Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-09-29

| about which the press has gone into the
! smallest details. 1t was arranged, in fact,
| to transport the body from the temporary
| vault in the cathedral of St Peters TO st.
| Jean Latran. where the holy stairway IS
| situated, and which is the church chosen
| by the pontff as his last resting place. The
| interest attaching to the ceremonies Is not
| unusual. for in Rome there is saying as
| to the rarity of things, which is expressed
! by 'once every pope's death" The plans
of transporting the body by daylight, under
| the escort of Italian national troops, has
| been definitely abandoned, those in charge
| fearing that hostile demonstrations such
| as happened at the time Plus TX was buried
| may be repeated.
| Americans NAV not know that, while the
| popes have nearly all been buried at ST.
| Peters or at st. Jeans one has oeen purled
| in another church, and that they themselves
| have contributed several thousand dollars
| toward defraying the expenses or monu-
ment to his memory. The pope was rus
| TX, predecessor of Leo XIII. He was
| buried, by his own express wishes, at the
| baslica of San Lorenzo, which adjoins the
| wall of the greatest cemetery in the world
| that of Campo Verano The church itself
| is composed of two Independent parts, ana
| the more ancient of the two was bult by
| Emperor Constantine the Great, 10 com
| memorate the martyrdom OF the SAINT
and decorated parts of the church at differ
ent times, and Plus TX, especially attached
/ to the historic place, caused the empeliish-
ments added by his predecessors to be re-
moved thus leaving the basilica as origi-
| nally built. The custody of 1t was given
| into the hands of the Capuchin friars, VINO
have monastery near there.
Pope Plus frequented the church very
lr,airp nf
st. Laurence. For himself, his last
abode, he chose an almost hidden nave,
which seemed unfinished at that time, but
| that later through the efforts and money Of
the Catholics of the world, was decorated in
a fitting manner.
The precise text of that passage Of the
testament of his holiness referring to his
burial and his tomb is as follows:
From the Vatican, March 10, 1873.
my body when a corpse shall be buried
in the Church of St Laurence extra muroS,
and Immediately underneath the small arch
standing in front of the so-called grldlron
or stone, in which even now can be as
cerned the spots caused by the martyrdom
of the illustrious Levite.
THE cost of the monument shall not eX-
coed four hundred dollars.
ION one side of the modest monument will
be cut design representing the pope,s
triple tiara with the keys, then an cpl
graph to read: OSSA EFT CINERES PHI TX
PONTTFICATI ANN CRATE PRO
EO. The arms will be the skull and bones.
His will was faithfully obeyed by the
cardinal haeredes, Monaco La Valletta.
Simeoni, and Mertel.
After having reached the -ears of st. Pc
ter in the Roman chair, and which he after
ward passed, Pope Plus died. Lis body
was Transported from the basilca of st. Pc
ter to his chosen place amid cortege of
faithful sinners, but it happened that the
solemnity of the occasion was vilified by the
lawlessness of a mob, which did everything
to curse the beloved pontiff.
Toward the end of the year 1881 the Cath
olics then in Rome made pilgrimage to
the tomb of st. Peter then living IN the
person of Leo XIII, and afterward, remem-
berng the good deeds of his predecessor
they made another pilgrimage to the lat
ter's tomb, which they covered with fow-
ers and prayers.
Although many among those visitors had
seen before the unfinished appearance OF
the naves Of the church, which now ap-
peared more so than ever because or the
huge stone sarcophagus, they felt ashamed
of themselves for that appearance, as
though they were the guilty ones.
There were many Americans present IN
that group, and at once it was decided to
change existing conditions. Instead OF
common windows it was planned to replace
them with stained glass ones. According
to hurried estimates, 1t was stated that the
initial expense would have been ABOUT
s. 600 A committee was then formed and
information sent out broadcast that
contributions of from cents up would be
received. In one year the committee col
iected about $4,000 of which sum good
part was contributed by American Cath
olics. For this reason the humble decora-
tive plans were abandoned in view OF the
annie sum at hand. The ornamentation
was then planned on monumental scale,
so as to rank the tomb among the chief
sights Of the Eternal city.
The architect Raphael. of the noble fam
ily Of the Cattaneos, which has recently
figured in sales of italian objects of art TO
lir J. P. Morgan, was chosen to do the
work, and the Byzantine style was deemed
most appropriate. 1t also matched the gen
eral appearance Of the church.
The architect found it necessary to raise
the ceiling in order to make the ensemble
as uniform as possible, and in many ways
changed removed or added decorations so
as to conform with the plans adopted by
the committee
The monument was built with the most
precious of marbles and stones, for the
most part given to the architect by admir-
ing Catholics. The whole is encrusted ana
inlad with gold mother of pearl and semi
precious stones. The most renowned mo-
saicists contributed to the work, thus as
surfing a genuine work of art.
On the monument itself, as seen by the
ACCOMMODATING nluSlldlioil, SpiSioph
chosen by the pontiff has been cut On the
border of the lowest supporting slab is the
following inscription: Raphael, Monaco,
La Valletta Ioannes Smeoni- Theodolphus,
Mertel Cardinales Haereded Posverunt, Elk
Testamento" CThe cardinals La Valletta,
simeoni and Mertel laid in accordance wIth
the will.)
The following epigraphs chosen from the
first allocution of Pope Leo were ten
placed in the surrounding frieZes with
the splendor of his virtues he enlightened
the apostolic see. He moved the whole
church to admire and love him. He fought
for truth and justice with invincible cour-
age He supported in an exemplary manner
the government of his Christian family"
Then on the sides of the marble casket:
"His holiness Plus TX made testamentary
disposition of his remains, which were to
be placed in this baSilca, Immediately I'M
der the arch in front of the stone already
consecrated to the blood of the glorious
Levite st. Laurence. with the condition
that instead of his family arms the skull
and bones should be engraved, and his own
epigraph, and not to exceed 1000 francs"
The other: The Catholic world, in ac-
companying the memory OF the holy father
Plus TX with benedictions and gratitude,