Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 13.djvu/419

 SAINT PETER

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SAINT PETER

Adrian IV, an Englishman, Boniface VIII, Nicholas V, Paul II, Alexander VI, and the Emperor Otto II. The heart of Pius IX also reposes here in the simple urn. The new crypts extend about the tomb of the Apostle and lie under the dome. Adjoining the horse- shoe-sliaped passage are a number of chapels in which very remarkable antiquities and works of art from the old basilica are preserved. In the middle of the pas- sage just mentioned is the most magnificent of all the early Christian sarcophagi, that of Junius Bassus, to which Waal has dedicated a detailed and richly illus- trated monograph, sympathetic in treatment. Two altars are placed here in the closest possible proximity to the sarcophagus in which the body of St. Peter re- poses. Admission to the crypts and to Holy Mass at the altar of the Confession which was formerly very difficult, especially to women, is now easy to obtain.

The Ascent of the Dome. — It was the former custom to ascend an easy stairway to the roof of the church, but now a spacious elevator carries visitors to the heights. From the roof, which is enlivened with many small cupolas and a few guards' houses, there is a fine panorama and a view of the Eternal City. The great dome has a circum- ference of about one- hundred paces, iUK I if one wishes to mount higher, a stairway between the innei and outer casing of the dome, 30S:3 feet in height, leads into the lantern. Enter- ing the external gal- lery of the lantern, the beholder is as- tonished by t he view that greets the eye. It looks down into the gardens of the Vatican Palace, in which the people walking about seem like dwarfs. The panorama of the city unfolds itself in plas- tic forms. To the left tower the Sabine mountains; and beyond the extensive, sun-bathed Campagna are the beautiful Alban hills with their highest peak, Monte Cavo. On the slope of this chain lie the at- tractive suburban towns Frascati, Marino, Albano et(\, and on the right gleams a silver streak — the sea. Encir(!hng the gallery towards the west, the Vatican gardens lie beneath us, rich and varied in plan, al- though not artistically laid out. The entire pano- rama is one of greatest interest.

Divine Service in St. Peter's. — Although the Lateran Basilica bears the honorary title of the cathedral of the Bishop of Rome, mother and head of all the churches of the earth, this basilica, as Waal correctly observes, has for a thousand years been an isolated church which played a ver>' modest part in the devotions of the Roman pilgrims. It is very different with St. Peter's. The great wealth of the basilica has always made it possible to maintain most magnificent ritual; and its proximity to the inner city, its great size, and its art treasures have always attracted everyone. Besides numerous canons, beneficiaries, and chaplains, the church has at its disposal the Vatican Seminary, the students of which always assist in the church in the celebration of Divine Service. The performances of their vocal choirs, the Capella Giu- lia, are of a very high artistic order. One liturgical celebration takes place only in St. Peter's and in no other church in the whole world: the Washing of the

Interior of St. Peter's, lookino towards the High Altar

Altar on Maundy Thursday. At the close of the Matins on this day the so-called papal altar under the great bronze baldachino is sprinkled with oil and wine. In an extended procession the archpriest, his vicar, the canons, the beneficiaries, the chaplains, and the entire clergy approach in order, and symbolically wash the altar with a sprinkler. A solemn benedic- tion with the great relics from the gallery of St. Helena terminates this very impressive ceremony.

The great papal functions which Leo XIII was the first to resume after the sad year of 1870 have since then taken place in St. Peter's with a few exceptions, when the Sistine Chapel or the Sala Ducale were used. Jubilees, canonizations, coronations, and other events in which the pope solemnly presides assemble 40,000 to 50,000 people in the gigantic halls of St. Peter's. They wait patiently for hours until at the appointed time the Vicar of Christ, loftily enthroned upon the sedia gestatoria, blesses the worshipping throng, while in measured steps he is borne to the papal altar. A perfect silence prevails, when after long preparations the pope in full pontifical attire begins the actual service. Sudden ly the magnificent tones of the Ky rie are intoned by the choir of the Sistine Chajjel, who alone have the privilege of singing in the presence of the pope, and always without the accom- paniment of an organ. Then the pope turns for the first time to the faithful and chants "Pax vobis" (Peace be with you). At the Elevation silver trumpets resound from Michelangelo's dome.

Chimes of St. Peter's. — As in many cathedral churches, the bells of St. Peter's possess an ample endowment of their own. This serves for their maintenance and to defray the cost of the com- plicated programme of the chimes. The usual daily service is simple but far more complicated are the chimes for Sundays, fast days, feast days, ember days, feasts with octaves, the anniversary of the death, election, and coronation of the present and the preceding pope, and finally, as a climax, the feast of St. Peter with its chimes seven days be- fore and during its octave. Different chimes are prescribed at the death of a canon than at that of the pope.

The Maintenance of the Basilica. — A building of such colossal extent requires a corps of architects, who conduct the ordinary, as well as the unusual, works on the basilica. They are directed by a head architect, who in conjunction with the economist of St. Peter's, a canon, discusses and arranges every- thing as far as no special question requires the vote of the chapter. A staff of selected artisans of all kinds, who are in permanent service and are called sampiefrini, is directed by a head ma.ster, and there are few great institutions in the world which have such a chosen body of clever, reliable, and fearless workmen. Only in the rarest cases is the manage- ment of St. Peter's compelled to seek assistance of artisans or workmen who do not belong to the sani- jnetrini. The maintenance of the mighty building is exemplary throughout.