The Calhoun chronicle. [volume] (Grantsville, W. Va.) 1883-1984, 1906-10-30

iOAN lliiit
OF his private chaplains and then re-
mains alone about thirty minutes I'm
prayer-he takes his modest break-
tast with his personal attendants
very often with his sisters. who arc
generally admitted to assist to his
mass every morning
After breakfast it is the invariable
custom of Plus X. to attend to his pri-
vate correspondence in HIS study. Az
the Cardinal Secretary of State
Is admitted to the Popes study. al
ways bringing large amount of cor
respondence with him, which forms
the subject OF an hours discussion
and adds to the Pope's daily worries
Az 10 the audiences begin, and up 10
l O'Clock in the afternoon il is a con-
tinuous procession of cardinals. bisb-
ops, prelates and lay people. who are
admitted to private audience. After
the audiences are ended the Pope
dimes with his secretaries, and at 2
o'clock is in the habit OF retiring to
his private apartments for a siesta.
which is considered INDISPENSABLE bv
all Italian ecclesiastic and which gen
orally lasts an hour. Then, unless
unusual business pressure prevents
him, the time arrives for a walk in
the garden or in the Raphaelian log
gias in case of rain.
Plus X. occasionally asks Mgr.
Bressan TO walk with him, but as a
rule prefers to be alone reading his
Breviary. or late the pressure of
business has been such and the dis
likes of the Pope for his monotonous
surroundings have so increased that
very seldom he has INDUCED all
through the past winter in even this
modest kind of relaxation.
Work All the Time.
As soon as the Pope re-enters his
| study toward evening, other audi
ences begin, principally those accord
ed to the secretaries of the several
| congregations who have one day ach
week in which to make reports to the
Pope and submit to him the decisions
arrived at by the cardinals composing
these departments of the church.
Among the Popes visitors in the
evening hours are all those whose
presence in the Vatican It is desired
to keep absolutely secret, because
they are charged with important and
jealousy guarded affairs.
Sometimes the Pope receives an in
Innate prelate, whom he has espe-
cially asked to a familiar conference,
and really these visits are the only
kind of relaxation the Pope finds dur
ing his days work. He then forgets
that he is the Pope He treats his
guest with a familiarity unknown in
the annals of the Vatican and even
furnishes refreshments for the enter
tainment of his visitors. 1t is in this
way that Plus X. is enabled to find
out many things which would not be
reported to him in the ordinary
course of business, such as the pre-
vailing gossip of Vatican circles or in
formation as to the truth or falsity
of many things reported to him dur
ing the course of the day
After a light supper Plus x. recites
the rosary and the evening prayers
with his personal attendants in his
private chapel, and at 10 is ready to
retire
In itself the life of Plus X Is very
simple and ought to contribute to the
preservation of his health; his habits
are extremely frugal and this also
ought to lengthen his life But the
! long imprisonment OF three years in
the gilded cage of the Vatican and
the anxious dealings with affairs OF
which he was absolutely extraneous
before his election have now preyed
on his mind and have made OF him a
changed man. His physicians have
now assumed the task to distract his
mind as much as possible from the
worries connected with the admins
| tration of the church.