These are
worn around the neck, and are supposed to work great wonders. As may
be understood, the workers in these crafts stand up for Romanism, and
are willing to cry themselves hoarse for Mary, just as the people of
old cried for Diana of the Ephesians.
It is often told of the Protestant worker that he keeps behind his
door an image of the Blessed Virgin, and, when entering or leaving
the house, he spits in her face. No pains are spared to stamp out any
dissenting work, and the missionary is made a by-word of opprobrium.
I have repeatedly had the doors and windows of my preaching places
broken and wrecked. The priests have incited the vulgar crowd to hoot
and yell at me, and on these occasions I have been both shot at and
stoned.
In Cordoba, there is a very costly image of Mary. Once every year it
is brought out into the public square, while all the criminals from
the state prison stand in line. By a move of her head she is supposed
to point out the one whom she thinks should be given his liberty.
From Goldsmith's "Rome" we learn that the vestal virgins possessed
the power to pardon any criminal whom they met on the road to
execution. Thus does Romanism follow paganism. With the Virgin is
often the image of St. Peter. The followers of this saint affirm that
they are always warned, three days before they die, to prepare for
death. St. Peter comes in person and knocks on the wall beside their
bed.
As the virgin, Diana, was the guardian of Ephesus, so the Virgin Mary
protects Argentina.
The Bishop of Tucuman, in a recent speech, said: "Argentina is now
safe against possible invasion. The newly-crowned Lady of the
Miracles defends the north, and the Lady of Lujan guards the
south."
A writer in The Times of Argentina naively asks: "If these can
safely defy and defeat all comers, is there any further necessity for
public expenditure in military matters?"
South America groans under the weight of a mediaeval religion which
has little to do with spiritual life. In Spain and Portugal, perhaps
the two most deluded of European lands, I have seen great darkness,
but even there the priest is often good, and at least puts on a
veneer of piety. In South America this is not generally considered
necessary. Frequently he is found to be the worst man in the village.
If you speak to him of his dissolute life, he may tell you that he,
being a priest, may do things you, a layman, must not. In Spain,
Portugal and Italy, next door to highly enlightened countries, the
priest cannot, for very shame, act as he is free to do in South
America. That great continent has been ruled and governed only by
Roman Catholics, without outside interference, and Romanists in other
lands do not, and would not, believe the practices there sanctioned.
"You ask about this nation and the Roman Catholic Church," said the
American Minister in one South American capital. "Well, the nation is
rotten, thanks to the Church and to Spain. The Church has taught lies
and uncleanness, and been the bulwark of injustice and wrong for 300
years. How could you expect anything else?" "Lies," said a priest to
a friend, who told the remark to us, "what do lies have to do with
religion." [Footnote: "Missions In South America," Robt. E. Speer.]
A missionary writes: "Recently the Roman bishop and several other
priests visited the various towns. It was a business trip, for they
charged a good price for baptisms, confirmations, etc., and carried
away thousands of dollars. In Santa Cruz a disgraceful scene was
publicly enacted in the church by the resident priest and one of the
visitors. Both saw a woman drop a twenty-five cent piece into the
pan; each grabbed for it, and then they fought before the people! The
village priest wanted me to take his photo, but he was so drunk I had
to help him put on his official robes. He was taken standing in the
doorway of the church beside an image of the Virgin."
"There wan a feast in honor of the image of the Holy Spirit in the
church. This is a figure of a man with a beard; beside it sits a
figure of Christ, and between them a dove. Great crowds of people
attend these feasts to buy, sell and drink. On a common in the town a
large altar was erected, and another image of the Holy Spirit placed,
and before it danced Indians fantastically dressed to represent
monkeys, tigers, lions and deer. Saturday, Sunday and Monday were
days of debauchery. Men, women and children were intoxicated; the
jails were full, and extravagances of all kinds were practised by
masked Indians. The vessels in the church are of gold and silver, and
the images each have a man to care for them. The patron saint is a
large image of the Virgin, dressed in clothing that cost $2,500."
Since returning to more civilized lands, I have been asked: But do
they really worship the Virgin, or God, through her? I answer that in
enlightened countries where Roman Catholicism prevails, the latter
may be true, but that in South America, discovered and governed by
Romanists from the earliest times, millions of people worship the
Virgin without any reference to God. She is the great goddess of the
people, and while one may see her image in every church, it is seldom
indeed that God is honored with a place - then He may be seen as an
old man with a long white beard.
