The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1933, Page 50

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. THE LUTHERAN. PIONEER

Religious Conditions in Brazil.

The following description of religious conditions
in Brazil is taken from the account of a native
Brazilian. Those who have spent some time in
countries whose population is predominantly Ro-
man Catholic will probably say, “How fitting this
description would be in every way for conditions
I have seen!” What a pity it is when religion
becomes a mere matter ‘of routine ‘and when a
person who calls himself_a Christian is satisfied
with the mere trappings of ‘religion, — when he re-
jects the kernel, but treasures the shell. We read:

“Brazil is by no means devoid of external evi-

: .
public squares, on street, corners, along country

roads, and on the tops of hills. By the roadside,
wherever a murder has been committed, a cross is
raised at once. Later the spot becomes sanctified,
then a place of miracle-working, and finally the
site for a chapel or a church.

“Brazilian Roman Catholics generally wear,
hung from the neck, a rosary, a kind of necklace
or string of beads, having 180 beads of various
sizes. The larger beads designate each a Lord’s
Prayer (Padre Nosso), while the smaller ones desig-
nate, some a ‘Hail Mary’ (Ave Maria), and others
a ‘Glory to the Father’ (Gloria Patri). A com-
plete rosary is composed of fifteen so-called mys-

Bay of Rio de Janeiro.

dences of religion. South-bound steamship pas-
sengers, long before they reach Brazil, see in the
heavens at night the beautiful constellation the
Southern Cross, which might be expected to indi-
cate that the part-of the planet lighted by this beau-
tiful constellation ought to be inhabited by Chris-
tians who are grateful to God for His having given
them the privilege of living in such a fertile aan
delightful part of the world.

“Brazil at first sight seems to: be the most re-
ligious country on the globe. The first thing to
attract the attention as travelers approach any of
its port cities is the number of tall spires, each
bearing on high a cross.

In these cities there are
many great. and beautiful churches. and. chapels; +
crossés and ¢rucifixes appear on every side, in the ~

teries, which in turn have each one a Lord’s
Prayer, ten ‘Hail Marys,-and one ‘Glory to the
Father” The Catholic believer must say these
180 prayers at least once each day by means of the |
rosary, and it is to remind him of this obligation
that he wears it round his neck. To this rosary
he frequently adds other objects, such as small
medals with an effigy of the Virgin Mary, the -co-

redeemer of sinners, asthe Catholics say; medals °

of St. Sebastian, the preserver against accidents;
eyes of a pendant representing a closed fist, called
figa, and the signet of Solomon for such as fear
evil eyes and the effects of witches’ charms. Besides
all these pendants from the rosary many use
scapularies, ‘andismall.cases in which are kept sacred
relics of miractilous power. The relic cases contain