THE POPE'S DAILY ROUTINE.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXVII, Issue 9, 2 March 1899, Page 28

THE POPE'S DAILY ROUTINE.

Summer and winter the Pope is awake at six o'clock in the morning (says Harper's Weekly'), and rather before than after that hour ; and he may have, in token of a sleepless uight, a piece of Italian or Latin poetry to dictate to one of the secretaries before Mass. Or maybe tht_rc is somp more practical affair that has kept him awake while he outlined his essential points in an argument, an appeal, a ;<Uor of instructions (in this o;i?e he dictates from the notes, which aro aft< rwards scrupulously destroyed). To begin the day he says ear'.y Mafu in the thapU in his private apartments, but on Sundayß and fea-4-di.y-i in a room that is large enough to accommodate the visitor- who have received p^rmisMon to be present. Dressed in a ca^ook of pure whi;e, a circle of snow-white hair showing beneath the white skull-u;<p. or bercttu, the Pope is seen holding a silver asper-wy. pnnkling holy water on the assembled worshippers; and so much, in harmony with his surroundings is this figure that Rev. Bernard O Reilly is led to say, ' It is as if one of Fra Angelico's glorified taints hail walked out of the canvas, or come down from the frescoes on the wall, and shone on us.' Immediately after raying Mass himself he hears a second one, said by a private chaplain. The second Mass of thanksgiving being finished, an armchair is brought and placed on the Epistle side, and the Pope is seated. All present go forward in turn, to kneel at his feet, kiss his hand, and receive communion. Then a frugal breakfast follows of coffee and a bit of bread and goats's milk. At ten o'clock the Secretary of State is in consultation with the Holy Father, and this conference lasts until about eleven ; but on Tuesdays and Fridays the Under-Secretary confers with the Pope, while the dipJomatic corps assembles in the apartments of the Secretary of State ; and there is also the duty of receiving ambassadors anil distinguished Italians and foreigners. The congregations of cardinals report regularly, and we barely intimate the importance of the subject-matter thus reported when we state that all things connected with the administration of a Church numbering over two hundred millions are divided among these standing committees. In some cases the sessions are actually held in the Pope's presenoe, and even when that additional tax upon his attention and his strength is avoided, it still remains true, as the author last quoted asserts, that his ' solicitude extends to every diocese and mission on the surface of the globe.' And besides these, many other congregations and commissions charged with special work must satisfy Leo's demands for the utmost regularity, punctuality, and exactness in their reports,