DAILY LIFE OF THE HOLY FATHER

New Zealand Tablet, 22 February 1917, Page 47

DAILY LIFE OF THE HOLY FATHER

The Holy Father rises at 5 a.m., an hour before i three-fourths of Rome leave dreamland. At 6 o’clock L (says an exchange), prayer and meditation over, the V Vicar of Christ stands vested to offer up the Holy Sacrifice, attended by a couple of prelates attached to I the Vatican. His Mass is served Ly a lay Brother of the Order of St. Augustine. En passant, one can well imagine with what reverential and loving solicitude the good old man lavishes his care on the preparation of the beautiful little chapel each evening. v. At 7 o’clock, when a Mass has been heard by way of thanksgiving and the * Small Hours ’ of his breviary ; are said, the light Italian breakfast of coffee and rolls A s served. Then comes the perusal of the newspapers i by a statesman who has the politics of Europe, Ausn . tralasm, and the two Americas on his finger tips. One I of tAjduties of the Papal Secretary of State, is to I mark for the Pope’s notice items of special importance. I The present Pontiff, like Leo XIII., likes the whole E paper to be laid before him, Pius X. used, I believe, I feel content at receiving cuttings on important matters B .to be laid before him each morning.

While the clock is striking 8, Benedict XV. is sitting -at ; his f desk amid; his /private ; secretaries" ready £to begin the labors of his long day. Work goes on steadily until 9, at which', hour the Secretary J of ■•' Stated arrives with v a portfolio filled with documents for the PontiffV consideration. " By 10 o'clock commence private .audiences to Cardinals, Bishops, laymen of prominence ; who may have special matters to treat. on with the Head of the-Church, and ambassadors representing the different countries on diplomatic relations with the Holy See. Only rarely, of course, is an ambassador received by the Pope in person, because it is the duty of the Cardinal Secretary of State to receive the Diplomatic Corps one day every week and the report which each individual has to make. A Cardinal or a Bishop has always some official business to transact during his audience, but this is not necessarily the case with laymen of distinction; very often a gentleman's prominent status in his own sphere in life or particular services to the Church in his own country obtains for him special recognition in this way at the Vatican. Or he may bo given a special audience, that is, an audience at which not more than five or six persons -all of whom may be his own party—are permitted to be present. Private and special audiences over, public or collective audiences begin towards 11.30. At the public audiences any number of persons are received. The largest public audience which I have ever witnessed in Rome was that given to the French pilgrims, 40,000 in number, who came to assist at the beatification of Blessed Joan of Arc in the davs of Pius X. Benedict XV., if not a vegetarian, is on the border line. His dinner, which takes place alone, consists mostly of vegetables and eggs with very little meat. His Holiness dines alone, according to the custom of the Popes, a custom which the late Pontiff did not see his way to follow. Not more than half an hour is passed at table, for the short siesta which Benedict XV. allows himself has to be finished by 3 o'clock. From 3to 6 work continues uninterrupted. In the evening the Holy Father anticipates Matins and Lauds, and afterwards takes some recreation, accompanied by one or two attendant prelates. Sometimes this consists of a half hour's drive in the Vatican gardens, at others the Pope walks on the balconies from which all Rome is seen. To some it may seem rather strange that audiences should be resumed as late as 8 o'clock in the evening. However, the audiences conceded at this time are not of such an official character as those in the morning, besides it is usually only Cardinals or Bishops who are then received, and then for only a short time. By 9 his Holiness retires to his private chapel and recites the Rosary of the Blessed Virgin. After this the evening meal, almost a repetition of dinner, is taken, and then to his desk for another hour's quiet work. Nine o'clock may seem late for supper, but this, I have been told, has been the custom of his Holiness for years. Indeed, the late Cardinal Rampolla never took his evening meal until 11 o'clock, after which the great Secretary of State to Leo XIII. retired to his bed-chamber. From the foregoing we may well conclude the Pontiff's day is long and strenuous. We are in a great Pontificate and in all probability a prolonged one. It is likely Benedict XV. will live to a ripe old age, for ever since his election to the Papacy his general health has improved, and the nervous lines, which were apparent on his face a year ago, have now disappeared.