Word: sacristan
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...ancient warning: "Pater sancte, sic transit gloria mundi" (Holy Father, thus passes the glory of the world). In the course of the Mass, an assisting cardinal placed on the Pope's shoulders the pallium, a white wool band symbolizing his authority as Bishop of Rome, and the sacristan performed the grim ritual of tasting the wine to be used, as reminder of the days when Popes often died by poison. At the conclusion of the Mass a silk purse containing 25 ancient coins was presented to the Pontiff, traditional payment for "a Mass well done...
Salzburg, where he watched his father serve as sacristan. The boy was fascinated by the flow of robes and the carefully poised stance of church dignitaries. At seven he tried to translate his impressions into clay figures, remembers: "I knew then I wanted to be a sculptor...
...poor; in all his nine years there he was never able to buy a full set of vestments. Each evening, after the parish work was done, he would study until midnight or later, then rise at 4 to ring the church bells and open the church door because the sacristan was old and easily tired...