DIARIO
774
DIARIO
Mother of Sorrows. Thursday: Exposition during
the whole day at S. Gioacchino in Prati with Rosary
and Benediction in the evening, Exposition in five
other churches, to which a discourse is added at N. S.
di S. Cuore ; in S. Andrea at the Quirinal catechetical
instruction for boys. Friday: Exposition, chaplet of
the Sacred Heart, Holy Horn- for the dying, prayers in
honour of the Passion, Way of the Cross, Way of the
Mater Dolorosa, chaplet of the Seven Dolours. Sat-
urday: Exposition, devotion to the Mother of Mercy
against lightning, in honour of the Queen of the Holy
Rosary, special prayers for the conversion of England,
chaplet of the Immaculate, of the Seven Doloiu-s,
sermon, singing of the litany, and Benediction. —
(c) Monthly. — For the first Sunday is ordered, in one
church or another: Exposition in the form of the
Forty Hours, procession, prayers for a good death.
Way of the Cross, Corona dei Morti, Communion of the
Pages of Honour of St. Aloysius. For the second
Sunday: Exposition in the morning and in the even-
ing, procession of the Blessed Sacrament, at S. Maria
sopra Minerva procession with the Bambino and prayers
for blasphemers. For the third Sunday : Exposition in
the morning or in the evening, and procession. For
the fourtli Sunday the same is prescribed for several
churches, also the Way of the Cross. For the last
Sunday: Exposition and procession fojr two churches
in the morning, for others in the evening ; Way of the
Cross at the Campo Santo. vSimilarly, the Diario
makes ajinouncements for the first Tuesday, the first
Wednesday, etc. Among the devotions noted for
these days special mention may be made of prayers
for obstinate sinners said on the first Wednesday at
S. Giacomo in Augusta, Mass of reparation for the
insults offered to the Blessed Sacrament, Mass in the
morning and Benediction in the evening with prayers
for the conversion of Englanil, supplications for the
reunion of Christendom, English sermon on the first
Friday at S. Giorgio e santi Inglesi.
(2) Extraordinary devotions. — Sermon two hours before the Angelas on all feasts of Christ and of Our Lady at S. Alfonso on the EsquUine; at S. An- drea delle Fratte Way of the Cross on all Sundays of February, March, November, and December, and on the eight days of Carnival; at S. Agnese Outside the Walls E.xposition on all Sundays and Holy Days at two hours before the Angelus, with chaplet of the Five Woimds during Lent; at S. Andrea at the Ponte Mil- vio a Mass is said on all Sundays and Holy Days for the deceased members, two hours before the Angelus; Office of the Dead, absolution given in the adjoining cemetery, then Benediction in church after the recita- tion of a litany. On Sejituagesima Sunday at S. Filippo on the Via Giulia Exposition all day, closing with litany and Benediction. On the Saturday be- fore Sexagcsima some churches perform a pious exer- cise called Carnivale santificato. On the Friday after Sexagesima and on the Fritlays of Lent, in nearly all churches, the Way of the Cross is made or the Via Dolorosa. Lenten sermons are preached on Wednes- days and Fridays. The Lenten preachers are received in audience by the pope. For the Apostolic Palace a special preacher is appointed. On La^tare Sunday the Holy Father blesses the Golden Rose, which he then sends to persons of rank, to cities, or corporations as a token of gratitude; on this Sunday also Ijegin the catechetical instructions prescribed by Benedict XIV as a pre|)aration for Easter. The Holy A\'eok exer- cises are performed in all the jiarish churches, ami atl- ditional devotions are held in many, as the washing of the papal altar at St. Peter's on Jlaundy Thursday, sermons on the Passion, W.ay of the Cross or of the Desolata, or honouring the Hours of the Agony. The Ruthcniati Rite is used for the fimctions of Holy ^^'eek at SS. Sergio e Bacco, the Armenian Rite at S. Nicola da Tolentino on 1 January. At S. Andrea della Valle the Veni Creator is sung after Mass and the
baptismal vows are renewed; at S. Maria in Campi-
telli the faithful consecrate themselves to the patron
chosen for the year; at S. Carlo a Catinari the spiri-
tual testament of St. Charles Borromeo is read on 5
January. At S. Atanasio water is blessed in the
Greek Rite and at S. Andrea della Valle and at other
churches in the Latin Rite. This water the pious
faithful take home to sprinkle the sick, their houses,
fields, vineyards, and themselves. The 6th of Janu-
ary is the titular feast of the Propaganda; Mass is cele-
brated in the Oriental Rites, and sermons are preached
in the different languages. On 3 February takes
place the blessing of throats with a relic of St. Blaise,
and in the churches of the Blessed Virgm the pious
custom obtains, throughout the year, of anointing the
throats with blessed oil. On 31 December, in nearly
all the churches and oratories, the year is closed with
Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and Te Deum.
