3-028-748 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The Pope in St. Peter's [in Rome] on Christmas Day, 1870. 'The Christmas Day services in the cathedral began with matins and lauds, at three o'clock in the morning. At nine o'clock, when a large congregation of spectators filled the nave, the grand pontifical procession entered St. Peter's, the Pope wearing the tiara presented to him by the Queen of Spain; the Cardinals and the long array of prelates vested and mitred as for the altar. Nothing in this procession excited so much attention as the splendid attire of the Oriental Bishops, who wore copes of gold tissue or many-hued silk. All had jewelled mitres - that ornament, as worn by several, being in the form of a regal crown; and the grave and noble aspect of these aged fathers, with their long beards, were strikingly picturesque with such accessories of pomp. Pius IX. went through the rites with his accustomed dignity and rapt devotion, chanting in a voice whose fine tones age has not enfeebled, and looking very well, though somewhat pale from fatigue, as he passed on his lofty throne under the silver-tissue canopy and between the waving feathery fans'. From "Illustrated London News", 1870.