The Pope's Routine

New Zealand Tablet, 23 August 1906, Page 33

The Pope's Routine

lope lius \. has maintained the piactiee of lisinjr caily and of going to bed nevei later than 11 o'clock (says an exchange). After celebrating Mass in his pi i\ate chapel- which lequires nearly an hour and a half every morning, because after his own he attends the Mass celebiated by one of his private chaplains, and then remains about thirty minutes alone in piayer— he takes his modest bieakfast with his personal attendants, veiy oiten with Ins sisteis, who aie generally admitted to assist at his Mass every momv Aft CliA ftCl i b . rCaMa&t il 1S the invariable custom of Pius „ ". , a , Ucncl t0 hls P r^atf concspon-dcnce in his study At • o clock the Cardinal Sccretaiyol State is admitted to the lopes study, always bringing, a huge amount of coiiespondence with him, which forms the subject of an lioui s discussion and adds to the Pope's daily won ies At iv o clock the audiences begin, and up to 1 o'clock in the afternoon it is a continuous procession of Cardinal b bishops, prelates, and lay people, who are adlUI h <i to D P llvale audience. After the audiences aie ended the Pope dines with his secietaiies and at '> o clock is in the habit of retiring' to his nnvalc aimtments for a siesta, which lasts aS hornIhtn, unless unusual business pressure pievents him the time arnves for a walk m the garden or in the Raphaelian .loggias in ease of lam. Pius X occasionally asks Monsignor Biessan to walk with him, but as a lule picfeis to be alone, reading hs sm-h^L ii 01 iW-, tlie Pressure of business has been such ami the dislikes of the Pope for his monotonous K1;K 1 ;' 10 ,^ 1^ hf™ so incieaw.l, that veiy seldom he modeL nn t du ffl S 1 ifeU 110 lv^ winlor itt even lhls As soon as the Pope re-enters his study toward evening othe. audiences begin, piincipally those aecoruVu to the secretanes of the several congragations aMio have one day m each eek in which Vmake ' leimvnri !f v OPC r. ail f S , llbmit l ° him 1^ decisions icnS d of at lho y J^rch ald ' lialS «,cse depaHwlu)m°Tplil^ S lhC P ° p n rCCfriVCS an "^mate prelate, •ice ami I. cs> lj ccull y. askctl a familiar confer^ nice, and leally these visits are the only kind of relaxation the Pope finds duiing his day's work ] c then forgets that he is the Pope. lie ti°ats ins VaTican Vl^d familia , lHy . the anSs of the \ a ican, and even furnishes refieshments for the entertainment of his visitois an/Slw!"' t ,,11, 1 - Kht SUPP ° L " Pius X - rccilcs lhe R^ary h Ms n, TST S , PI T 1S Wllh hIS i'^onal attendant in Ins puvatc chapel, and at 10 is leady to retiie