"The original painting is kept in an iron frame above the high altar, and is shown only on rare occasions. By paying a fee to the sacristan we obtained a view of it. The material on which the painting appears is of a very coarse fabric, but the picture is distinct, and its colors seem to be admirably preserved. Copies of the picture are to be seen everywhere. Hardly a house in the country is without one of them, and they are for sale in all shapes and kinds to suit the most economical purse. Peddlers offer them to you on the streets, and no pious Mexican would be without at least one image of the patron saint of his country.
MAKING A PILGRIMAGE COMFORTABLY.
"Pilgrimage to this place is constantly going on, but the great and especial day of the year is the 12th of December, the anniversary of the miraculous appearance. On that day thousands of pilgrims are here from all parts of Mexico and Central America, and at the conclusion of the ceremonies there is an exhibition of fireworks in front of the church. After this display the natives perform the mitate, one of their ancient dances, in one of the halls attached to the church. The high dignitaries of the church are present at the fireworks and also at the dance. According to what we learned of it, the mitate has a resemblance to some of the dances in the Hindoo temples of India. We are told that the priests facilitated the adoption of the Catholic religion by permitting the natives to retain some of their heathen customs, and the mitate is one of them.
"In the War for Independence the picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe was borne on the banners of the insurgents, and their rallying cry was 'Guadalupe.' The priest Hidalgo, who originated the insurrection, was so identified with the shrine and its use during the war that his name was incorporated with it and given to the town which surrounds the church. After the independence of the country was secured it was decreed that December 12th should be kept as a national holiday, and consequently the date is political as well as religious. The treaty of peace between the United States and Mexico was signed here on February 2, 1848, and is consequently known in history as the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo."
This is the church to which the Emperor Maximilian walked with bare feet from the city, three miles away. He established a title and decoration of the Order of Guadalupe, and during his brief reign it was conferred upon distinguished and other persons who had rendered, or might render, services to the empire or its ruler.
The mention of the devotional act of Maximilian in walking barefooted to the church of Guadalupe reminded one of the youths of an account he had read not long before of the way in which many of the pilgrims to the shrine were accustomed to inflict self-torture in days gone by. They lashed themselves and one another with whips, gashed their flesh with knives, and in other ways personally injured themselves. Of late years the practice has fallen into disuse, but occasionally a Penitente, as he is called, may be seen punishing himself for some real or fancied sin.
