616 



KOMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



place on the morning of the 8th of December. 

 At half-past seven, the cardinals, archbishops, 

 and bishops, began to gather in the Vatican 

 Palace, where they robed, putting on white 

 copes and mitres, and then passed to the great 

 hall at the front, and immediately over the 

 vestibule of St. Peter's. Here the masters of 

 ceremony assigned to each one his proper place, 

 and they awaited the coming of the sovereign 

 pontiff. When he appeared, all knelt in prayer. 

 In a clear and sonorous voice he intoned the 

 Veni Creator Spiritus. The choir took up the 

 strain, the bishops arose, and commenced to 

 move in procession back to the Vatican Palace, 

 through the ducal hall, down the unequalled 

 Scala Regia, and into the vestibule of St. Peter's. 

 The Pope, and the cardinals with him, knelt at 

 the main altar as the bishops had done, and 

 waited until the last strophe of the hymn, Veni 

 Sancte Spiritus, was finished by the choir. He 

 arose, chanted the versicle and prayer to the 

 Holy Ghost, and then, preceded by the car- 

 dinals, also entered the council-hall. They 

 passed each to his proper place, the pontiff to 

 aprie-Dieu prepared for him in the middle, to 

 await the commencement of the high mass. 

 This should have been celebrated by Cardinal 

 Mattei, the dean of the College of Cardinals, 

 but, his age and infirmities being too great to 

 permit so great an exertion, the next in rank, 

 Cardinal Patrizi, took his place and was the 

 celebrant. The pontiff approached the altar 

 with him, recited the Judica and the Confiteor, 

 and then retired to his own seat, and the car- 

 dinal ascended to the altar and continued the 

 mass. Before the last gospel, a portable pulpit 

 was brought out near the altar; Mgr. Passa- 

 valli, Archbishop of Iconium, ascended it, wear- 

 ing cope and mitre, and preached the intro- 

 ductory sermon. The sermon over, the Pope 

 gave the solemn blessing, the gospel of St. John 

 was recited, and the mass was over. 



The altar being now clear, the attendants 

 brought in a rich, throne-like stand, and placed 

 it on the altar in the centre. Monsignor Fessler, 

 secretary of the Council, attended by his assist- 

 ant, brought in procession a large book of the 

 gospels, elegantly bound, and placed it on the 

 throne. The Pope then assumed his full pon- 

 tifical robes. The cardinals and all the prelates, 

 in their proper order, approached, one by one, 

 to pay him homage, kissing his hand or the 

 stole he wore. This over, all knelt while the 

 pontiff chanted the prayer, Adsumus, Domine. 

 Four chanters next intoned the litany of the 

 saints in the strains of Gregorian chant. When 

 the litany was terminated, the Pope recited 

 the prayers that follow it. Cardinal Borromeo 

 then, acting as deacon, chanted the gospel 

 taken from Luke x., narrating the mission of 

 the disciples. The assembly were then seated, 

 and the Holy Father, himself seated and wear- 

 ing his mitre, delivered a discourse or allocu- 

 tion.* At the conclusion of this discourse all 



* We have given this allocution in the article PUBLIC 

 DOCUMENTS. 



knelt, and the Holy Father again intoned the 

 Veni Creator Spiritus. The Pope sang the 

 versicles and prayer that follow it, and all 

 again were seated. The secretary now mount- 

 ed the pulpit and read aloud the first proposed 

 decree, "That this Holy Vatican Council be 

 and is now opened." The fathers all answered, 

 Placet ; the Pope gave his sanction ; the formal 

 decree was passed and proclaimed, and the no- 

 taries instructed to make an official record of it. 



A second decree was similarly proposed, 

 voted, and sanctioned, fixing the second public 

 session for the festival of the Epiphany, January 

 6,. 1870. This closed the proceedings of the 

 first public session. The Holy Father arose and 

 intoned the solemn Te Deum or thanksgiving. 



The preliminary arrangements for the trans- 

 actions of the Council had been made by an 

 apostolic letter * (Multiplices inter) of Novem- 

 ber 27th. Chapter ii. of this letter states that 

 the Pope would appoint a congregation to 

 which any member of the Council would de- 

 liver in writing any proposal which in his 

 opinion would lead to the general benefit. 

 This congregation was announced to consist 

 of 12 cardinals (5 residents of Eome, 3 other 

 Italians, 1 French, 1 Spanish, 1 German, 1 Irish), 

 and 14 prelates (2 patriarchs from the East, 1 

 French, 2 Spanish, 4 Italians, 1 South American, 

 1 from the United States, 1 Mexican, 1 English, 

 1 Belgian, 1 German). 



The first general congregation, according to 

 an announcement made at the first public 

 session, was held on the 10th of December. 

 To the jgeneral congregations the bishops come, 

 not in procession, but singly, or in groups of 

 two, three, or four, as they may chance to 

 arrive at the door of St. Peter's. They are 

 robed not in cope and mitre, but simply in 

 rochet and mantelletta. At 9 A. M. the main 

 door is closed. Whoever comes late must enter 

 by a side-door. Mass of the Holy Ghost is 

 celebrated by some one of the prelates, without 

 music. At its conclusion, the presiding car- 

 dinals take their places. All kneel while the 

 chief cardinal reads the prayers prescribed for 

 the occasion. When he concludes, all rise, are 

 seated, and the congregation is opened. On 

 December 10th, only four of the presiding car- 

 dinals were in their places. The chief one, 

 Cardinal de Keisach, was absent in Switzer- 

 land, whither he had gone for his health, and 

 died there. Cardinal de Luca, the next in rank, 

 took his place, and made a brief address to the 

 fathers in Latin. The bishops voted by ballot, 

 first, for the five members of the committee On 

 excuses, and then, a second time, for the five 

 members of the committee on complaints. As 

 the fathers voting were over seven hundred, 

 as each one voted for ten persons, and as the 

 voting was very scattering, the ballots were 

 placed in boxes, which were publicly sealed ; 

 and a committee, consisting of the senior pa- 

 triarch, the senior primate, the senior arch- 

 bishop, the senior bishop, and the senior mitred 

 * See PUBLIC DOCUMENTS. 



