"Be thou exalted, O MARY, above the heavens, and thy glory above all the earth."—Psalm lvii. 5.
'I will sing to MARY while I live."—Psalm civ. 33.
"Serve MARY with love, and rejoice in her with trembling."—Psalm ii. 11.
"Offer sacrifices of righteousness and trust in MARY."—Psalm iv. 5.
"Let everything that hath breath praise OUR LADY," etc., etc.
Protestant Christians pay almost all the entire cost of circulating Roman Catholic translations of the Scriptures over the world. In the versions of De Saci (French), Martini (Italian), Scio (Spanish), Pereira (Portuguese), and Wuyka (Polish), we find in Matthew 3: 2, and thirty-four other places, instead of "repent ye" the words, "do penance," while in Matthew 3: 8, and some twenty other places, the word that should be translated "repentance," is rendered penance. In the following light way "penance" can be done, while "repentance" is not thought of.
For sins against the Church the priest will often condemn the culprit to wear a hideous garment for hours, or days, according to the gravity of the offence, but this punishment can be worn by proxy. There are always those who, for a consideration, will don the badge of disgrace.
What is called "Holy Week" gives proofs of the shallowness of Rome's piety. Priests and people alike can weep, fast and faint, because their God is suffering and dying; all traffic can stop because, they say, "God has died"; but as soon as the death of Judas is announced, at noon on Saturday, the noise of guns, pistols, squibs, etc., takes the place of the death-like quiet that had reigned. After an hour or two silence again prevails till Sunday morning, when all restraint is removed, and people seem to make up for lost time. Drinking and kindred evils run riot, and it is no uncommon thing on the Sunday night to see the people drinking and dancing by the light of the candles they were burning to their favorite virgin or saint.
In the large city of Lima, for centuries a very stronghold of image worship, the interest in the Church has of late years been waning. Perhaps one reason for this is the changing nature of the native population of the city, for the deaths there exceed the births. Seeing this falling away from the Church, the priests announced that they had decided to send for the Sacred Heart of the Virgin, and trusted that the presence of this holy relic would promote the more faithful attendance of the flock. The heart arrived and was with great solemnity hung from the roof of the cathedral as the incentive to piety. Thousands flocked into the sacred building with reverent awe. The women gazed upon the heart with tearful eyes, and as they thought of Mary's sufferings and goodness they were emulated to deeper acts of love and piety. One day the wind blew very strongly through the open doorway, and the Sacred Heart began to sway to and fro. Getting more and more momentum with every oscillation, the heart finally struck against a sharp cornice, when lo—all the sawdust fell out of the canvas bag they had worshipped as the heart of flesh of their goddess. How they reconciled the existence of the heart of the Virgin with their belief that she ascended to heaven in a bodily form I do not pretend to imagine. It may be remarked that this is surely Romanism corrupted. Nay, it is rather Romanism developed.
"Andacilli is a hamlet, at which there is an image of the Virgin. Every year pilgrims resort thither, and a great feast to the Virgin is celebrated, the most important day being December 26th. During the last few years there has been a falling off in the number of pilgrims, especially those of the better class, but this last year the clerical authorities have left no stone unturned in order to get together more people than ever. Six bishops were advertised to come, and they were to crown the Virgin with a crown which cost thousands of dollars. These proceedings rouse an incredible enthusiasm in the people." [Footnote: "Regions Beyond.">[