Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1896-05-11
BURIAL OF A POPE.
Impressive Ceremonials That Follow the
Death of the Pontif.


Death of the PontiH.
When the death of the reigning pope
draws near, the cardinal secretary OF
state informs the dean of the sacred col
lege, who summons his colleagues to the
residence of the dying man. Ihe car
dlnal vicar issues orders that prayers be
offered in the Roman churches; the car
dlnal penitentiary attends the bedside or
the pope, to whom the sacristan OF the
pope's chapel administers extreme unc-
ton. AS soon as may be after death has
occurred the body must be formally rec
ognized by the cardinal camerlingo,
who, in obedience to an ancient custom,
first knocks thrice on the door OF the bed
chamber. Getting no answer, he enters
and taps thrice with silver mallet on
the dead man. s forehead and thrice calls
him by name. No response coming, tho
camerlingo declares that the pope is
dead. Thenceforth the camerlingo is the
most important of the cardinals, having
charge of the preparations for the con-
clave, of the government of the palace
and of the transactions with the repre-
sentatives of foreign powers, to whom
he officially announces the pope's death.
The papal guard of Swiss halberdiers
attends him when he goes out; his arms
are stamped ON the medal of the vacant
see; he takes an inventory of the prop
erty in the palace and affixes seals to the
dead pontiff's papers. But in order to
prevent him from overstepping his au-
thority the sacred college appoints three
cardinals bishop, priest and dea-
con-WhO are called the heads of the
orders, and whose business it is to over
see his acts. They serve for three days,
being replaced by others chosen in rota-
ton.
Meanwhile the great bell of the CAPT
toll, the so called "Paterine, has tolled
the news to the citizens in Rome. For
merly this was the signal for unlocking
the jails and for unrestrained disorders.
Brokers used to set up booths where
pools, as at horse race, were sold on
the probable next pope, enormous sums
being squandered in this species of
gambling. More recently that scandal
has been less open. Every one is ON tip
toe with excitement. Churchmen as
well as laymen display an eagerness out
of tune with the grief in which the
church is officially declared to be
plunged.
For during the novendial, or nine
days succeeding the pope's death, the
celebration of his obsequies and the
mourning for his loss are supposed to
absorb universal attention. His body
must first be embalmed and then attired
in funeral apparel. When masses have
been said over it in the presence of the
ic fn
where, on magnificent catafalque, it
lies in state. Finally, on the ninth day,
the public funeral-one of the great
pageants of the world-takes place, aft
er which the body is coffined and laid
away in the temporary receiving tomb,
to rest there until, when the next pope
dies, it is lowered into the crypt of St
Peters for permanent burial
Needless to say, the funeral cere-
monies of the novendial cause no abate-
ment in the preparation for the con-
clave The day after the pope dies as
many cardinals as happen to be in Rome
meet to confer. The Oldest of their num-
Der, the dean of the college, presides.
They swear to preserve the utmost Sc
crecy concerning all their proceedings.
They renew their oaths of allegiance to
the holy see, binding themselves to de-
fend and guard the rights, prerogatives
and temporal possessions of the church
)up to the effusion of blood. Then they
discuss questions of immediate urgency,
listen to the reading of the laws govern
ing the election and hear the Gamer
lingo's report of his business. The con-
gregation reassembles each day, its MEM
ba,c baipu CONSTANTLY increased nv tha
arrival of cardinals from a distance. =
William r. Thayer in Century.
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