DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4593#0047
THE IONIAN ISLES 31
The multitude fell in behind the troops of soldiers,
and, with their candles in their hands, marched the
whole morning. When the procession reached the
square, the palanquin was placed on the ground and
prayers were offered, thanking the saint for delivering
the island from an ancient plague. The benediction
was pronounced in a forcible way by a battery of
artillery.
To some this service was apparently little more
than a national festival; to the superstitious peasants
it was full of solemn awe, — the veneration with which
they regard the old saint amounts to that bestowed
by their ancestors on the lesser divinities,—-to others
it furnished material for piety and gratitude. One
old man who stood near me in the square was deeply
moved and the tears rolled down his cheeks. I
wondered in just what way the service touched his
heart. But there was nothing Pharisaical in his tears,
though they fell on a street corner.
The multitude fell in behind the troops of soldiers,
and, with their candles in their hands, marched the
whole morning. When the procession reached the
square, the palanquin was placed on the ground and
prayers were offered, thanking the saint for delivering
the island from an ancient plague. The benediction
was pronounced in a forcible way by a battery of
artillery.
To some this service was apparently little more
than a national festival; to the superstitious peasants
it was full of solemn awe, — the veneration with which
they regard the old saint amounts to that bestowed
by their ancestors on the lesser divinities,—-to others
it furnished material for piety and gratitude. One
old man who stood near me in the square was deeply
moved and the tears rolled down his cheeks. I
wondered in just what way the service touched his
heart. But there was nothing Pharisaical in his tears,
though they fell on a street corner.