The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1903-08-07
leo AT ST. PETERS.
Pen Picture Of the Late Pom
tiff at Mass.
VIVID EFFECT OF HIS PRESENCE

VIVID EFFECT OF HIS PRESENCE
AZ the Great Pageant Swept On, Mrs.
Humphry Ward Says, the Crowd
sank Down end Their Heads Fell
Like Corn Before the Wini-Re-
markable Features Of tl.e Pope's
Chanting.
The following description of Leo
XIII, the late pope, from Eleanor"
BY Mrs. Humphrey Ward, is published
by permission OF Harper s. Bros:
A roar came up the church-passion-
ate, indescribable. Lucy held her
breath.
There, there he s-the old man!
Caught in a great shaft Of sunlight
striking from south to north across the
church and just touching the chapel Of
the holy sacrament, the pope energies.
The white figure, high above the crowd,
sways from side to side; the hand up
raised gives the benediction. Fragile.
spiritual as Is the apparition, the sum
beam reflnes, subtilizes, s%piritualizes, It
still more, It hovers like a dream above
the vast multitudes ~ surely no living
man, but thought, history, faith, taking
shape, the passion Of many hearts re
vealed. Up rushes the roar toward the
tribunes.
Lucy-the alien and Puritan Lucy
surrenders herself completely. She be-
trays nothing ave by the slightly
parted lips and the iutter of the black
veil fastened on her breast, but 1t Is
as though her whole inner being were
dissolving, melting away, in the fame
OF the moment.
In a proud timidlty, as one who
feels herself an alien and on suffer
ance, she hangs again upon the incoln-
parable scene. This Is st. Peters.
There Is the dome Of Michael Angelo,
and here, advancing toward her amid
the red Of the cardinals, the clatter Of
the guards, the tossing of the fiabella,
as though looking at her alone-the two
waxen fingers raised for her alone-is
the white robed, triple crowned pope.
And august, unheeding, the great
pageant swept on. Close, close to her
now! Down sink the crowd upon the
chairs. The heads fall like corn before
the wind. Lucy is bending too. The
papal chair, borne on the shoulders of
the guards, is now but a few feet dis
tant. Vaguely she wonders that the
old man keeps his balance as he clings
with one frail hand to the arm Of the
chair, rises necessarily and blesses
with the other. She catches the very
look and meaning of the eyes, the
sharp, long line Of the closed and
toothless jaw. Spirit and specter-em-
bodying the past, bearing the clew to
the future.
The pope and his cortege disappeared
behind the confession, behind the high
altar, and presently Lucy, craning her
neck to the right, could see dimly in
the farthest distance against the apse
and under the chair of st. Peter the
chair Of Leo XIII. and the white shad-
ow, m%otionless, erect, within it amid a
court of cardinals and diplomats.
One more moment" however, there
was-very different from the great mo-
ment of the entry, yet beautiful. The
mass is over, and a temporary platform
has been erected between the confess
sion and the nave. The pope has been
placed upon it and is about to chant
the apostolic b~enediction.
The old man is within thirty feet Of
Manisty, who sits nearest to the bar
rier. The red cardinal holding the serv-
ice book, the group Of guards, clergy
and high officials, every detail of the
pope's gorgeous dress, nay every line
OF the wrinkled face and 1eshless
hands, Lucy's eyes command them all.
The q%uavering voice rises into the sud
den silence of st. Peters. Fifty thou
sand people hush every movement.
strain their ears to listen.
All, how weak 1t is! Surely the eff
fort is too great for a frame so enfee-
bled, so ancient. 1t should not have
been exacted-allowed. Lucy's ears lis
ten painfully for the inevitable break.
But no! The pope draws a long Sigh
the sigh Of weakness-C"Ah. poveretto!!"
says q WOuudu CLOSE " Lucy iHu SIduS-
port of pity)-then once more attempts
the chant-sighs again-and sings. Lu-
cy's face softens and glows; her eyes
fiji with tears. Nothing more touching,
more triumphant than this weakness
and this perseverance. Fragile, indOm-
liable face beneath the papal crown!
Under the eyes Of $4,000 people the
pope signs like a child because he Is
weak and old and the burden of his
Office is great. but in signing keeps a
perfect simplicity, dignity, courage. Not
a trace OF stoical concealment, but also
not a trace of iinching. He sings to
the end. and st. Peters listens in a