t this part of the ceremony is extremely imposing and romantic.

The rites of Roman Catholicism may be divided into two classes, viz.,
those required by the liturgy, and for which it establishes fixed rules
approved by the councils, such as the mass and the administration of the
sacraments; and, secondly, those invented and practised by the devotions
of the faithful, which are without any fixed limits. Among these, the
most notable are the Jubilee of Forty Hours, and the Pilgrimages
(_romerias_).

The Jubilee of Forty Hours consists in the public exhibition of the
consecrated host during the whole day, enclosed in a _custodia_, which
has already been described. It lasts three days, and these are alternate
in all the churches of great cities; so that there is not a day in the
whole year, except the Thursday and Friday in the Holy Week, on which the
host does not receive this kind of worship. At night-fall the _custodia_
is covered with a curtain, which is generally made of rich gold and
silver lace. This act, at which an officiating priest presides, and
during which hymns are chanted and accompanied by music, usually attracts
a great concourse of the devout. In the mornings the eucharist is
uncovered with the same ceremonies.

The Pilgrimages or _romerias_ are devout expeditions made to certain
celebrated sanctuaries on the days of the saints to which they are
dedicated. Those sanctuaries are generally situated out of the towns.
Some of them are convents, others mere chapels; but in both one case and
the other, large sums of money are collected on those occasions. In
ancient times, in Spain, as also in all other Roman Catholic countries,
these pilgrimages were acts of sincere devotion, which imposed the
necessity of confession and communion. The devout passed all their time
in the church,--in the morning hearing mass, in the evening reciting
prayers dictated to them by a priest from the pulpit. On these occasions
it was usual for enemies to be reconciled, confessing their most grievous
sins, and celebrating other acts of true repentance and piety. But in
modern times these usages have been much relaxed; the greater part of
those who attend such pilgrimages give up the entire day to dinners,
dancing, and other amusements. Many serious disorders have generally
resulted from such customs, and the authorities have been under the
necessity of suppressing them. In olden times the two sanctuaries of
Santiago in Ga