Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 21, 1910.djvu/204

172 in any form draws the compassion and help of the Decollati. Accidents of every kind and haemoptysis are the subjects of their special care. There are numerous and ghastly examples of these among the votive drawings.

The special days of devotion to the Decollati are Monday and Friday. On these days pilgrims, (chiefly women), from not only Palermo but also other parts of Sicily, may be seen wending their way to the little church beside the Oreto. At eight o'clock in the morning the performance is at its height. Arrived at the church of the Annegati, half-way from the Porta Garibaldi to the Chiesa dei Decollati, the pilgrim, if his vow was to walk barefoot, takes off his shoes and begins his rosary. The prayers include addresses in rhyme to the "Armuzzi di li corpi decullati," requesting their intercession with the Eternal Father on behalf of the petitioner. When he reaches the church, he offers the rosary and prays before the altar of St. John the Baptist, who is naturally the patron of the Decollati. Then he adjourns,—or at least every devout woman who makes the pilgrimage adjourns,—to the little chapel already mentioned. There, just on the right inside the door, is a stone under which the souls are believed to crowd in the greatest numbers. There she makes known her wishes, speaking audibly or murmuring and praying earnestly. When she has finished she applies her ear to the stone, and trembling waits for an answer. The slightest sound is taken for a favourable reply; and naturally it is not wanting to a fancy wrought to the utmost tension by the religious exercises and excitement of the morning. Her countenance instantly flushes and her eyes sparkle, as she rises filled with the joy of conviction that the favour she has sought so earnestly is granted. The scene. Dr. Pitrè writes, should be witnessed by others as well as those who are especially interested in folklore. Foreign friends whom he has taken to the chapel have looked at it with open-mouthed