The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-05-06
PILGRIMS FLOCK TO ROME.
ALL NATIONS REPRESENTED THERE
DTRING HOLY WEEk.
Scenes Both Impressive and Lively nj ~. Pc
t~srs-rourists and Penitrnt' side hy side
-ya,tness 81 tho Edinoe Visits Of the Ph'
srims % Churches Holy week services.

-yastnsss ~ tho Edince Visits OF the III
grims 10 Churches Holy Week services
RoMr. Aprl 20 There ~ always q Hood 81
visitors in Rome during Holy Week, but uIs
year th.ts Is a regular high tide. Every nauon
on the face of the globe see ms Ia have sent n dele
cation, the Americans occupying, as usual q
Arge share Of space and attention, our oh
familiar tw yang has stirred up the echoes here AZ
II never did until this jubilee year When some
body said the other day that there were Oo,Ooo
Americans In Rome, the figures were accept'i
without "A question, though n little calculating
would show their absurdity. There are probably
90, coo visitors IN Rome, but most Of them have
never seen America.
Probably some Of them have never even heard
of America, for Jubilee year has brought some
ouser tou rists this way, Ever since Holy year
began. on Christma as Day, 1890, rilgr rims have
been coming b. Rome from different parts oil Eh'
yope. Not in the old fashioned way, on loot
staa in hand and more or less restricted as To
Wardrobe, but by the railways, which advertise
speclal rates 20 pilgrims and expect 10 transport
Al least a quarter Il a million In Wholesale install
men,s, not counting the steady stream Of those
who come independently, The consequence Is
that when 81 Peters has a crowd, as has 81 often
happened during the past week, II has been Hike
the confusion Of tongues al Babel. As for the
confusion Of Costumes. an immense fancy dress
ball couldn't show q greater variety,
Every hundred,h year IL Jubilee year In Rome.
Sins are weighed there and are RENTED to whom
eoeveT repcnteth." This is what II says, IN laOn,
on the from, Of the Sicna Cathedral. II was placed
there after the Jubilee u 1900, the first one oil "hlch
there is any definite record. There were more
than 200, 900 pilgrims that year and the record
says that AL were lodged and content with Their
food" Maybe future narratives VIII say The same
Of the year 1900. but al present one hears people
exchanging sympathetic on the short
comings u their respective tables.
Finally IL bscame the custom 10 have a jubilee
every twenty Ave years. and this plan was car
RED out pretty regularly until the beginning 81
this century. Owing 10 circumstances there has
not been. until this year, a real iubiles since ITO,
except In 1925. II Is an interesting coincidence
that Leo XIII, then a youth with a long
name ending in Pecci, was present at the opening
Of the sacred door at St Peters In 1925. The
next time that door was opened, which was last
Christmas eve. 4, was he who ofNciated as Pope
Perhaps he will live 20 seal II again next Christ
mas eve, when 1t will he closed with double walls
Of brick and stone work. Three other churches In
Rome have these sacred door; st John Latefan.
St Paul's and Santa Maria Maggiore. All the
pilgrims must visit each o. these churches at least
five times. OF course a good many OF them,
like the Romans themselves, go oitener. SO That
there is always a picturesque group kneeling on
the steps Just, outside the door, saying a prayer
or two before entering.
ANYBODY can go in by this sacred door, but
no one can go on, through It until the last day
of Holy year, Dec. "a next. To keep people from
Infringing on this rule there Is always an attend
ant lust inside the entrance. The one al ST
Peters has already shown several interesting
changes If costume and one never knows lust
what TO expect next. Before Holy Week he wore
q long tlnic Of black cambria, with a roPe around
his waist snd a tall black stad in his hand. This
was his morning costume. In the afternoon he
appear red in evening clothes, with knsebreeches
and buckled slippers, he also wore q great silver
chain around his neck. But during Holy Week
he was literally stunning. He wore a long whits
cotton gown reaching 70 tho floor, a light blue
cape with the Papal arms embroidered on one side,
and on his head q white hood hat covered his face,
too, and had Just two round holes for his eyes To
look through. Of course the sacred doorway
Is a solemn spot, but even the most devout pill
grims had their seriousness bowled over by this
Irresistible apparition.
Holy Week Is a queer mixture anyway that
Is, at Rome. The noble army Of tourists Is often
TOO funny for words, The italians themselves
seem to make gala events out OF the leading days
Of the week. II the English take their pleasures
sadly, the Italians take their religion gaily. To
be convinced of this one needs only W go To st
Peters for the "Miserere' on Holy Thursday.
OF all the Joyous social occasions, where all Roms
meets to visit and promenade and make eyes
at one another, the "Miserers" on Holy Thursday
Is the most cheerful success.
But to begin at the beginning OF Holy Week;
FIRST comes Palm Sunday. In preparation for
,he week, so-calied tribunes have been erected In
St. Peters. These are elevated platforms,
screened about with lattice work and hung with
red drape RES. Some fortunate beings secure
tickets Tor these tribunes by applying TO the project
Of the music, a shadowy parsonage. who Is al
ways somewhere else. Other people buy tickets
from guides and porters who get hold OF them
somehow and sell them at from 81 10 81 apiece.
Perhaps 200 persons can BE- seated In these tr-
Dunes. That means that the other 49, 900 members
Of the congregation will be standing, sitting on
camp stools, on the steps OF coniessionals. on
balustrades surrounding affairs, on the floor, or
walking about ne II they were In a park and the
band was playing at the other side Of the crowd.
St Peters during Holy Week seems to be a
rendezvous for all the Americans in Europe. One
can stand at the door and sac scores Of familiar
faces 20 By. They are the people one has noticed
here and there, in Egypt, In Paris, London, the
Riviera. II seems IA II everybody turns up
al ST Peters for Holy Week. In the crowd which
packs the great space in front n the altar, there
Il a subdued buzz as II a chastaned, but very large
afternoon tea was going on.