ITALY.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume VII, Issue 326, 18 July 1879, Page 19

ITALY.

(From the Times.) Bomb, April 20. Lao XIII. struck the right key in raising the cry that the Virgin, for whom the Romans have always had special veneration, had been insulted. The demonstration made to-day will undoubtedly and not incorrectly be described as a triumph ior the Church. It would scarcely be an exaggeration to say that the whole of the Boman people turned out this afternoon in response to the Cardinal- Vicar's imitation, followed up this morning by placards affixed on each side of all church doors, on which in large letters were printed in Italian the words " Kvviva the Virgin Mary, mother of God, blasphemed by the impious." From an early hour in the morning the three great basilicas, St. Maria Maggiore. St. John Lateran, Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, were well filled with people making the prescribed Tisits, but the demonstration and pilgrimage proper were fixed for this afternoon. When I reached the St. John Lateran at 3 o'clock, the streets were filled with people flocking there, and inside the basilica there were crowds of silent worshippers kneeling before all the chapels. I went on direct to the Croce in Gerusalemme, where the Cardinal- Vicar was to exhibit the celebrated relics connected with the Crucifixion, By the time he appeared on the balcony the basilica was densely crammed, and on emerging with great difficulty I beheld one of the most imposing sights I have ever seen. To the left the whole length of the broad avenue from the St. John Lateran was filled with a stream of people coming thence towards the Croce in Gerusalemme, while before me another stream departing filled the road leading to the St. Maria Maggiore. There were people of all ranks and conditions, from mendicants to nobles with their servants behind them ; men, women, and children of all ages, the majority reciting the Bosary silently, while here and there were groups chanting it aloud. Monsignor Mermillod, surrounded by a number of the French clergy, made the pilgrimage in this wise. This morning the mass of people along two sides of a triangle continued uninterrupted from 4 until 7 o'clock. At the Maria Maggiore one might suppose that the basilica was besieged. Besides the crowd forming the pilgrimage coming from the Croce in Gerusalemme numbers were pressing towards it all along the other streets. It was no easy thing to push one's way in or to move when inside. The walls and columns were decorated with the richest hangings ; on the high altar blazed a multitude of lights, and the Borghese Chapel, in which is the celebrated painting of the Virgin once carried in procession by Gregory the Great, was illuminated with chandeliers from the floor to the ceiling. Looking towards the chapel, it appeared like a great space filled with brilliant stars. The benediction was given by the Cardinal from the high altar, and at the conclusion the church rang with the shouts of " Ewiva the Virgin Mary ! " " Eeviva the Mother of God 1 " The most perfect order reigned everywhere, for on this occasion Liberals and Clericals were united.