Papurau Newydd Cymru

Chwiliwch 15 miliwn o erthyglau papurau newydd Cymru

Cuddio Rhestr Erthyglau

8 erthygl ar y dudalen hon

PASSING EVENTS R MOURS, &P-,.

CHARGE AGAINST CAPTAIN SIMPSON.…

THE SHEFFIELD TRADES' UNION…

A GRAND SPECTACLE.

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A GRAND SPECTACLE. The Rome correspondent of The Times gives the following interesting particulars of a grand ceremony which has just taken place there to celebrate the fCte of the centenary of St. Peter:- Two hundred years have passed away since the F§te of the Centenary of St. Peter was celebrated. In that interval thrones and dominions, principalities and Powers, have been swept into oblivion, while the Church of Rome exists, and, externally, never pre- sented a grander phase than it did on the present occasion. What Pius IX. felt and thought as he was borne into the centre of this gorgeous scene it would he impossible to conceive. Leaving his chair and ascending his throne, he stood for several minutes as if transfixed, cardinals and bishops, with their lighted tapers, surrounding him, and a sea of heads surging and stretching away to the extreme distance. I thought he looked pale, and no wonder if he did for if a heretic trembled with emotion, what must have been the sensations of one who regarded himself as the representative of the Great Apostle whose centenary they were celebrating, the very cen- tre and depositary of tenth Yet there were no in- dications of weakness in his voice, which was as firm and clear as I ever heard it. The cardinals having paid their homage by kissing the knee of his Holiness, the great function of the day, the canonisation of the martyrs, began. To Roman Catholics the ceremony which added so many advocates to those already before the Throne of Grace was most interesting, and every- thing that art could supply was borrowed to make it more effective. When all was ready the cardinal charged to conduot the canonisation advanced to the throne, accompanied by a master of ceremonies and an advocate of the consistory, who in the name of the Cardinal begged insianler that his Holiness would permit the names of the twenty-five Beati to be en- rolled in the catalogue ot saints. The Prelate Secretary of the Brcfs ad Principes replied in Latin that the Holy Father was weN acquainted with their virtues, but before deciding on so important an affair exhorted that intercession should be made to the Apostles and all the Court of Heaven for light to guide him. The Pope and all the mitred host then knelt, while two singing chaplains intoned the Litany of the saints, the ecclesiastics joining in, and the vast multitude in the churoh responding as with the voice of many waters. There is a plaintive monotony in the notes, which is very touching, and, familiar as they are to the members of the Roman Catholic Church, not a voioe was silent, and a body of sound rose and swelled through the vast edifice that made one's nerves thrill with emotion. The same forms being observed as in the first in- stance, a second time the cardinal advanced, and the request was made mstanter et instantius that the Beati should be canonized, when, in answer, prayers to the Holy Spirit, the source of light and holi- ness, were implored. Again the Pope and his pre- lates knelt and prayed, and, rising, his Holiness intoned the Veni Creator Spiritus with a voice so clear and loud, and with a precision so remarkable, that people looked upon one another with astonish- ment. A third time the postulants advanced, and intreated insta,nter instantius, et instantisserne that the canonization should take place, aad an answer was returned that the Holy Father, convinced that the act was approved by (jrod, would now pro- nounce his definitive decision, which he accord- ingly did, seated in his chair of State, with his mitre on his head. After some other forms the Cmficier/iue, or Decemimus, was repeated, the silver trumpets sounded, the cannon roared from St. Angelo, and all the bells in the city were rung for joy at the consummation of the hopes of the Church. The Pope now intoned the Te Deum, that fine old Ambrosian hymn. Oh, how grandly it rose and died away, as it was sung by the choir, and was then taken up by 40,000 voices, pealing forth with a power which lifted one above the world, and then dying away, as if the effort was too great for the human soul to sustain. That glorious hymn, chanted as it was by tens of thousands in union, will ring in my ears for ever, and I found myself joining in the universal song of praise, not as a Roman Catholic with Roman Catholics, but as a Christian man with his fellow-man in ac- knowledgment of that Great Power whom we all worship; 11 igh mass was performed immediately after the conclusion of the ceremony of canonization. It presents no peculiarity until we come to the offertory, which on this occasion included the presentation of the offerings made to the Pope by the friends of the new saints, or the religious Orders to which they belonged. During the whole of the morning they lay on tables on the left of the high altar. They con- sisted first of five large wax candles, weighing two of them 60 Roman pounds and three 121b. each These were beautifully painted with flowers, intermingled with arabesque, in gold and silver. Secondly, two large loaves, on silver salvers, one of which was gilt, j bearing the arms of the Pontiff. Thirdly, two barrels, one plated with gold, the other with silver, filled, one with wine and the other with water. Fourthly, three cages of elegant construction, in one of which were two turtle doves, in another two pigeons and in the third various small birds of different kinds. Each saint presented the offerings above described, and the ceremony was conducted with great pomp. As many saints so many processions, each formed by two mace- bearers and a master of the ceremonies, two cardinals preceded by their gentlemen, and followed by two members of the Order to which the saint belonged, or by two priests or laymen, the postulator of the cause and two other cardinals with their gentlemen bringing up the rear. The ceremony therefore continued for some time, and daring this interval we were indulged with a Litany composed expressly for the occasion by the well- known