Formerly greater solemnity was imparted to some feasts
by the presence of the Holy Father, who would celebrate
the Mass or Vespers, or would assist at them pontifi-
cally in one of the greater basilicas and impart the
Apostolic ble-ssing to the world from the outer loggia.
The Diario mentions some twenty days on which such
a cappella papale, as it was called, used to take place
before 1870. For the year 1908 only two are noted:
for 20 July, the anniversary of the death of Leo XIII,
and for 9 August, the anniversary of the coronation
of the reigning pontiff, Pius X.
The special fe;ists of the churches are ushered in by preparatory triduums, novenas, or devotions of seven or of eight days, on which pious exercises are ]ier- formed in common and Benediction is given; entire months are dedicated to saints or mysteries — as the month of St. Joseph, the month of Mary, of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, of the Precious Blood, of the Sacred Heart of Mary, of the Seven Dolours, of the Rosary, and of the Dead. Holy Communion for a series of fixed days of the week, together with special prayers, is much in use. We read in the Diario of six Sundays of St. Aloysius, seven of St. Camillus, nine of St. Cajetan, ten of ,St. Ignatius, fifteen of the Rosary; nine Mon- days of the Archangel St. Gabriel; nine Tuesdays of St. Anne, and thirteen of St. Anthony of Padua; seven Wednesdays of Our Lady of Mount Carniel; seven Fridays of the Seven Dolours; seven of St. Ju- liana Falconieri, nine of the Sacred lleart of Jesus, ten of St. Francis Xavier, thirteen of St. Francis of Paul, thirteen of St. Onuphrius; five Saturdays of the Name of Mary, twelve of the Immaculate Conception, fifteen of the Holy Rosary.
To encourage the faithful in the frequent reception of the sacraments, in visiting the churches, venerating the Blessed Sacrament or the relics of the saints, and in performuig other acts of devotion, the Cluirch has opened wide her treasure and granted almost innum- erable Indulgences. Of special note is the totics quo- ties Indulgence. The Vatican Basilica has this In- dulgence for every day of the year; the church of S. Andrea delle Fratte on the feast of St. Francis of Paul (3 May); the clutfches of the Trinitarians on Trinity Sunday; SS. C'uore at the Castro Pretorio on the feast of the Sacred Heart; the churches of the Carmelites on 16 July; in several churches the Indulgence of Portiuncula on 2 August; the churches of the Serv- ites on the feast of the Seven Doloui-s in September; where the ('onfraternity of the Rosarj- is canonically established, on Rosary Sunday; in several churches on the feast of the Holy Redeemer; in the Benedictine churches on 2 November. Only lately (20 February, 1908) the Holy Father has granted a Mies quod'es In- dulgence to the pious practice of the Scala Santa (Acta S. Sedis, XLI, 294). Spiritual retreats are given for men twice a year at the Caravita, and once for women; for both sexes at the Crociferi, and a special one preparatory to Easter, for both sexes, at SS. Vin- cenzo e Anastasio.
