DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.62133#0199
MIDNIGHT MASS.
183
before the altar, and the organ was fitfully pealing through
the chapel. The altar was one blaze of tapers; tapers
fixed in all the candelabras around the walls, like tall fire-
lilies, cast long glittering reflections upon the marble walls
and pavement. And how grand did the prophets, saints,
and martyrs appear by this brilliant, artificial light, gazing
down upon you from their golden grounds !
Soon the two kings, Max and Otho, and their queens,
and all the court, appeared in the golden and frescoed gal-
leries on either side the high altar; and the archbishop, in
his mitre and brocaded robes, attended by a train of priests,
young and old; and a train also of young court pages, lads
of from twelve to fifteen, some score of them, dressed in
court suits of blue and silver, all entered by a side door
near the altar, and bowing first before the altar, then bowed
before the king, and passed on. A second train of court
pages also entered in the same dress, but apparently some
three or four years older, and each carrying a tall waxen
taper. These stood before the steps of the altar, with their
burning lights, and they were, Fraulein Sanchen assured
me, every one high nobility •, and their fresh young faces
seemed to have a vast charm for my poor old wrinkled
and time-worn companion. Poor old Fraulein Sanchen !
If her face appeared in that brilliant light, and contrasted
with the beauty of the saints and martyrs painted on wall
and ceding, yet more old, and odd, and withered, I felt in
my heart a still deeper respect and compassion for her—for
her who, in the sight of God, from her touching unselfish-
ness, her unwearying goodness in the most prosaic of lives,
must have been one of the most acceptable worshippers
present. I had a real joy in being with her •, it was much
more beautiful, in fact, than sitting up in one of the golden
galleries among kings and queens.
The service lasted about an hour, and was impressive.
But the sudden change from the warmth, the light, the
183
before the altar, and the organ was fitfully pealing through
the chapel. The altar was one blaze of tapers; tapers
fixed in all the candelabras around the walls, like tall fire-
lilies, cast long glittering reflections upon the marble walls
and pavement. And how grand did the prophets, saints,
and martyrs appear by this brilliant, artificial light, gazing
down upon you from their golden grounds !
Soon the two kings, Max and Otho, and their queens,
and all the court, appeared in the golden and frescoed gal-
leries on either side the high altar; and the archbishop, in
his mitre and brocaded robes, attended by a train of priests,
young and old; and a train also of young court pages, lads
of from twelve to fifteen, some score of them, dressed in
court suits of blue and silver, all entered by a side door
near the altar, and bowing first before the altar, then bowed
before the king, and passed on. A second train of court
pages also entered in the same dress, but apparently some
three or four years older, and each carrying a tall waxen
taper. These stood before the steps of the altar, with their
burning lights, and they were, Fraulein Sanchen assured
me, every one high nobility •, and their fresh young faces
seemed to have a vast charm for my poor old wrinkled
and time-worn companion. Poor old Fraulein Sanchen !
If her face appeared in that brilliant light, and contrasted
with the beauty of the saints and martyrs painted on wall
and ceding, yet more old, and odd, and withered, I felt in
my heart a still deeper respect and compassion for her—for
her who, in the sight of God, from her touching unselfish-
ness, her unwearying goodness in the most prosaic of lives,
must have been one of the most acceptable worshippers
present. I had a real joy in being with her •, it was much
more beautiful, in fact, than sitting up in one of the golden
galleries among kings and queens.
The service lasted about an hour, and was impressive.
But the sudden change from the warmth, the light, the