soprano Mustafa, in which the names of the new saints were introduced for the first time. To give effect to the music three several choirs were formed, one of which was placed, under the direction of Mustafa, near the High Altar; another over the great window at the entrance of. the church, directed by Melizzi; and a third, composed of 400 voices, in the cupola, under the direction of Copocei. Such delicious music surely was never heard, as the duleet I ones floated in a series of echoes through the vast building-first rising from earth in a full body of sound, then gradually diminish- ing in power, though not in distinctness, and then softly breathing forth as though they were angels' whispers. As the High Mass proceeded, and the incensebegan to spread its misty veil over every object, nothing could exceed the beautiful effect of colour. His Holiness took the sacrament in both kinds; the benediction was .given, and the long expected cere- monies of a day which will mark an important epoch in the history of the Church were over. The Times has a leading article on the above, from which we extract the following The eighteenth centenary of the martyrdom of St. Peter is an occasion to justify a, solemn celebration, and an immense concourse of those who look to that Apostle as the first in their line of spiritual chisfs. Throughout the regions of civilization and authentic knowledge, there is no succession such as that which dates from the Galilean Fisherman who preached in the metropolis of the Roman Empire what he had seen and heard, and who sealed his testimony with his blood. Even they who demur to the indirectness of the evidence upon which faith eagerly believes that which it has not seen have to admit that for about eighteen hundred years there has been a community of Christians at Rome, under a Government of its own, and naturally sharing the importance of the greatest city in the world. In one way or the other, by right and by wrong, by fair means and by foul, Rome be- came the capital of Christendom. No power can claim so lofty a pretension, or so long a portion of earth's annals. The oldest dynasties are but children in the scale, the greatest Empires ephemeral. Nor is the pre- sent occasion the*least'in the long series of critical emergencies that make up her eventful history. The national sentiment, one of the strong things that Rome could once grind to powder, has now advanced to the very gates of Rome and insulated the Chairof St. Peter from all the Thrones of the world. It has absorbed small States and divided Empires. The arts and sciences have their jubilees, and all the tribes of humanity gather at successive capitals to vie in works of useful- ness and achievements of skill and genius. The great Catholic, Greek, Lutheran, and even Mahommedan Powers come, like the Kings of the East to the cradle of science, and proclaim its increasing triumphs. Free trade and religious freedom assist to found a wide-world union, in which creeds are to be resigned to the conscience of the individual. At such a time, then, when peace and war, and that wisdom of the world which does more than either arts or arms, seem all to be banded together for one final effort against spiritual pretensions, the Church of Rome once more takes its stand before the world, points to its Divine origin, and traces the golden chain which links it to all that is past and all that is to come. Another correspondent, writing on a later date, furnishes the following Consistories and receptions have followed rapidly on each other. In one of the earliest of the former the Pope spoke for the first time in a public consistory ana declared it to be his intention to summon a general council. His Holiness was so moved that his attendants were compelled to unrobe him hastily from fear of his fainting and take him to a private apartment. He soon recovered, however, from his emotion. On: the 25th of June there was a giant reception of the priests, at which 9,000 were present, and half that number again were outside unable to enter for want of room. An anecdote is told of Pius IX. on this occasion which is characteristic, and is, I am assured, true. A coloured priest, unacquainted with Italian, knelt before him and endeavoured to express him- self in Latin, though unsuccess ully. His Holiness then gave him his benediction, adding sotto vote Figlio mio, come sei brutto!"—"My son, how ugly thou art!" Pius IX., as you know, cannot refrain from his joke. On Sunday evening Prince Balviati had a monster reception, at which all the world, clerical and lay, were present. Each day of the Octave of St. Peter has its serious occupations in the morning and its amusements in the evening, One day the Pope visited the Church of St. Pudenziana, built, as it is said, on the site of the first residence of St. Peter, and in the evening the Prince Borghese gave a series of entertain- ments in the gardens or grounds of his villa to the Senatum Popwlumque Roma/mm. There were races with bigce con- structed after the antique, and driven with two herses each, by men dressed in the ancient Greek costume. Horse racing followed, in which I shrewdly guess ten menibtrs of an equestrian troop—five men and five women-performed, and were greeted with shouts of applause. All were ac- coutred in scarlet. There vats vocal and instrumental music too, and the whole terminated with the ascent of a balloon. Simple amusements enough, but it was pleasant to see some 50,000 people enjoying themselves so thoroughly in the open air amidst the trees of the Villa Borghese. The other morning the Pope visited the traditional Prison of St. Paul, under the Church of Santa Maria in Via Lata, and now the Corso is blazing with a spiral illumination of gas, and all the Piazzas are crowded with people listening to bands of music. Thus, priests and laymen are provided with what is supposed to be best suited to the r tastes, and if the laity do not partici- pate much in the occupations of the priests, the latter enter into all the enjoyments.of the people. There were shoals of them in the Borghese Gardens one night, and it was pleasant to see them laying aside the manner of the altar.

THE SWEATING OF SOVEREIGNS.

FIRE DAMP AT SEA,

MRS, YELVERTON IN THE HOUSE…

A SOUTHERNER'S SKETCH OF MR.…