"I found a 'festa'
in full swing, called the 'Feast of the Divine Eternal Father,' and a
drunken crowd were marching round, with trumpets, drums and a sacred
banner, collecting alms professedly on His behalf." [Footnote:
"Through the Heart of Brazil"]
Mary is the one to whom the vast majority of people pray. They have
been taught to address supplications to her, and, being a woman, her
heart is considered more tender than a man's could be. During a
drought their earnest prayer for rain was answered in an unexpected
way, for not only did she send it, but with such accompanying
violence that it washed away the church!
In some churches the mail-box stands in a corner, and "Letters to
the Virgin" is printed over it. There are always many young women to
be seen before the image of St. Anthony, for he is the patron of
marriages, and many a timid confession of love is dropped into the
letter-box, and it often happens that a marriage is arranged as a
result. The superstitious maiden believes that her letter goes
directly to the Virgin or to the saint in his heavenly mansion, and
she has no suspicion that it is read by the parish priest.
