Customs of the same sort are observed at the same season in Sicily. Pairs of boys and girls become gossips of St. John on St. John's Day by drawing each a hair from his or her head and performing various ceremonies over them. Thus they tie the hairs together and throw them up in the air， or exchange them over a potsherd， which they afterwards break in two， preserving each a fragment with pious care. The tie formed in the latter way is supposed to last for life. In some parts of Sicily the gossips of St. John present each other with plates of sprouting corn， lentils， and canary seed， which have been planted forty days before the festival. The one who receives the plate pulls a stalk of the young plants， binds it with a ribbon， and preserves it among his or her greatest treasures， restoring the platter to the giver. At Catania the gossips exchange pots of basil and great cucumbers； the girls tend the basil， and the thicker it grows the more it is prized.
In these midsummer customs of Sardinia and Sicily it is possible that， as Mr. R. Wünsch supposes， St. John has replaced Adonis. We have seen that the rites of Tammuz or Adonis were commonly celebrated about midsummer； according to Jerome， their date was June.
In Sicily gardens of Adonis are still sown in spring as well as in summer， from which we may perhaps infer that Sicily as well as Syria celebrated of old a vernal festival of the dead and risen god. At the approach of Easter， Sicilian women sow wheat， lentils， and canaryseed in plates， which they keep in the dark and water every two days. The plants soon shoot up； the stalks are tied together with red ribbons， and the plates containing them are placed on the sepulchres which， with the effigies of the dead Christ， are made up in Catholic and Greek churches on Good Friday， just as the gardens of Adonis were placed on the grave of the dead Adonis. The practice is not confined to Sicily， for it is observed also at Cosenza in Calabria， and perhaps in other places. The whole customsepulchres as well as plates of sprouting grainmay be nothing but a continuation， under a different name， of the worship of Adonis.
Nor are these Sicilian and Calabrian customs the only Easter ceremonies which resemble the rites of Adonis. During the whole of Good Friday a waxen effigy of the dead Christ is exposed to view in the middle of the Greek churches and is covered with fervent kisses by the thronging crowd， while the whole church rings with melancholy， monotonous dirges. Late in the evening， when it has grown quite dark， this waxen image is carried by the priests into the street on a bier adorned with lemons， roses， jessamine， and other flowers， and there begins a grand procession of the multitude， who move in serried ranks， with slow and solemn step， through the whole town. Every man carries his taper and breaks out into doleful lamentation. At all the houses which the procession passes there are seated women with censers to fumigate the marching host. Thus the community solemnly buries its Christ as if he had just died. At last the waxen image is again deposited in the church， and the same lugubrious chants echo anew. These lamentations， accompanied by a strict fast， continue till midnight on Saturday. As the clock strikes twelve， the bishop appears and announces the glad tidings that 'Christ is risen，' to which the crowd replies， 'He is risen indeed，' and at once the whole city bursts into an uproar of joy， which finds vent in shrieks and shouts， in the endless discharge of carronades and muskets， and the explosion of fire-works of every sort. In the very same hour people plunge from the extremity of the fast into the enjoyment of the Easter lamb and neat wine.
In like manner the Catholic Church has been accustomed to bring before its followers in a visible form the death and resurrection of the Redeemer. Such sacred dramas are well fitted to impress the lively imagination and to stir the warm feelings of a susceptible southern race， to whom the pomp and pageantry of Catholicism are more congenial than to the colder temperament of the Teutonic peoples.
