Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1890-08-14
THE POPE AT HOME.
Daily Life and Personal Habits of the
Head of the Catholic Church.

Head of the Catholic Church.
A very interesting picture might be
drawn OF the daily life of the Pope in
his palace prison. In some respects II
must be admitted that the spectacle is
almost ideal. Imagine pure, good
and able man, of more than three-score
years and ten, rising at six o'clock on
any given morning, after sleep as un-
troubled as child's, and setting about
what is in his own honest conviction the
discharge of his duty to God and to his
church, by using his influence as the
vice-regent of the Almighty to allay
the troubles of the world.
His authority, to begin with, is al
most absolutely untrammelcd. When
Alexander III. writes, he uses M. de
Giers as a peer; Cardinal Rampolla is
equally the peer of Leo XIII. Around
the Papal throne are Cardinals and
Archbishops and dignitaries of great
place: but in all the brilliant throng
there is no one who exercises any con.
trolling influence over the detached and
lucid intellect Of the Pope. Occasion
ally, earlier in his reign, they would
endeavor to bring pressure TO bear to
induce him to adopt policy to which
he was disinclined. "What you say"
he would reply, lis very good, no doubt,
put let it be done in different way"
And done always it was in Leo's way,
until at last the Cardinals desisted from
making fruitless suggestions. He is Sc
supreme that, compared with the elev'
tion he occupies, Cardinals c,un.
for no more than deacons, or
even the acolytes. There are mutter-
ings of discomfort in the congregation
from men who once counted for some.
thing in the church, but now count for
nothing; but on the whole. the Sacred
College recognizes with loyalty and
pride t'r commanding ability and au-
thorita , confidence of its chief. The
Pope, therefore, has single mind, and
he has an immense sense of his respon
sibilities for the decisions at which he
arrives.
Every morning, before addressing
himself to the direction of the affairs
of this planet, he offers the sacrifice Of
the mass, and then, for gratiarum actio,
attends sacred mass at which his chap
lain is the celebrant; with mind thus
attuned to divine things the Pope then
begins his working day. A single glass
of coffe, tea or milk sufilces to break
his fast After going through his pa
pers he begins to receive about nine.
From that hour till one in the afternoon
the throng of visitors never slackens.
Secretaries, Ambassadors, Cardinals
from the congregation, distinguished
strangers, Bishops from afar, have au-
dience in turn. There are 1,2OO Bishops
in che Catholic church, and with all o;
them the Pope is in more or less con-
stant personal relations.
Nothing can be more gracious, more
animated or more sympathetic than the
manner of the Pope. His eye, which
when fixed in thought is deep and
piercing, beams with kindness, and the
severely rigid lines Of his intellectual
ltdturcS IcldA NiGu thO piSuouhVCoO vi
smiles as he talks, using, as the case
may be, either French, Latin (Which he
speaks with great purity and facility,
or his own musical native tongue.
After four or five hours spent in this
way he returns to his books and papers
until three, when he dimes His meal is
frugal; little soup two courses of meat,
with vegetables, and dessert of fruit,
with one glass of strong wine, suffice
for his wants. After dinner he goes
out for drive or walk in the gardens
Of the Vatican. In the evening he, re.
sumes his papers, and at night, between
nine and ten, all the papal household
assemble for the rosary, after which
they retire to rest. But long after tina
hour the Cardinal State Secretary
Mocenni, is often summoned to the
papal apartments, where, by the light
of the midnight lamp Leo watches
and thinks, and prays for the welfare
of the church. w. 7. Stead, in Pail
Mall Gazette.