d three for acolytes, marched out of the sacristy and
prostrated themselves before the altar, while the officiating
priest, the Very Reverend Fray Hernando Sibyla, chanted the
_Surge Domine_--the signal for commencing the procession
around the church--with the magnificent voice and religious
unction that all recognize and that make him so worthy of
general admiration. When the _Surge Domine_ was concluded,
the gobernadorcillo, in a frock coat, carrying the standard
and followed by four acolytes with incense-burners, headed
the procession. Behind them came the tall silver candelabra,
the municipal corporation, the precious images dressed in satin
and gold, representing St. Dominic and the Virgin of Peace in a
magnificent blue robe trimmed with gilded silver, the gift of
the pious ex-gobernadorcillo, the so-worthy-of-being-imitated
and never-sufficiently-praised Don Santiago de los Santos. All
these images were borne on silver cars. Behind the Mother of
God came the Spaniards and the rest of the clergy, while the
officiating priest was protected by a canopy carried by the
cabezas de barangay, and the procession was closed by a squad
of the worthy Civil Guard. I believe it unnecessary to state
that a multitude of Indians, carrying lighted candles with
great devotion, formed the two lines of the procession. The
musicians played religious marches, while bombs and pinwheels
furnished repeated salutes. It causes admiration to see the
modesty and the fervor which these ceremonies inspire in the
hearts of the true believers, the grand, pure faith professed
for the Virgin of Peace, the solemnity and fervent devotion
with which such ceremonies are performed by those of us who
have had the good fortune to be born under the sacrosanct
and immaculate banner of Spain.

"The procession concluded, there began the mass rendered by
the orchestra and the theatrical artists. After the reading
of the Gospel, the Very Reverend Fray Manuel Martin, an
Augustinian from the province of Batangas, ascended the
pulpit and kept the whole audience enraptured and hanging
on his words, especially the Spaniards, during the exordium
in Castilian, as he spoke with vigor and in such flowing
and well-rounded periods that our hearts were filled with
fervor and enthusiasm. This indeed is the term that should