nd returned through the
congregation to the space within the rails of the principal altar.
Behind him as he stood and concealing the altar and the east end of the
church hung a curtain from the roof to the floor. There was chanting and
movement among the priests; they continually kept going and coming,
disappearing into the secret place behind the great curtain and
reappearing; they were preparing the mystery. Presently the curtain
shook and the congregation understood. The suppressed excitement grew
and a murmuring began, caused, I suppose, by everyone telling everyone
else, as Turiddu told me, that the curtain was about to fall. Another
instant--and its fall revealed the Gloria.

Above the altar was a tomb and above the tomb was the figure of the risen
Christ triumphing over death; in his left hand he held a banner and, with
his right, he blessed the people. There were lights, and sudden music
from the organ and from the choir; the deafening bells clanged and,
through the great open doors, we heard the sound of revolvers being shot
off into the air and of fireworks being exploded.

Turiddu could not see over the heads of the people; I lifted him up, he
looked at the Gloria and turning himself round in my arms kissed me as he
said:

"Buona Pasqua, Compare."

Everyone was saying "Buona Pasqua" to everyone else, everyone standing
near a friend or a relation was exchanging kisses with him or her as a
sign of goodwill; many were weeping for joy, and those who had been
quarrelling became reconciled, forgiving one another their offences and
entering upon a new life, vowing that, with the help of their Heavenly
Father, who had revealed to them the Mystery of the Resurrection, they
would from this day avoid all further disputes even though, in order to
perform the vow, it should be necessary to avoid one another's company.
This is not imaginative writing, like Peppino Fazio's account of the
effect of the bolide, it is what I saw--the effect of the Gloria.

And the spirit of the Gloria floated down the nave and through the open
doors and out into the piazza, where the elephant of lava stands over the
fountain. It passed up the Via Garibaldi, down the Corso, along the
Stesicoro Etnea, it spread itself through the city and became identified
with the morning sunshine.

"Come along," said Turiddu, "let's go and buy a paschal lamb for mother."

We followed the Gloria into the piazza among the fireworks and the
revolver