It bore banners of
violet, green, rose, blue and other colors, magnificently decorated
with gilding, paintings and embroidery. These banners numbered nearly
three hundred, and came from various parts of the country. Even
far-off Algeria was represented. The banner of Alsace and Lorraine
was in mourning, and was borne by girls in white. As it passed many
persons pressed forward to kiss its hanging tassels. The banner from
Nantes was so profusedly embellished with gold and other decorations
that six strong men labored to support it; and those from Paris,
Bordeaux, Rheims, Lille, etc. were not greatly inferior to it in
elegance. The sun shone brightly, and with the grandeur of the banners
and the pomp of the prelates in their rich sacerdotal robes formed a
scene of indescribable splendor.
At the farther end of the meadow or valley an altar had been erected.
Here the banners drew up in a vast semicircle enclosing the great
audience, and vespers were sung, after which the fifty thousand
worshipers knelt and received the benediction, which was pronounced by
eight bishops simultaneously. The services before the altar being thus
concluded, the bearers of the banners again formed in procession for
the purpose of carrying them to the church upon the rock, in which
they were to be placed.
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