the choirs, into which the singers are divided; only
one choir sings the other verses[53].

[Sidenote: Cardinal penitentiary]

[Sidenote: Trinita dei Pellegrini]

On Wednesday-afternoon, the Cardinal great Penitentiary goes in state
to S. Mary Major's, where the minor Penitentiaries are Dominicans.
For an account of this custom see the preceding chapter. On Wednesday,
Thursday and Friday evenings, Christians may be edified at the Trinita
dei Pellegrini[54] by the sight of Cardinals, princes, prelates and
others, washing in good earnest, and afterwards kissing the feet of
poor pilgrims, while they recite with them the Our Father, Hail Mary,
Glory be to the Father, and other beautiful prayers, such as;

_Gesu, Giuseppe, Maria,_
_Vi dono il cuore e l' anima mia._
_Gesu, Giuseppe, Maria,_
_Assisteleci nell' ultima agonia, etc._

They afterwards wait on them at table, and accompany them to
their beds, reciting other devout prayers. In another part of that
establishment, princesses and other ladies practise the same offices
of charity towards the female pilgrims. Here might we fancy that the
primitive christians were before us, those men of charity, simplicity,
and lowliness: and when in the same place, a few years ago, that
devout Pontiff Leo XII on his knees washed and kissed the feet of
pilgrims, who had journeyed from afar; who that saw him did not call
to mind with tears the lowliness and charity of his predecessor Peter,
and of a greater than Peter, who "washed the feet of his disciples,
and who wiped them with the towel wherewith he was girded".

Marius mourned over the ruins of Carthage; but his was the sorrow
of disappointed, selfish ambition. Jeremiah lamented the fall and
desolation of Jerusalem: and his plaintive accents were inspired by
genuine patriotism and religion. Observe his venerable figure in the
Sixtine chapel; there he sits pensive and disconsolate, with his legs
crossed, his wearied head resting upon his hand, and his eyes rivetted
on the ground, as if nothing could engage his attention but the woes
of the daughter of Sion[55]. Then listen to the lamentations of this
inspired and afflicted prophet: they are full of deepest pathos,
and uttered in notes sweet as the warblings of philomel. Turn now, O
Christian soul, to a more sublime and mournful spectacle. Jesus in
the garden of Gethsemani and on mount Calvary mourned not for a single
city or nation: he sorrowed over the ruins of a worl