The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1878-02-23 00:00:00

THE FUNERAL OF PIUS IX.

The Correspondent of the Pall Mall Gazette at Rome
writing on the 14th inst. says :

The ceremony enacted in the Grand Basilica of St.
Peter's, which commenced at 6.30 last night and ended
at 8.45, was solemnly impressive. Perfect silence
reigned, save for a surging murmur as of sea-waves,
caused by the undulating crowd present, which cer-
tainly amounted to 4,000 persons. One's ideal of the
" dim religious light" was fully realized; torches
flickered only beneath the arches separating the nave
from the aisles, while six immense altar candles burned
steadily above the shrine of St. Peter, before which
twinkled the starry lights always kept burning around
the confessional. The body of the Pope was dressed
exactly as while lying in state. The cardinaLs, after
devoutly kissing the sacred foot, issued in procession,
preceded by the cross-bearer, from the chapel of the
Holy Sacrament, while the singers of the Julian
chapel intoned the " Miserere." The remains, sur
rounded by the Noble Guard with reversed arms
were lifted up by the chaplains of the Vaticanßasilica,
the senior officers of the Noble Guard sharing with
the chaplains the honour of bearing on their shoulders
the bier of their beloved Sovereign. The procession,
turning to the right, passed close before the bronze
statue of St. Peter, halting an instant before the con-
fessional of the high altar, and then returning down
the nave, entered the choral chapel. In the absence
of the venerable Amat, Dean of the Sacred College,
the Sub-dean, Cardinal Di Pietro, closely followed
by the Camerlengo, Pecci, and Simeoni, Secretary
of State, headed the Cardinals present in Rome-
fifty-six in number. The Noble Guards, the Pala-
tine Guards, the Swiss Guards, the Papal Gendarmes,
all in full uniform, the aite of the Roman aristocracy,
and the fortunate holders of tickets of admission, were
on their knees as the procession passed. When the
bier had reached the gates of the chapel of the choir,
while the singers chanted the funeral mass, Monsignior
Folicaldi, Chief Canon, in pontificial robes, blessed
the coffin of cypress wood with holy water and in-
cense All who could approach the bier now came
forward and kissed the foot, and looked their last on
the well-known features. Then Monsignor Ricci, the
Major Domo of his late Holiness, covered the face
with a white handkerchief, and the chaplains
and the chief officers of the Noble Guard lifted
the corpse in its shroud from the bier and placed
it in the open coffin of cypress wood already in-
serted in another coffin of lead. Monsignior Ricci
then deposited three velvet purses, containing medals
of gold, of silver, and bronze, within the coffin, which
was then closed, and a purple ribbon in the form of a
cross placed upon it. The Major Domo affixed two
wax seals, the Camerlengo a third, the Vicar-General
a foutth, and the Chapter a fifth. The panegyric in
Latin, inscribed in parchment and enclosed in a metal
case, was deposited at the Pope's feet. After this two
papal masters-of-ceremony Bpi ead over the body a red
silk coverlet. Monsignor Folicaldi pronounced the
last absolution, the cypress coffin was screwed down,
and the leaden coffin s,adered. On this was the fol-
lowing inscription, surmo.,-.,t-ited by a rrnaq •
cUtiPIIS