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Show I UNIQUE DISPLAY Of FAITH i i Procession in Germany Great Display of Simple but Strong Faith Saltz Kam-mergert. Kam-mergert. Nestling in the Mountains, a Buried City The Procession of Blessed Sacrament on Lake Hailstadt Described . : The Faith of Twenty Centuries Cele-; Cele-; brated Each Succeeding Year on the i Feast of Corpus Christi. r 1 (Writ Ion f,,r Tin. Intei-mountain Catholic) i . Anyone who has been so fortunate as to assist I ! M a procession in honor of the Messed Sacrament I .1) m Catholic German-speaking counlry. can never -. .."' forgot ihe display f faith, devotion and einhusi-f einhusi-f ."sni he witnessed. 1 lie m reels through which the procession is to " pass an ;i.s neat as a parlor iloor, besides being ; ' lined on lioih sides with fresh green boughs. ; ' i rimmed to form an avenue of closely grown sap-j. sap-j. ; lings. On ovorv side the house fronts, even the j J- people belonging to other creeds, are artistically I :. garnished with festoons and garlands of Rovers. I. interwoven with evergreens. Tlie windows of the ,, lower floors are all together taken up hy crucifixes'. j statue? and candclehras. nestling, as it were, in ff a f!owor .-brine. At some points of vantage ma-t ma-t jestic triumphal arches, at others exquisitely orna-I orna-I jnented canopies of draperies ;1nd of greens are I seen shielding- a stately altar, rich villi great va-I;' va-I;' rieties of delicti to lace, which for many .years V generations, perhaps seemed for no other pur-r pur-r os-j than that. Long before the time set for sol-I sol-I einn high mass, a stream of devout and happy-I happy-I looking people is seen moving toward the church; f ;uid although it is lho jilain intention of young, J find ld to devote some three or four hours ex--v ciusively to the giving of special public honors tboiuuriilki-Gud l-tol'ns -ovidc4iiv-;lL.y,t.J;iiiyife special part in the pageant. To these belong a number of middle-aged gentlemen in solemn black garbs with richly embroidered white silk sashes re;ichin from their left shoulder to their right side. It will be their privilege to bold, by turns, llie golden canopy over the Blessed Sacrament. Young ladies, in flowing white dresses, having a long blue silken cincture around their waists, are destined to carry the statue of the Virgin Mother on their shoulders. Little girls, similarly dressed v ill either carry sacred emblems or. with iheir innocent in-nocent faces turned toward the Sacred Host, strew flowers from their ruby-silken baskets. Cor are 1 lho little boys behind. Dressed in white and blue zouave fashion ihey feel like grown men, for they form the guard of honor to the King of Kings. Stalwart old warriors, wearing, besides ihe picturesque pic-turesque regalia of some civic or religious so- j eiety, a gold-laced sash or girdle, will bear aloft the j large ami graceful society or church banners, i Other uniformed gentlemen come along, girdled j I with brightly shining sword belts, and above the j scabbard rises the polished hilt of a long sword, which lliey will present during the entire celebra- j lion to the (lod of armies. Others, again, sim- i ilarly clad, carry elegant rifle. Their duly is to I give a triple salute every lime benediction is given in the streets. An extra supply of alt-tr boys in bright rod cassocks and white surplices are in cvi-j cvi-j donee, and last, but not least, come the numerous j eands of musicians so justly renowned all the v,rld over. : Hut it i not my aim io dwell any longer on j the procession of Corpus Christi. as they are eel- brated in every town and hamlet in Catholic Gorman Gor-man countries. !v present purpose is to narrate processional display unique in every detail. At the southern extremity of I'pper Austria, jl.inked. or raiher hemmed in on the south, cast and vest by lho mountainous borders of Salzburg and Siyria. is found a territory as romantic as this 'artli can pnrnt. It is called Saltz Kammergut, I'.v reason of i;s world-famed salt mines, which, be- des being n crown domain, possesses the singular sin-gular feature of having spacious rows of underground under-ground dwellings chiseled into the glistening salt. A strange beauty these mines may claim, indeed. I .l'i:t it is on the surface that greater beauty still i siariles ihe eyj. whatever direction it takes. Historic mountains, proud of their glowing icy S Lads, form the background of the panorama and I niiiiltaneously an imposing variety of side scenes; x i:ed torrents hero, roaring cataracts there i - nicwhat furlher placid cryslalline lakes add their individual charms to ihe fascinating aspect of j a landscape not lo be seen elsewhere. ! ill. once every year this magniticent sight suf- l tor- defeat within its own confines. llalLtadt in- 2,'ieis Ji. An extraordinary locality ibis Hailstadt j . is. for it is a real cliff dwellers' town. Its foun- Idalion rests on a narrow slrip of land along 1 lie western border of a lake bearing its name. Thence - it climbs daringly higher and higher upon the steep easlern side of a lofty mountain. The strange -view it proems at some distance on the lake sim- ply beggars description. To all appearance it looks as if lerraee upon icrraee, with their load of fat:eiful dwellings of human freight were held in position by an unseen hand or, ra'her, as if they were growing out of the stern rock. The eonse- (juence is. ihe streets and alleys of ibis quaint town are narrow ind few. the peace of its inhabitants is never disturbed by the clatter of hoof? or the rat-ll" rat-ll" ot a wagon. All transportation is effected over Continued on Page 4. i ' t ' m Tumi mmmm um ,,., ttmrnfum fc wui,iff.ii ! j UNIQUE DISPLAY OF FAITH. i i Continued from Page 1. the placid waters of the lake. w as ,- ;, '.,-habitant '.,-habitant of this singular locality ha- iniierire-i faith-from the earliest Christian aire, they :. irresistibly inclined, like every true Cath. should, to contrive a solemn public demons! r.i; :.. j in honor of the Blessed Sacrament, the day apart of old for this special purpose. But ii . i ' peculiar streets being so few and too nam. v.