So solemn was the matter, that the
manufacture and sale of this particular fetich was, by a papal
bull of 1471, reserved for the Pope himself, and he only
performed the required ceremony in the first and seventh years
of his pontificate. Standing unmitred, he prayed: "O God,... we
humbly beseech thee that thou wilt bless these waxen forms,
figured with the image of an innocent lamb,... that, at the
touch and sight of them, the faithful may break forth into
praises, and that the crash of hailstorms, the blast of
hurricanes, the violence of tempests, the fury of winds, and the
malice of thunderbolts may be tempered, and evil spirits flee
and tremble before the standard of thy holy cross, which is
graven upon them."[343]
Another favourite means with the clergy of the older Church for
bringing to naught the "power of the air," was found in great
processions bearing statues, relics, and holy emblems through
the streets. Yet even these were not always immediately
effective. One at Liege, in the thirteenth century, thrice
proved unsuccessful in bringing rain, when at last it was found
that the image of the Virgin had been forgotten! A new procession
was at once formed, the _Salve Regina_ sung, and the rain came
down in such torrents as to drive the devotees to shelter.
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