Holy Week Terminates With The 'Saturday
Of Glory,' When Spirits Are Drunk Till There Is Not A Dram Left In
The Drink-Shops, Which Frequently Bear Such Names As 'The Saviour Of
The World,' 'The Grace Of God,' 'The Fountain Of Our Lady,' Etc.
The
poor deluded Romanists have a holiday on that day over the tragic end
of Judas.
A life-size representation of the betrayer is suspended
high in the air in front of the cafes. At ten a.m. the church bells
begin to ring, and this is the signal for lighting the fuse. Then,
with a flash and a bang, every vestige of the effigy has disappeared!
At night, if the town is large enough to afford a theatre, the crowds
wend their way thither. This place of very questionable amusement
will often bear the high-sounding name, Theatre of the Holy Ghost!"
There is no church or priest in the village of Piedra Blanca. Down on
the beach there is a church bell, which the visitor concludes is a
start in that direction, but he is told that it is destined for the
town of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, three hundred miles inland. The bell
was a present to the church by some pious devotee, but the money
donated did not provide for its removal inland. This cost the priests
refuse to pay, and the Chiquitanos equally refuse to transport it
free. There is no resident priest to make them, so there it stays.
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