Costa Rican Tales

In a short time the fame of a certain miraculous image of San Jerónimo, of which extraordinary things, one might say miracles, were related, had spread through a part of the province of Alajuela. The residents of San Pedro de la Calabaza and of La Sabanilla showed especial enthusiasm, and the reputation of the saint already extended to the very capital of the province, where, to tell the truth, it met with considerable skepticism; but it must not be forgotten that the people of Alajuela are hardened unbelievers.

Whether the fellow citizens of Juan Santa María were right or not in showing their unbelief in respect to San Jerónimo, it is certain that now there was not a rosary, a candle burned in honor of a saint, nor any other festival at which one would not find the sainted image present. Everybody disputed for the notable honor of entertaining it, even though it were not more than a few hours. Its frequent journeys were triumphal, in the midst of a brilliant following, the splendor of which the music, sky-rockets and fire-crackers did not diminish. At first sight the image did not present any marked peculiarity. It was a crude sculpture of wood, painted and varnished, of little more than a metre in height.