Candles, Mary of the Rosary, ad infinitum. Even
Christ is worshiped as a saint. The patron saint of Campos, for
instance, is called Sao Salvador (St. Savior). The city of Bahia is
called Sao Salvador. Its patron saint is Jesus.

A saint is an intercessor between man and God. Because of his holiness,
he has favor with God, and therefore the people pray to him. Very few
consider the saint lower than God. They offer sacrifices, make prayers
and burn candles to the saint.

St. Anthony of Padua is a very hard-worked saint. He has placed upon
him the double duty of furnishing suitors for all the young women and
of leading the armies of the Republic to victory. No wonder this
overworked saint gets into trouble. Young women place him in their
rooms, burn candles and offer prayers before him. He is dressed up in
the finest toggery and is given great honor. If, however, after awhile
he does not bring along the suitor, he is given a sound beating, or he
may be hung head downwards in a well or stood on his head under a
table. These indignities are heaped upon him in order to force him to
produce the suitor which the young lady very much desires. He is also
the military saint. In the time of the Empire, he was carried at the
head of the army and had the rank of a colonel. Even after the Empire
was abolished, he retained his rank for many years and received from
the government the salary of a colonel. Such an idol was in Bahia and
his salary was discontinued only five years ago. The money went, of
course, to the priest in the church where the image was kept.

Every town, village and country seat has its protecting saint. In time
of drouth they in many places carry the saint through the streets in
procession. He is taken from his place in the church to some hut,
maybe, where he is placed beneath the altar. This is done in order to
cause him to bring rain. After the rain comes he is taken out and with
great distinction is replaced in his original niche. They do this
sometimes in the case of a scourge of insects or disease.

Late one evening, after Missionary Ginsburg and I had returned from a
trip into the interior of the State of Bahia, we arrived in the city of
Nazareth. It is a town of about 10,000 inhabitants. We were to wait
here until the following morning for the boat which was to take us to
Bahia.

As we went down the street we saw a great throng of people surging
about an image which was being carried upon the shoulders o