VATICAN 407
at a table covered with red silk. It is no wonder that Pius X, so in- formal and natural in disposition, could not endure this routine. He had built into the airy third story an inside staircase leading from his official apartments. There he constructed for himself a comfortable private dwelling in which he spent all his free time, with his secret chaplains as his sole companions, and disregarded utterly all cumber- some etiquette. It is true that during the day no Pope has much free time. Usually he says Mass at seven o'clock and afterwards attends a Mass said by one of his secret chaplains. The audiences begin im- mediately after breakfast. The Cardinal-Secretary of State comes in to discuss political matters. The ordinary and extraordinary affairs of the Church are laid before the Pope for his information and deci- sions. Each of the Congregations renders a report on a day ap- pointed. The diplomatic corps must be received, bishops from out- side the city and directors of missions who come to Rome are admitted in audience when they arrive and depart. Secular dignitaries have to be received; missionaries and missionary sisters are blessed by the Pope before they start their journeys. Societies and delegations must be accorded the honour of a Papal address; hundreds of pious faithful and non-Catholics throng together in public audiences. During the afternoon these exhausting activities are interrupted by a walk, or if the weather is bad by a drive in the Vatican Gardens. Then the Pope goes back to work again until the time of the evening meal. Only of evenings and on Sundays, when no audiences are accorded, does the Holy Father have time to devote to his own spiritual im- provement and recreation; and generally he must even then work at his study table, often until midnight. A Pope who did not get up early and work energetically would collapse under the burden of this multitude of multiform duties which become tiresomely monotonous through repetition. Every sentence he says is under scrutiny, every decision is important, every address is written down and most are printed, and every one of the innumerable visitors yearns for a glance and a word. "Servant of the servants of God," said Gregory I.
The Papal Court is under the control of two exalted prelates the Majordomo or Papal domestic minister, who is also chief of the court personnel, and the Maestro di Camera, who has charge of every- thing that pertains to the audiences. Both o them reside in the Vat-
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