LATTER ANCHORITES.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XVII, Issue XIX, 7 November 1896, Page 27

LATTER ANCHORITES.

Admirers of mediaeval customs will find in Furnes, a quaint Belgian town, one of the most remarkable survivals of those picturesque, long gone days, when mystery plays were in fashion, when religious observances were far more striking and dramatic than they are now, and when, in a word, the unseen forces of the universe swayed and impressed the minds of mortals in a manner of which we moderns have little conception. At Furnes to-day is still celebrated the procession of penitence, just as it has been celebrated for several hundred years. This remarkable ceremony was instituted, according to Flemish historians, in the year 1099, under the auspices of the Count of Flanders, Robert 11. of Jerusalem, its object being to show honour to the relics which were brought to Fames in that year from the Holy Land. Through the centuries it has been celebrated, almost always with the shame earnestness, precision and attention to detail. The time fixed for it came a few days ago, and at a quarter to four o’clock in the afternoon it began. The whole town awaited it. Shops were closed, wayfarers lined the streets, hats were doffed, cigars were thrown away.Jpipes were pocketed. Then the bells of St. Nicholas began to ring, and straightway out into the central square swept a long line of bare-footed penitents. Slowly they march between the two files of spectators, at their head being six musicians dressed in medisevel costume. A weird chant these musicians play, but more weird and strange is the sight of the penitents, who are not hired mummers or mutes but honest men and woman of Fames and the neighbouring district, to whom this is really a religious ceremony. Many groups of them there are, and at the head of each group walks an angel—a little girl—who explains in Flemish what the group represents. MANY NOTABLE SIGHTS. After the angel, one by one, come the men and women penitents, each carrying a heavy signboard, on which are inscribed, either in Flemish or Latin, sentences from the Old or New Testament, descriptive of the various Biblical events shown in the procession. The first groups are dedicated to the Old Testament, and represent in turn the sacrifice of Isaac, Moses and the

serpent, the eight propbeta, the three punishments, and the repentance of David and other notable pre Christian events. Then we see St. John, the forerunner of Christ, with a company of shepherds and hermits, and so we come by easy transition to the memorable scenes connected with the birth, passion and death of Our Lord. These latter scenes are, as a rule, depicted on wood, which is painted and carved in a half-realistic fashion. In such wise are represented the Lord’s Supper, rhe Garden of Olives, Eece Homo, the Scourging, and the Denial of St. Peter. These heavy paintings are carried by the penitents of both sexes, the women being distinguished by their stature,, their gait, and their feet. The great load bows them down, the heavy burden tires them and the sun’s heat adds to their distress, but not for a moment is their serenity or patience disturbed. Some even are called upon to perform a harder task than this. Certain of the large wooden paintings, such as these of the stable at Bethelem and of the Holy Sepulchre are placed in heavy chariots, and these are drawn, not by horses or oxen, but by men and women penitents. Not even from these sorelyladen ones, however, does a murmur of complaint or even a sigh of weariness escape. CHRIST ON THE CROSS. What adds to the really extraordinary character of this procession is the fact that the leading personages, such as the royal Magi, the doctors and the lords of King Herod’s court, talk to each other in the old Flemish tongne, which is even more guttural and barbaric than the modern tongue. The entry to Jerusalem is a curious scene. Children and townspeople shout * Hosannah !’ and are followed by the twelve Apostles and by Jesus, who is mounted an an ass. Nothing more mystical can be imagined than the emaciated, pale and refined countenance of the young man who represents our Lord, and whose head is covered with an Assyrian wig. An onerous task is his, for he has pledged himself to maintain, during the entire course of the procession, his marble stillness and angelic serenity of countenance. During the latter scenes of Christ’s life the emotion of the spectators is intense. Painful, indeed, is it to see him carrying the cross. The penitent, literally bent double beneath the weight of the massive instrument of torture, staggers along blindly. Three times he must fall, and each time the Roman soldiers, who escort him, throw themselves-brutally on him and buffet him, the hornblowers meanwhile making a constant din, and thus emphasizing the cruelty of the soldiers. Clearly in this scene is shown to us the popular madness which has seized upon the King of Kings as a victim. Jesus appears again in the scene of the Ascension. He is mounted on a cloud and harangues his disciples, always in the guttural old Flemish tongue. A GRAPHIC FINALE. Perhaps the most pathetic sight of all is that of the women who follow at the skirts of Christ as he staggers on his way to Calvary. White faced and dolorous are they, and at their head walks a maiden, bearing this old truth:— * To bear one’s cross bravely is to give pleasure to God.’ So the strange procession passes through the town and on to its goal. Saint Walburge. Into this solemn old building all the penitents enter, and only a few spectators follow them, for entrance is gained by special favour. Then they put down their heavy burdens and straighten their backs and rest awhile in utter weariness, after which they lay aside their penitential garb and on their swollen and bruised feet once more put shoes and stockings. The women decorously go off together into confessionals and obscure corners, and they and the men, after they have changed their attire, go toward the great altar and pray there for many minutes, their faces bathed in perspiration, their arms extended in the form of a cross. This extraordinary ceremony has been celebrated for centuries in Furnes, and though the number of penitents who take part in it is not as great as it was a century ago, there is abundant evidence that those who do take part in it are sincere and earnest. It is a notable fact that many clergymen of the district are wholly opposed to the observance of the ceremony on the ground that it is barbarous, and is not in harmony with the modern ideas of the church. In this instance, however, their oposition has proved in a measure

futile against the force of popular tradition. Still there seems little reason to doubt that in Fames the old time belief in this tradition is gradually dying out, and there are those who believe that the ceremony which was celebrated a few days ago is the last that will be seen io the old Flemish town. If so, a most picturesque sight will have passed away forever.