- -v., t j the Like front being nearly wholly taken up i. ., t spacious Ronmanesque church and other pub!;,-buildings, pub!;,-buildings, it was no easy task to devise way- a;.,; means for a becoming display. Their ehilu-iik . faith suggested to them the novel spectacle of procession on the lake. Hence on this festive ,.. Corpus Christi. as soon as mass is over the proee- '; sion is announced by the joyous peals of a chime of five large, harmonious bells, the multitude of devout de-vout worshippers, singing the old and nieIodi..n-hymns nieIodi..n-hymns with an enthusiasm coining straiuhf froti the very depths of these mountain souls, begin t,. march in narrow tiles along the borders of the hike Suddenly the bells arc silent. Everybody hah-. The first gospel is sung under a verdant eaimp;. near the church. Then the choir intones the f"v-getic f"v-getic strains of ihe "Tantum Krgo." Voting and old take up the impressive melody along the lii.. . From the lake a salute of twelve guns is heard. Th first public benediction is over." Xow the mai'sha! of the unparalleled parade having given a finishing finish-ing touch to hi- preparations, retraces his step-toward step-toward the church. Immediately the united voi.e-of voi.e-of the joyous bells invite everybody to embark. Then all along the line all fall on their knees, t hoi -faces turned toward the lake. The Blessed Sacra nient is going, to pass. This done, the several groups of men. women and children move onward according to the orders they had previously received. re-ceived. At some distance, along the shore, an endless end-less variety of richly decorated and freshly-painted white and azure craft lie in waiting. All th. larger ones are manned by two. four or more boat- men dressed in spotless white. A large gondola, more gorgeously decorated than the rest, comes for- ) ward, impelled by the measured strokes of eihr i uniformed oarsmen. It is especially prominent on account of a large, delicately carved canopy and altar gilded ami burnished with such skill, fha' I both present a perfect appearance of massive gold. As soon as the clergy and the army of altar hoys ! have boarded it. it starts to take the lead. Without With-out delay, a still larger gondola presents itself. The brass. band with its standard-bearer at its head enters, en-ters, and the twelve rowers move their charge ( close proximity of the preceding one. Then follows a commodious barge containing, besides a few musicians, mu-sicians, the members of the choir with their di- , -rector. Xow come several flat boat with neatly dressed children, boys in blue, girls in white, all in charge of their teachers. Next is a genuine floating town hall for the city fathers and a proud display of the symbolic keys, the national and the local crests and banners. This is followed by him dreds of boats, skiffs and shells containing one, two or at most four persons. Finally conies a kind of. swimming fortress with a battery of not less than twelve large mortars. Meanwhile the bell-keep bell-keep up their gladsome peals, sacred melodies, hymns and the sounds of the alternate praying and instrumental music are carried from wave to wav -and re-echoed on the shore. Suddenly, far away in the lake, the flet stands motionless. Not a sound is heard. The second gospel is going to be sung. Again the band intones the martial air of "Tantiun Ergo." and immediately all sing with an enthusiasm which only such a solemn surrounding and marvelous scenery can inspire. Perfect quiet reigns again. Benediction is given. Every one stands with heads bowed and devoutly bent low adoring their God. All of a sudden they arc aroused from t heir pious attitude by the successive discharge of every mortar. The expression of every face is in keeping with the effect produce'!. The sound is multiplied a thousand-fold. It would seem that in every direction all the mountains and rocky coasts, cliffs and peaks around the lake and its vicinity were trembling with emotion. An endless end-less echo is tossed to and fro till echo after echo ascending higher and higher reach the highest peak, thence to proceed with thundering appliuse on irs errand around the globe, bringing tidings of a ;'aith never to die. ! For the third time the bells ashore send forth their resonant aopeal to proceed. Every soul is irresistibly ir-resistibly moved. Songs, prayers and music are resumed with a fervor that seems beyond control. On the northern shore, between friendly cliffs, nature aided by skillful hands, has prepared an ideal spot for a lovely altar, and it is toward Unfavored Un-favored spot the fleet directs its course next. Then everybody disembarks save those in charge of the battery. The third gospel is sung on shorr. Benedi cfiou follows with- the same scenes ot piety l and faith. The thunder of the mortars makes a third successful appeal to heaven and earth not to stay insensible, but to join in the praise of th Lord. Once more the bells are heartf! Each per- ( son takes his rank. The course is now close the shore along the water front. At its .starting place. ' the fleet halts. Everybody goes ashore. Slowly the procession moves toward the church. And as if j these sturdy mountaineers distrusted the eirth. the f Blessed Sacrament i3 now. not in the front, but f in their midst. Immediately the bell men leave f their post a fourth gospel is sung near the church. ) followed by Benediction, the gunners fire a parting salute and our dear Lord returns again to his a-- J customed home the tabernacle. The grand cele- bration has come to a successful issue, bur its, echoes survive in loyal breasts to burst forth a year hence with undiminished faith. . - . f |
