The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1909-08-07
SCHOOLGIRLS ABROAD.
(The Ave Maria.)
Y,


sars and the City of the Saints, there was some
thing that appealed more strongly to u.s. 1t
was-thlnk of lt!-an audience with the Holy
Father. 1T a day never to be forgotten Aunt
Margaret wore black dress and black lace man
tllla on her head; we all in white and at the
appointed time stood at the entrance to the Vati-
can palace, laden with rosaries etc. to be blessed
and feeling somewhat nervous.
As soon party had gathered we were es-
corted up marble stair cases and through vast cor
ridors to the Sala Clementina. At every landing
and doorway stood Papal soldiers in uniforms of
black and red and yellow, designed by Michael An
gelo. So still are these Swiss guards that one
might easily mistake them for statues Arrived in
the Clementine hail. we stood in half-circle and
waited breathlessly. Soon there was stir; from
the door leading to the Pope's apartments came
two Swiss guards then two god-embroidered sol
diers, followed my major domo in black and gold
and wearing black hat with long, white plume:
after him walked two more immediate attendants
all in red silk; then the Rt. Rev. Mgr. Kennedy
rector of the American college, and the Maestro di
Camera, Mgr. Bisetti; and, last of all robed in
white. the dear Holy Father himself.
All sank to their knees as His Holiness an
preached. Mgr. Kennedy said few words to
which the Holy Father made response; and all the
time he talking kept my eyes fixed on that sad
but kindly face / was afraid if [ looked away for
instant that the scene would vanish. Once |
caught glimpse of Mary's rapt face and tears
we're streaming from her eyes; while Catherine
convulsively clasping enough rosaries to stock Ben
tigers, was, like myself, in an ecstacy. But this
was not all. His Holiness made the circuit pre-
senting his ring to be KISSED and each ones con
fession later told that at least four of those in
the Holy Fathers audience kissed not only the
Fisheman's Ring, but the dear hand itself And
the thrill-it like getting first honors a crown
par excellence and gold medal all at once with
the feeling afterward of Benedction when the
chapel is dark and the singing is soft and low!
After he had said word to each Pope Plus x
turned to us all once more, gave as general bless
ing, while held out the articles we had brought
with US; then, as if by magic, the procession of
guards and dignitaries reformed, and he passed
maJestically through the doorway; and we-well.
everyone gazed and gazed in the direction he had
taken. And when the spell was broken, everyone
was silent, everyone was deeply moved; and as we
left the great palace of the Popes we felt that
he had seen a greater than any earthly king or
emperor.
This visit was over by noon but it more than
filled the day; and not until the next morning did
we continue our sightseeing, this time going to the
Vatican galleries Here again words serve but to
repeat what the gulde-books tell the tourist. The
beauty of it ALL the wonder of it all must be seen.
not once, but Often to be appreciated. From the
first steps of the Scala Regia to the last room of
the Eruscan museum, one is in dream There is
the great Sistine chapel with its beautifully deco
rated marble screens, its impressive frescoes, its
renowned last Judgment" by Michael Angelo.
Think of one chapel-and not very large one at
that containing paintings by Perugino, Botticelh.
Ghirlandajo, Raphael and Michael Angelo Far
Their on we came to the famous STANCE and Logge
which inmortalize Raphael. Chief of these is. of
course, the Stanza della Segnatura with its cell
ing paintings, under which the Disputa Par
nassus and the School of Athens.
The picture gallery Of the Vatican, lately en-
larged and improved by His Holiness Plus X is
q monument to the Papacy, and shows that the
Church has ever been the patron, the conserver of
art To understand, even partially, the paintings.
must remember history, mythology, and the
lives and legends of the saints. One could hardly
expect fully to grasp the symbolism OF some OF
them for local traditions and quaint bits of folk
lore have been embodied in many of the pictures
by the artists who painted not for posterity, but
for their own times and their people.
st. Sebastian is favorite subject among lta-
ian painters; and standing near a group OF tour
lists in the Vatican gallery, before picture of the
martyr Catherine became interested in a young
woman, who looking in vain for the name of the
picture, turned to a companion and asked II 1t
represented Prometheus William Tells son. The
older lady told her that 1T was ST. Sebast1ans Mar
+vrdom whereupon she remarked admirngly:
Dear! I wish / knew the Bible as well as you
dor7 This incident was duly chronchled in Cath
crimes notebook followed by the philosophic
mark: "One can't know everything, but one should
know enough not to let others know how little one
knows. So there!
n return 10 the Vatican treasures. We spent
hours looking at the great Raphael tapestries, the
rriceesg collections of antiquities, mosacs, scup-
+nre and bronzes; and at each step the conviction
was more and more forced that lifetime
would be too short in which to see and some to
know the art wealth of this great palace of the
Popes.
4 morning devoted to the Catacombs of St.
ro1ivtus and an afternoon to the Church Of St.
Paul's-wthout the Walls, made day to be remem-
bered. At the Catacombs we applied for entrance
and . guide: and each of us was supplied with
tinv taper for use in the long, narrow dark under,
rrro,nd Messages where in tombs, inscriptions and
ss5a;+;Tgs Is recorded wonderful chapter in the
history Of the Church The darkness accentuated
by the Pickering tapers the stiffness the sense OF
,ssterv which one feels as one gropes through the
narrow streets in this city of the dead, the chill
that comes over one after short stay underground