Henry Matthews in Church of St John Lateran, Rome - 30 April, 1818

from The Diary of an invalid, being the journal of a tour... in Portugal, Italy, Switzerland and France, 1817-1819, pages 229-230:

A grand ceremony at the church of St. John Lateran; at the conclusion of which the Pope, from the balcony, gave his blessing to the people, who were assembled in thousands in the large square below.

 As soon as the Pope appeared, there was a discharge of artillery; the bands of military music struck up; and the people sunk on their knees, uncovered. A solemn silence ensued, and the blessing was conferred. All seemed to receive this with reverential awe, and it was impossible not to imbibe a portion of the general feeling.

cite as

Henry Matthews, The Diary of an invalid, being the journal of a tour... in Portugal, Italy, Switzerland and France, 1817-1819, volume 5th edition (London, 1835), p. 229-230. https://led.kmi.open.ac.uk/entity/lexp/1518782128890 accessed: 8 October, 2024

location of experience: Church of St John Lateran, Rome

Listeners

Henry Matthews
Judge, travel writer
1789-1828

Listening to

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Military band music-- Catholic ceremony performed by Military bands

Experience Information

Date/Time 30 April, 1818
Medium live
Listening Environment in the company of others, outdoors, in public

Originally submitted by 5011Henning on Fri, 16 Feb 2018 11:55:29 +0000
Approved on Thu, 29 Mar 2018 10:31:40 +0100