but under present arrangements, each female must not only leave space for new-comers 

 to pass between herself and neighbors, but also take care that they do not encroach within the 

 space intended to allow change of position to her feet. There seems no fixed period for them to 

 remain either at mass or vespers, some leaving immediately after the priest consumes the host, 

 the majority just before the sermon even those who stay through the discourse being engaged 

 in paters and aves with their rosaries rather than with the oration. High-backed benches are 

 placed along the columns forming the nave, and across its base, for the accommodation of the 

 men ; but our sex does not often form a very numerous part of the congregation. 



There was much chanting from a body of friars stationed in the nave, no small amount of 

 whispered admiration among the dark-eyed dames and maidens occupying their humble seats 

 around, and any amount of pressing and squeezing by the gaping, odorous gentry, whose 

 uncombed locks are ever thrust under one's nose in such places. At the termination of the 

 ceremonies inside, the bells of both towers were set in motion, a band stationed in one turret 

 struck up a gay tune, and the air of the plazuela before the church literally teemed with fire- 

 works of various descriptions, fizzing and exploding to a degree that rendered the confusion of 

 bell, and military band, and human voices, "worse confounded." 



The procession came off at 5 o'clock of the afternoon, and was composed of a body of the 

 devout bearing torches; next came the Dominican friars, preceded by an image of San Pio V, 

 under a canopy borne on men's shoulders; Santo Domingo, a similar paste and pasteboard 

 image, followed immediately after ; two or three orders of monKs succeeded ; and then the arch- 

 bishop, with his golden cross, surrounded by his suite. A military band followed his rever- 

 ence, and Our Lady of the Rosary, flanked by parts of a company of lancers, brought up the 

 rear. All the canopies were more or less composed of silver, and ornamented with flowers in 

 wreaths and bouquets, as well of silver as natural products. That, however, under which the 

 last image of the procession was moved was by far the most costly. All the dresses were of the 



