OCR Text |
Show AMID PONES OF CAPUCHINS. Una ot lh Unnaual Nights of lh Clly Nulllnr an en mitt, The labors of tho Capuchin monks In tho Catholic church are well known. The order was ono of tho strongest of the auxiliary branches of tho church, though Its field lay In a different direction from that of tho Jesuits. The latter wcro the aggressive aggres-sive arm In battling the world; the former, was given to the quiet of monastic mo-nastic life far from the turmoil ot men. The Capuchins were very largely large-ly recruited from tho families of the rich and well-to-do, and found In retirement re-tirement tho opportunity they craved for, giving themselves entirely over to saving their souls. Tho Capuchin church In Home has been served by this order for centuries. In Its chambers cham-bers are the bones of 0,000 monks fastened fas-tened to tho walls and celling to make effectlvo and striking groups of death. Skulls are employed In the chamber almost entirely, while tho cross-bones and other Imperishable parts of tho anatomy mako up the receiving rooms given over to this extraordinary collection. col-lection. The entrance to this basement base-ment Is on a level with the ground and at no plaro aro tho chambers more than two foct below tho surface of the earth. Tho spectacle ot skulls by the thousands suddonly confronting the visitor does not produce that gruesome grue-some feeling that one would Imaglno, and no ono shortens an Inspection of tho anatomical array because ho Is In a consecrated charnel house. The surroundings of this old church and repository re-pository for the bones of Its goodly friars aro squalid and unattractive. The entrance to the chamber ot the dead Is through the yard of a livery stable, dirty to the last degree, but that docs not deter visitors from witnessing wit-nessing this unique collection. |