The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1909-07-03
ROME, ITALY, june Goth, 1909.

ROME, ITALY, June Goth, 1909.
MessJs. Editors AS my last communication
from Rome, before starting on my tramp through
northern Italy and over the Alps into Switzer-
land, wish to tell my American friends some
thing of Holy Week in the Papal city.
After having remained at Rome especially for
this week missed seeing the procession of the
palms. No ceremonies of note took place until
the following Wednesday when | went with an
English lady to the monastery on the Aventine
Hill to hear the Tenebrae chanted in Gregorian
by the monks.
The church was darkened and fourteen can
dies were burning in a triangle on the altar;
some hundred monks were seated in two groups,
one group on each side; at the end of every
chant candle was extinguished until only one
was left burning then this last candle was car
ried out of sight behind the altar leaving the
church in darkness, while the monks dropped
their heavy books with a loud clatter to the
floor. 1t was of course all symbolic. The dis
appearance of the last candle think symbolized
the death of the Savior on the cross, while the
noise which followed tYpified the commotion of
nature when the great darkness covered the
earth and the veil of the temple was rent in
twain. The solemn Gregorian music and the
ghostIy black-cowled figures made it very i'm
pressive.
The next morning in the Gesu Church 1 saw
the blessed sacrament carried in solemn process
sion to the altar of repose. The scene was one
of indescribable beauty. The Gesu interior is
finished throughout in dull gold and old yellow
marble. Nothing is garish, nothing suggestive of
gilt or tinsel; the rich colors are too deep for
that. In the shadowy places the gold becomes
almost red and the marble seems tinged with
brown. 1t gave the impression that one was
standing in the autumn woods at sunset.
The vessel containing the sacrament was car
ried by an arch priest attended by other MEM
bers of the chapter who held over his head
canopy. After him came other priests followed
by the students of the German college, robed in
black and white (not in the flaming gowns of
cardinal red by which they SO well known in
the streets. These students, handsome, manly
fellows with splendid voices, were singing pro
cessional as they marched. The church was
crowded and all the people knelt as the sacra-
ment was borne through their ranks. This cere-
mony was ended by II A. NJ, and at once hur-
ried to the Church of Saint Apollinars, in the
same neighborhood, the only church at Rome in
which the traditional lavanda or washing of feet
still takes place. In former years, am told, the
Pope each Easter Thursday used to wash the
feet of twelve poor men, symbolizng the wash
ing of the apostles feet by Jesus. But once, so
runs the story here, one of the poor men, in the
time of Plus TX, got disgracefully drunk and
caused terrible scandal. and on account of this.
or for some other reason, the lavanda has been
discontinued at the Vatican. At st. Apollinaris
twelve young priests played the part of the
twelve apostles. When l entered the church
they were seated in a row on slightly elevated
platform, each with one foot bare. Presently an
old cardinal in his robes of state came slowly in
and assembled a throne in front of the platform.
An attendant, bending on one knee before the
cardinal, Invested him of his mitre and mantle,
tied a white apron around his waist and pre-
| scented silver basin, in which the cardinal dip
ped the tips of his fingers, drying them on
| towel offered by another attendant Then, fol-
lowed by two assistants one carrying a silver
| basin and one silver pitcher, he approached
the priest who sat at the left end of the line.
| The young fellow was blushing furiously and
was terribly nervous but managed with visi-
BILE effort to stick his bare foot out from beneath
| his robe, while one attendant held the basin
| beneath and the other poured drop or two of
water. Then the cardinal knelt to dry the foot
with his towel and bent to kiss it. This was re-
peated all along the line, and then the cardinal
| reascended the throne, washed his hands Sec
ond time, was re-vested and the ceremony was
| ended.
| Peters, and the annual publication of the high
| altar by Cardinal Rampolla. in his capacity as
arch priest of the Vatican basilica The great ele-
waited marble altar beneath the center Of the
| dome was cleared of all candelebra and orna-
ments. Cardinal Rampolla, attended by the
| whole chapter of st. Peters, approached the
| altar and marched slowly around it, carrying
| large white mop called an "aspergillum," made
of cherry-wood shavings, and each person in the
| procession bearing similar one. They were
very beautiful and from distance looked like
white ostrich plumes. When the moment for
| the publication arrived Cardinal Rampola
| poured wine and oil upon the broad fiat top of
| the altar and then performed the cleansing pro-
| cess with the 'aspergillum." In the deep silence
/ l could distinctly hear the swish and splash of
| the liquid. Then the two or three hundred other
/ members of the chapter marched past the altar,
cardinal had done. Afterward, while the e. pro- i
cession halted in the middle of the nave the ex
posing of sacred relics "a piece of the true cross,
handkerchief bearing the imprint of his face)
| took place from the high balcony above the
statue of st. Veronica. 1t was gorgeous, splen-
much pomp, so much purple and fine linen. 1t
| was all very beautiful and impressive. | don't
| know why went home thinking of man who
walked poor and barefooted by the Sea of
| Galilee.
Easter at Rome How full of promise that
| oft repeated phrase-how stupid the reality. /
| don't know whether it is because all interest
this year centered in the approaching beautif-
| cation of Joan of Arc, or because the Roman
| Easter has been for years living on the empty
memory of its former splendor, but whatever
the cause the ceremony at st. Peters on Easter
morning was disappointment. To begin with
| there were scarcely more than or 10 thousand
people in the basilica. 1t was built to hold 20 or
| so thousand and consequently looked empty.
| The crowd was listless. Mass was celebrated way
back in the Tribune-not on the high altar. The
music was pretty enough, but was executed with
| organ accompaniment, and so had none of that
unearthly, silvery beauty which characterizes
| the unaccompanied singing of the Giulia Chapel
choir. 1t seemed all perfunctory. AS for the
great crowds, as one reads them IN Marion Craw
ford's novels and in Hall Gaines Eternal City,"
they did not exist this yearthatis not nside st.
Peters on Easter morning. The Easter week
has been most interestng-the Tenebrae, the
wonderful professions, the publication of the
altar and all the other symbolic ceremonies we're
alone well worth journey across the ocean to
see. But the Roman Easter morning, the great
eliminating festival is no more. It has gone
forever-gone with the Carnival of Venice, gone
with so many of Italy's dead traditions, to catch
the last faint glimmers of which the tourist of
today may strain his eyes in vain. SEABROOK.