PIUS IX. AND THE PROTOMARTYR ST. STEPHEN.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume IV, Issue 184, 6 October 1876, Page 13

PIUS IX. AND THE PROTOMARTYR ST. STEPHEN.

[PROM THE f AVE MARIA.' Mb. A de Segub, whose son had the happiness of receiving his first Communion from the hands of the Sovereign Pontiff on St. Stephen's day, gives the following graphic account of the impressions he received while assisting at a Low Mass said by the Holy Father in his private chapel. "At a little after half -past seven," he says, " the Pope entered the chapel, knelt down, and after having said some prayers in a subdued voice, he arose and vested before the altar, as is customary with bishops. He commenced Mass, assisted by a single chaplain only. He said the prayers in a clear, distinct voice, neither fast nor slow, and with a gravity and unction which nevertheless did not exclude a certain manly, almost military bearing. He pronounced the ' Kyrie ' very markedly, and in an accent of profound supplication, as it befits him, the authorised intercessor of mankind. It was the Feast of St. Stephen, the Protomartyr of the New Testament, and I listened with deep emotion as Pius IX. recited these prayers, evidently from the bottom of bis heart, as they were so admirably adapted to his personal situation, at the Introit : " Princes sat and spoke against me, and sinners persecuted me ; help me, O Lord, my God ! for Thy servant hath practised Thy Commandments*" " Behold, your house shall be left to you desolate, for I say to you, you shall not see me henceforth, till you say : Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." The Holy Father made a long interval between the " Sanctus " I and the Consecration. It could be noticed that he prolonged his ' prayer for the universal Church, of which he is the Chief Pastor, and for all the living, of whom he is the father. During the entire Mass, from the beginning to the end, his piety was admirable ; he said the "Pater Noster," with a particular majesty, and the tender devotion during his own Communion was affecting even to tears. <At this moment we rose and went up to the altar ; the Pope raised ! the sacred Host, and said three times, in a firm but respectful | voice : " Domine non sum dignus" etc., inclined towards us, and we ! received the Body of Jesus Christ from the hands of his own Vicar lon earth. Could we, my son and I, ever forget this hour, this \ moment both solemn and sacred before all others of our life ! Af cer ! his own Mass the Pope knelt at a prie-dieu before the altar and assisted at a Mass of thanksgiving immediately following.