On the following day there was a solemn high office in St. Peter’s. All
Rome flocked there, to see this great and touching spectacle. A dense
crowd thronged the streets, and all shouted and cried when the pope,
surrounded by his Swiss guard, appeared in their midst in his gilded
armchair, and received the greetings of the people with a bland smile.
Toward St. Peter’s waved the human throng, and to St. Peter’s the pope
was borne. The features of Ganganelli had an expression of sadness, and
as he now glanced down upon the thousands of his subjects who,
shouting, followed him, he asked in his heart, “Who among you will be
my murderers? And how long will you yet allow me to live? Ah, were I
yet the poor Franciscan monk I was, then no one would take the pains to
assassinate me. Why, then, does the world, precisely now, seem so fair
to me, now, when I know that I must leave it so soon?” And the pope
shed a secret tear while, surrounded by royal splendor, he imparted his
blessing to the thousands who reverently knelt at his feet.
The bells rang, the organ resounded, the wide halls of St. Peter’s were
penetrated by the marvellous singing of the Sistine chapel. Thousands
and thousands of wax tapers lighted the noble space of the church,
thousands and thousands of people pressed into the sacred halls. Under
his canopy, opposite the high altar, sat the vicegerent of God upon
his golden throne, surrounded by the consecrated cardinals and bishops,
protected by the Swiss guard! Who could have ventured to attack the holy
father--who would have been so foolhardy as to attempt to penetrate that
thick wall of Swiss guards and princes of the Church--who could have
been successful in such an attempt? No human being! But where the people
could not penetrate, where there was no room for the swinging of a
dagger, there the malignant poison lurked unseen!
Ganganelli sat upon his golden throne, intoxicated by the clang of
the organ and charmed by the singing of the high choir, and the pope,
looking down upon the human crowd, again asked himself: “Who among you
are my murderers?”
The singing ceased, the organ was silent, and only the solemn tones of
all the bells of St. Peter’s resounded through the church. A death-like
stillness else; the people lay upon their knees and crossed themselves;
before the altar kneeling priests murmured prayers.
It was a solemn, a sublime moment, for the pope must now receive the
communion--the vicegerent of God must drink the blood of the Lamb. But
still the pope remains sacred; he cannot, like other mortals, make use
of his earthly feet; he must not, like them, approach the altar. Sitting
upon his throne, he has partaken of the holy wafer, and, as it was
unbecoming his dignity to descend to the altar in order to come to
Christ, the latter must decide to come to him!
The golden chalice at the high altar contains the blood of the Lamb; the
Cardinal Francesco Albani performs the holy office. He has the blessed
host, and under his consecrated hand will now be effected the miracle of
turning the wine into the blood of Christ!
And Cardinal Albani lays the golden tube in the cup, and another
cardinal passes the other end of the tube to the pope.
Through this sacred tube will he sip the consecrated wine, the blood of
the Redeemer!
Rushing and thundering recommences the high office, the trumpets renew
their blasts, the drums roll, the bells ring, the organ rattles its
song of jubilee, the trombones crash in unison. It is the greatest, most
sublime moment of the whole ceremony. The pope, having put the golden
tube to his lips, sips the wine changed into blood.
While the pope drinks the two cardinals who to-day are on service
approach the sacred throne. They hold a torch in the right hand and a
small bundle of tow in the left, and according to the custom, set the
tow on fire.
It flashes up in a bright flame, is soon extinguished, and a small,
almost imperceptible quantity of ashes floats from it to the feet of the
pope.
“_Sic transit gloria mundi!_” (So passes the glory of the world!)
exclaimed Francesco Albani, with proud presumptuousness and with
maliciously scornful glances, while with an expression of savage triumph
he stares in the paling face of the pope. “_Sic transit gloria mundi!_”
repeated Albani, in a yet louder and more thundering voice.
The bells ring, the hymn resounds, the trombone and organ clang; the
audience are on their knees in prayer. A bustle arises, a suppressed
murmur--the holy father of Christendom has fainted upon his throne like
any common mortal man.