The Procession

The papal mass at Easter of the year 858 had gone well, considering the state of health in which the Vicar of Christ was in. Now, only the procession back to the Lateran Palace was left to survive. The pope retreated to the sacristy to exchange the priestly vestments for the ceremonial ones. Arriving in the sacristy, the Pontifex Maximus thought to himself:

"How good that at the time of my election I had decided that I would always dress myself alone in the sacristy and elsewhere - as a sign of modesty."

The pope took off the chasuble; it was richly embroidered with gold threads on the back, representing Christ on the cross, which the pope had shown to the faithful in the ritual for a long time. But then the Vicar of Christ had turned around and the people of the Church had seen the front of the chasuble as Jesus had risen from the grave. The resurrection of the Lord as was depicted in the embroidery.

The chasuble was as heavy as armour and almost as stiff as a Carolingian scale armour. The pope placed it on the table for the deacon, who would clean and store it. The pope then removed the dalmatica, also made of precious fabric, but was much lighter, since it was made of precious woven fabrics that came from Constantinople. The patriarch of the city had sent it to the Holy See as a gift. Now His Holiness replaced the dalmatica and alb. The Pontifex Maximus decided to use thicker clothes in the procession, also preciously worked, because the weather was still quite fresh in March 858, the higher clergy also wore a pluvial over the liturgical vestments.

But first, the Vicar of Christ looks at himself in a mirror. Few people have been given this privilege of being able to look at themselves in a mirror. The reaching for the mirror brought a surprise:

 "Is it all the lead white in the face powder or the facies hippocratica, the sign of approaching death, that makes me appear like dead?"

The reflection was not ugly, but the last months had increasingly left their mark. The pre-occupation with mirrors had become an obsession in the past months.

"Why did I not at that time, a little more than two and a half years ago, flatly refuse to ascend the throne as Christ's representative? I was given no choice; the masses of people were so enthusiastic and the vote was so clear that I could not refuse." Images of the memories came to his mind's eye on that fateful day. It has long been said that the day someone was elected pope was the greatest change in a person's life. But who has been elected pope - just about to flee from Rome? Together with Arnoldus and Lucia, who had become a kind of daughter...

The pope grabbed the gilded silver shepherd's crook and called in the deacon, who brought the papal crown.

The deacon, when he placed the crown on his head, said:"Receive the Camelaucum and know that you are the father of princes and kings, the ruler of the world and the vicar of Jesus Christ - our saviour on earth".

"Easter Day in March has gone surprisingly well so far," thought the pope, a miracle, since