Waterbury evening Democrat., 1903-07-21
Dies With Words of BeRe-
 diCtion on His Lips.
LAST LOOK WAS ON THE CROSS
Supreme Power In the Hands of the
 Sacred College.
CARDINAL OREGLIA NOW RULES.

Em POntifT's Last Moments He Said, sNThe Pain I Suffer Is Most Terri- ble," Yet His Parting Whispers Were Blessings on the Cardinals and His Relatives.
 The period of over two weeks that Pope Leo passed in the shadow of Eeath was no less wonderful than his life. His splendid battle against dis ease was watched the world over with sympathetic admiration and ended only After seriesAof tremendous efforts to conquer the weakness of his aged frame by the marvellous will power of bis mind.
 The pleuro pneumonia with which his holiness had been suffering was scarcely so responsible for his death az that inevitable decay of tissue which ensues upon ninety-three years of life. The tested steel which had bent so of ten before human ills was bound to break at last The emaciated and life less frame which held so brave a spirit lies on the bed in the Vatican beside which almost all the world has prayed. A white silk handkerchief is bound about his chin, and in the hands which have blessed so many thousands has been placed a crucifix. The body will be watched by uniformed officers of the noble guard and rough clad Franciscan penitentiaries, who will keep a cease less vigil until the burial occurs
 Today the sacred college of cardinals will assemble for the impressive cere- mony of officially pronouncing Pope Leo dead. After this sad function has been performed the body will be taken to the small throne room adjoining the death chamber, where it will be em- 5 balmed
 The funeral ceremonies will extend pver nine days, the remains being re- moved to the cathedral of St. Peters, where they will lie in state. The ulti- mate resting place of the dead pontifr will be in the magnificent basilica of St. John the Lateran.
 Pope Leo's final moments were mark ed by that same serenity and devotion and, when he was conscious, that calm intelligence which is associated with his twenty five years pontificate. His was no easy death. An hour before he died. turning to Dr. Lapponi and his de- voted valet, Pic Centra, he murmured, sThe pain I suffer is most terrible" Yet his parting words were not of the physical anguish that he suffered but were whispered benedictions upon the cardinals and his nephews who knelt at the bedside, and the last look of his almost sfghtless eyes was toward the great ivory crucifix hanging in the death chamber.
 Practically all the cardinals now in Rome, kneeling at the bedside, watch ed the passing of his soul Earlier in the day Cardinal Seraino VannuteIli had impressively pronounced the ab- solution in articulo mortis. The con dition of his holiness varied from ag- ony to coma. Wishing to relieve him, pr. Mazzoni suggested that morphine should be administered, but Dr. Lap poni did not agree, fearing that the end might be quickened.
 Of this supreme moment Dr. Lapponi gives an impressive description. He said:
 Death occurred through exhaustion, although in the last two hours Pope Leo made supreme effort to gather to- gether all his energies. He succeeded in recognizing those about him by the sound of their voices, as his sight was almost entirely lost Still he made a marvellous display of his energy, and even his death was really grand. Ii was resigned, calm and serene. Very few examples can be given of man of such advanced age after so ex. haustive an illness showing such su preme courage in dying
 'aThe pontiff's last breath was taken exactly at four minutes past 4. I ap preached a lighted candle to his mouth three times. according to the tradition aI ceremonial and afterward declared the pope to be no more. l then went tC inform Cardinal Oreglia, the dean o1 the sacred college, who immediately assumed full power and gave orders that the Vatican be cleared of all curi ous persons having no right to be Therein. Contemporaneously. the car dinaT instructed Mgr. Righi, master o1 ceremonies, to send the Swiss guards from the Clementine hall to close al the entrances to the Vatican and dis miss all persons from the death cham Der, the body being intrusted to the Franciscan penitentiaries."
 Meantime events of momentous i'm pcrtance to Catholic Christendom were occurring. The death of Pope LeC meant the passing of the supreme pow er into the hands of the sacred college of cardinals as its temporary custodian during the interregnum. The perfec administrative machinery of the churcl provided against the slightest interrup ton of the governing authority. Al the senior member of the sacred college Cardinal Oreglia, to whom the popt solemnly confided the interests of thu church, has now become the exponen of the cardinals until Pope Leo's sue cessor has been elected. This ha brought forth Cardinal Oreglia as tn Striking personality of the hour.
 The cardinal is the exact antithesi of Pope Leo, having none of the lat pontiff's sympathetic and beneyolen .pha rn ofnrfnficu Ho c0rnas from a no