The Irish standard., 1903-08-22
HOUSEHOLD.
s Holding Responsible
S at the Vatican.
among all the temporal

and Orsini. The Office dates back to
the reign of Pope Sixtus V, and was
conferred by that Pontiff upon the
\ chiefs of the Colonnas and of the
iOrsinis of the day, With the object of
putting an end to the wars which had
until that time been carried on for
hundreds of years by these two rival
families against each other. says EN-
Atfache in the New York Times
From the eleventh to the sixteenth
has and the Orsinis constantly caused
blood to flow in the streets of Rome.
"A Colonna is on record as having
boxed the ears of the Pope. while an
Orsini drove another Pontiff out of
the Eternal City. At length, when an
Orsini and a Colonna had so far for
gotten the respect due to the Holy
Father as to draw their swords upon
each other when in his presence. he.
with the object of parting them. Or
deren one to take up his position on the
FL bit of the Papal throne and the other
On the left. and subsequently. Oh the
express NVtpsY a5 St aiYtl!in" that peace lie
twea the twp fam les should from
thenceforth be maintained. converted
into hereditary dignitaries these posi-
lions to the right and to the left of
the throne, the OrSinis and the Colon
mas taking it in turn to have the
place on the right Owing to the ruin
and disaster that have overtaken the
Orsinis. whose chief has been deprived
by the courts of the control of his
property as Il spcndthrift mt the re-
quest of his family, it is tile head of
the Colonnas Don Mare Antonio, who
is now alone to fulfill the duties of
< PRINCE ''Statur Proximus Il Solo Pom
'lhcls MaAim. AS such. he has to
ttem every ceremony mt which the
'ontlff appears. standing Immediately
% tile right of the Holy Father ON the
VS. beside the throne. On such or-
sions he is ~.rraycd in Il sixteenth
injury costume of black silk. with
'ashed doublet and hose, black silk
Ocktn@s, silver bucilc'l shoes. lace
w lace sleeves and rapicr with Il
hilt, etc. 1t is to him that are
IN the palms and the candles to
sent to the Holy Father to bless.
I'd formerly when the Popes were
till accustomed to drive about Rome
was the prince assistant who pre-
,ded on horseback the Pontiff's car
age. If the Pope himself went on
% held the stirrup for His Holiness
mount, and who led the horse. The
use OF CUlOnna. to which the ll;luYh-
of Mrs. john w. Mackay belongs
marriage. has furnished mt least
a dozen PopcS to the Catholic
urch. including Marcel. who re-
ned in 3O4. and Martin V. who oc-
pied the chair of st. Peter in 14l7.
tordin% to tradition, it owes its
= 10 its possession of what is
.aged to be portion of the column
which Christ WAS tied when
;cour@ed on the eve of his crucitix ion.
and which is still preserved as Il
shared heirloom by the family. hay
1S been brought from Jerusalem i'm
he frst century of the Christian era.
t is the principal treasure. of course.
o the grand old Colonna palace,
whNfh was built way back in the
fom$ zenith century on the Square of
the apostles. in Rome. and which has
had among its occupants Popcs Mar,
tin and .ulius IL. as we'll as that
celebrated Cardinal Horromeo who
was subsequently canonzed as st
charles. Don Mare Antonio Colonn:l
was formerly principal chamberlain OF
the now widowed Queen Marghcrita
but was obliged to resign this post
and entirely to sever his connection
with the court of the Quirnal on the
y death of his father in order to take IL,
the latter'S hereditary office of prince
assistant of the holy see AS he has
no SOM this particular dignity will at
his death come into possession of his
second brother. Don FahriZio. who is
popular figure at the court of til,
Qnirinal. a member of the Italian Sen
ate and colonel of italian cavalry: Il
third brother Don Prospero. likewise
senator. is mayor of Rome. Strictly
speaking, with the advent of the new
pope to the throne. the position on tho
right thereof should fall to the !o
of the head of the house of OrSini TIL,
Colonnas having held it throughout TIL,
Y reign Of Leo MIL. But. as stated
above, Prince Philip Orsini is insolvent
has} been legally declared a spend
\ thrift, and has been pronounced il
< court to be wcak-minded. His eldcs
4 son, Don Domenico. prince of Solofra
has made an unfortunate marri:lg &C
which has on several occasions occl
pied the attention OF the tribunals
to accomplish his project of causing
Don Philip and Don Domenico t
waive their rights in favor of the oil
princes youngest son. Don LcliO. Il
officer of tba pontifcul guard and
particular favOrite of the late pope. S
it is practically certain that the Color
ms Will cOntiu1o tn hold tl,ro,,rl,n, ~,