mostly women (were not women the first at the
sepulchre ?), kneeling before the tabernacle, or by
the little lamps burning here and there in the
side chapels. Each heart was pouring forth its
secret burden of sorrow or of sin into the Sacred
Heart which had been so lately pierced to receive
it. At two in the morning matins began, ^ Haec
dies quam fecit Dominus ;' and after matins a mag-
nificent Te Deum, pealed forth by those gigantic
organs, and sung by the whole strength of the choir
and by the whole body of voices of the crowd,
which by that time had filled every available kneel-
ing space in the vast cathedral. Then came a
procession ; all the choristers in red cassocks, with
white cottas and little gold diadems. High mass
followed, and then low masses at all the side
altars, with hundreds of communicants, and the
Kussian salutation of * Christ is risen ! ' on every
tongue. It was ' a night to be remembered,' as
indeed was all this Holy Week : and now people
seemed too happy to speak ; joy says short words
and few ones. Many have asked : ^ Is it equal to
Jerusalem or Kome ? ' In point of services, 'Yes;'
in point of interest, ' No : ' for the presence of the
Holy Father in the one place, and the vividness
of recollection which the actual scenes of our
Blessed Lord's Passion inspires in the other, must
Page:Impressions of Spain in 1866.djvu/147
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SEVILLE.
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