Rensselaer Republican, Volume 23, Number 52, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 August 1891 — THE HOLY COAT. [ARTICLE]

THE HOLY COAT.

Thousands of Pilgrims at Trevet To Gaze Upon It. Guarded by Knights With Drawn Swords— The Lame, Halt and Blind Seek Its Healing Bowers. The garment known as the holy coat was exposed to view Thursday morning in the Cathedral at Treves, Two Knights ol Malta,ln full costume, with drawn swords in their hands, stood ou either side of the shrine inclosing the holy coat case, which was surrounded by tall lighted candles on handsome candlesticks, and surmounted by a large gold cross. There was an impressive scene in the sancturay, over a hundred priests assisting in the ceremonies which were grand in the extreme. The cathedral was richly decorated for the occasion and was packed to the doors with people. The interior of the edifice was a sight well worth seeing. The vestments of the priests, the scarlet uniforms of the Knights of Malta; "the countless lights flickering in every nook aud comer, th< prismatic rays filtering through tin windows, tho strange congregation, composed of people of many nations and all walks of life, formed a picture not often seen. Bishop Korum, during his address to the assembled multitude, earnestly urged the faithful to unite in ycnerating the gar-, ment from which power and virtue proceeds. The nave of the cathedral was then cleared So as to enable the municipal au. thoritlesand parochial societies to mareh np to the shrine of the holy coat and venerate that relic.

The scenb was a motley one. The English tourists in light tweed suits and Prussian officers in uniform stubbornly refusing to kneel before tho relic, and a bourgeois citizen in evening dress were prominent in tho crowd. The service, with the monotonous Gregorian chants and the administration of the eucharlst to representative ecclesiastics, seemed of the medieval ceremony. The unveliug of the relic evid nt'y made a deeply devotional impreisioa on the crowd of worshipers. Many were overpower 'd by their feelings. Several women fainted. There was a general movement of the crowd, prompted by curiosity as well as religiovs fervor. The procession past tho shrine of the pilgrims, most of who n handed a rosary or crueifijc to attou lant prietts for contact with the relic, was accompanied by a low hum of paternosters and avesv Among the pilgrims are age! cripples and sufferers from all m <st every Complaint. Outside tho cathedral there was a busy scene, to which processions with banner and music, throngs of visitors and venders of photographs, rosaries anil Images, who had a thriving trade, all contributed. There were some scenes of disorder owing to somewhat violent attempts madti to gain early access to tho cathedral Treves is overflowing with pilgrims and with visitors whose curiosity alone lias been excited. The streets are filled with processions of all descriptions and sacred banners, crosses and lighted candles are to be seen on all side 3. During the whole time the holy coat is oa exhibition about twenty excursion trains a day will arrive at Treves, a very great number for a continental city, and a large temporary railroad station has been built for the pilgrims; but in order that the town may not be overcrowded, the different bands of pilgrims, led by their priests, will only be permitted to remain one night in town. Arriving, say in the evening, they will march the next morning in procession to the cathedral, and must leave town the same evening in order to make way for other religious bodies of people. At 10 o'clock at nigbtpilgrims were still filing in to behold the relic and an eager throng were besieging the doors of the cathedral. The police had some trouble to preserve order. The whole town is in a

commotion. Pickpockets are rampant and several have been arrested. A stylishly dressed old woman was robbed ol 300 marks. SOM y. HISTORICAI, FACTB. Tlie first solemn exhition of the holy dbat took place in 1196, when it was placed under the new altar. There it rested till 1511, when the Emporor Maximilian urgently wished it to be exhibited, which was done in that year. Pope Leo X about this time promised indulgence to all who made the pilgrimage to Treves. Then in the years 1531,1545, 1553, 1594 and 1635 It was also shown. Toward the end of the seventeenth century, "ben the Fench, under Louis XIV, invaded Germany, the precious relic was hidden in the fortress of Elirenbreitstein. Thereto 1713 the elector of Cologne was allowed to see it. In Elirenbreitstein the coat was kept until after the seventh war.JAfterths exhibition there in 1765 it was brought back to Treves, but a few years later it had to be removed to the interior of Germany when Napoleon I. invaded tlw country. At last, in 1810, another solemn exhibition took place in Treves, Napoleon I. permitted it, but he expressly forbad* miracles to be performed on this occasion* lie briefly and simply decreed, “II esi defendu de faire des miracles en cet e* droit.” Yet the report of the vicar-general-Cordet, about the exhibition In the yeai 1810 says that gouty patients who wert wheeled up walked away alone. The rulers of 1844 were most tolerant and therefore, numerous miracles were reported The Treves mnvspaocra of that date were full of accounts of miracles which took place at the exhibition of 1844. Thegreatest sensation was caused by the healing ol the young countess of Dorste-Vlscherlng. President Harrison was 53 years old on the 20th. lie passed the day at MU McGregor, tho resort made historic by Gen. Grant’s pilgrimage to, illness and death. A banquet was given in the President’s honor. A tornado swept the island of Martinique on the 30th, killing sixty peopk and doing immense damage to shipping and property. In Sand Creek township, Bartholomew county, there are 121 voters named Newsome.