The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1878-06-08 00:00:00

THE WILL OF PIUS IX.

The Correspondent of The Times, writing from Rome,
says that "the Popolo Remttno, which was the first paper to
give an authentic copy of the last will and testament of
Cardinal Antonelli, has published that of Pi*lX., as fol-
lows

"Dispositions and last will of Mastai-Ferretti, Pope Pius
IX , formerly Giovanni Maria of the Counts Mastai Ferretti
of Senigallia, son of Girolamo.

"Testaments.

"From the Vatican, March 15,1875.

"Last Will.—ln the name of the most Holy Trinity I re-
commend my soul to Thee, most Holy Trinity—Father, Son,
and Holy Ghost, thiee persons in one God.
"I implore most Holy Mary, always immaculate' and her
spouse S. Joseph, the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, St.
Michael the Archangel, St. Louis Gonzaga my holy guardian
angels, and all my holy protectors and advocates to aid me
in the great passage from time to eternity, as they have
aided and protected me during the course of my life.
"My body, having become a corpse, shall be buried in the
church of St. Lorenzo, extra muros and precisely under the
little arch standing against the so-called gridiron (graticola)
or stone on which may still be traced the marks caused by
the martyrdom of the illustrious Levite.

"The cost of the monument shall:not exceed 400 crowns.
"Upon the monument shall be sculptured a tiara with
the keys; then an epigraph conceived in the following
terms.—

" OSSA ET CINERES PII P. IX. SUS. PONT. VIXIT AN . . .
IN PONTIFICATV. AN . . . ORATR PRO NO.

The coat-of-arms shall be a Death's head.

"Having already by the Bull of June, 1873, provided and
established the use and application to be made of my
estates and personal property acquired in Senigallia, I dis-
poe of what property shall be found after my death. I
pray God to protect and preserve those estates which are
destined to pious purposes. In so far as it depends upon
me, I sepeat that"with respect to my estates of Senigallia,
of the which I have disposed for the pious House of Refuge
and for the Ginnasio of the said city through the Bull of the
let of September, 1853, and the 20th of April, 1857, as well as
through the chirograph of the 24th of May of the said year, 'I
will and intend that all that I have declared in the other
Bull of the Ist of June, 1873, shall be observed, in order to the
resolutory conditions, fading in, and rights of reversion in
the cases contemplated in said Bull; the which declara-
tion I confirm also with my present testament, as the ex-
pression of my last will, ordering and enjoining upon my
heir and others named in my said Bull ; and in case these
should not do it, even entreating whomsoever may have the
office and interest of the same to see to the dilligent and
rigorous observance thereof.

" I leave my library to the Seminario-Romano-Pio. The
smaller library, consisting in most part of ascetic books, I
leave to the Convent of Passiouists by me erected at the
Scala Santa.

"To all the persons hereinafter mentioned who shall sur-
vive me I leave in the following proportions :—To Mon-
signor Cenni, 8,000 lire; to my servants, 15,000 lire, to be
distributed in proportion to their service : to the brothers
Francisco and Giuseppe Minoccari, Giuseppe Zangolini (to
whom shall be given a double portion), Filippo Castellani,
Federico Senapa, Antonio Farina, and Pietro Jurgia. Some
recompense to the coachman Gaetano and to Pietro

"To Monsignor Sarnminiatelli, Almoner, a picture.repre-
senting the Blessed Mary with the Child on her knee, with
its glass, which hangs in the little upper chapel.

" To Monsignor Ricci, Maestro di Camera, the statue of St.
Peter on the column which is the model of that which was to
have been erected at St. Pietro in Montorio.

'To Monsignor Pacca, Major-domo, the model of the
column in Piazza di Spagna.
"To the Monsignors Negrotto Casali, Di Bisogno, and Della
Volpe a remembrance as the testamentary executor shall
think proper.
"To the Commendatori Filippani and Spagna, a remem-
brance in some object of value, as above.

"The Sacred Relics to the two Plnacotecas of the Vica-
riato and of Monsignor Sacristan, with the following modifi-
cations ;—The silver reliquary representing a small altar,
enclosing the wood of the True Cross, with other relics, I
destine to the Vatican Basilica. To the Lateranense a great
reliquary from Hungary, and which is in a black leather case.
A reliquary representing a little temple supported by three
children, which contains the precious relic of the Holy
Thorn, is destined for the Collegiate Church of St. Maria in
Via Leta. A little temple with small columns of rock
crystal, containing relics of St. Peter and St. Paul, to the
Cathedral of Senigaliia.
To the two Cathedrals of Spoleto and Imola, two reli-
quaries : to the first the wood of the True Cross, supported
by a silver trunk, with base of silver, the whole ornamented
with aiamonds ; to the second a small urn, within which is
a relic of St. Damasus.

"To the Cathedral of Gaeta an ivory crucifix upon a black
cross and base, which stands on the floor of the little upper
chapel.

"In the same place, and likewise standing on the floor,
another great metal crucifix on a marble base, which I
destine for the Cathedral of St. James of Chili.

"I dispose of 5,000 lire towards the foundation of a chap-
laincy to be erected in the Seminario Pio, with the alms of
a lira and half.

"The pictures belonging to me, exclusive of those in th
little upper rooms, hung upon different walls of the Vatican
remain to the Apostolic Palace. The sums of some import-
ance derived from the Oboio of St. Peter shall be all for the
Holy See; and in case the Government or rulers who now
sit here and call themselves masters and Sovereigns should
interfere with these interests, and claim them from the
Holy See, I intend to call in my nephews as heir; leaving
certainly to my testamentary executor all faculties and all
the power of protecting, in case of need the rights of the
Holy See,
Of all remaining property which shall be found after my
death, whether in money, or in chattels, or in funds, shall be
made three shares, one for each, in favour of Luigi Mosta],
Ercole Mastai and his children, and Anna Argil, daughter of
Virginia Mastai.
"I desire Cardinal Antonelli, who has given me so many
proofs of kindness, to assume the charge of testamentary,
giving him all the faculties necessary to the carrying into
effect these my last wishes; and I pray him likewise to
accept, as a sign of my affection and gratitude, a snuffbox
with brilliants, of oval shape, and ornamented with enamel.
—PIUS P. P. IX.

"Rome, Nov. 10, 1876.