Narrow-leaved Mallow. _Malva augustiflora._
Dedicated to _St. Lambert_.
[325] Audley’s Comp. to the Almanac.
~September 18.~
_St. Thomas_, Abp. of Valentia, A. D. 1555. _St. Methodius_, Bp. of
Tyre, A. D. 311. _St. Ferreol_, A. D. 304. _St. Joseph_, of Cupertino,
A. D. 1663.
_St. Ferreol._
He was “a tribune or colonel,” Butler says, at Vienne in France, and
imprisoned on suspicion of being a christian, which he verified by
refusing to sacrifice according to the religion of the country,
whereupon being scourged and laid in a dungeon, on the third day his
chains fell off his hands and legs, and he swam over the Rhone. It
appears that the miraculous chain-falling was ineffectual, for he was
discovered and beheaded near the river.
* * * * *
The anniversary of this saint and martyr is celebrated at Marseilles
with great pomp. The houses are decorated with streamers to the very
tops; and the public way is crossed by cords, on which are suspended
numberless flags of various colours. The ships are always ornamented
with flags and streamers. The procession passes under several arches,
hung with boughs, before it stops at the altars or resting-places, which
are covered with flowers: every thing concurs to give to this solemnity
an air of cheerfulness. The eye dwells with pleasure on the garlands of
beautiful flowers, the green boughs, and the emblem of the divinity
contained in the flags of the procession. The attendants are extremely
numerous; every gardener carries his wax taper, ornamented with the most
rare and beautiful flowers; he has also the vegetables and fruits with
which heaven had blessed his labour, and sometimes he bears some nests
of birds.
The _butchers_ also make a part of this procession, clothed in long
tunics, and with a hat _à la Henri IV_. armed with a hatchet or cleaver;
they lead a fat ox dressed with garlands and ribands, and with gilt
horns, like the ox at the carnival: his back is covered with a carpet,
on which sits a pretty child, dressed as St. John the Baptist. During
the whole week which precedes the festival, the butchers lead about this
animal: they first take him to the police, where they pay a duty, and
then their collection begins, which is very productive: every one wishes
to have the animal in his house; and it is a prevailing superstition
among the people, that they shall have good luck throughout the year if
this beast leave any trace of his visit, however dirty it may be. The ox
is killed on the day after the festival. The child generally lives but a
short time: exhausted by the fatigue which he has suffered, and by the
caresses which he has received, and sickened by the sweetmeats with
which he has been crammed, he languishes, and often falls a victim.
A number of young girls, clothed in white, their heads covered with
veils, adorned with flowers, and girded with ribands of a uniform colour
are next in the procession. Children, habited in different manners,
recall the ancient “mysteries.” Several young women are dressed as nuns;
these are St. Ursula, St. Rosalia, St. Agnes, St. Teresa, &c. The
handsomest are clothed as Magdalens; with their hair dishevelled on
their lovely faces, they look with an air of contrition on a crucifix
which they hold in the hand: others appear in the habit of the _Sœurs de
la Charité_, whose whole time is devoted to the service of the sick.
Young boys fill other parts, such as angels, abbots, monks; among whom
may be distinguished St. Francis, St. Bruno, St. Anthony, &c. In the
midst of the shepherds marches the little St. John, but half covered
with a sheep’s skin, like the picture of his precursor; he leads a lamb
decked with ribands, a symbol of the saviour who offered himself for us,
and died for the remission of our sins. The streets are strewed with
flowers; numerous choristers carry baskets full of roses and yellow
broom, which they throw, on a given signal, before the host or holy
sacrament: they strew some of these on the ladies who sit in rows to see
the procession; these also have baskets of flowers on their knees, which
they offer to the host; they amuse themselves with covering the young
virgins and little saints with the flowers. The sweet scents of the
roses, the cassia, the jessamine, the orange, and the tuberose, mingled
with the odour of the incense, almost overpower the senses. The
procession proceeds to the port, and it is there that the ceremony
presents a sublime character: the people fill the quays; all the decks
are manned with seamen, dressed in their best blue jackets, their heads
uncovered, and their red caps in their hands. All bend the knee to the
God of the Universe: the seamen stretch out their hands towards the
prelate, who, placed under a canopy, gives the benediction: the most
profound silence reigns among this immense crowd. The benediction
received, every one rises instantaneously; the bells begin to ring, the
music plays, and the whole train takes the road to the temple from which
they came.[326]
* * * * *