ten o’clock
Its chief evil doubtless lay in the manner in which it was provided ; and if indeed the only question were to devise an improved method of collection , his dream of a pope who should be all soul , the bond of love , the spiritual leader of the world , would not be seriously affected . At this thought , Pierre felt comforted and was unwilling to look on things otherwise than hopefully , moved as he was by the extraordinary scene which he had just beheld , that feeble old man shining forth like the symbol of human deliverance , obeyed and venerated by the multitudes , and alone among all men endowed with the moral omnipotence that might at last set the reign of charity and peace on earth . For the ceremony on the following day , it was fortunate that Pierre held a private ticket which admitted him to a reserved gallery , for the scramble at the entrances to the Basilica proved terrible . The mass , which the Pope was to celebrate in person , was fixed for ten o'clock , but people began to pour into St. Peter 's four hours earlier , as soon , indeed , as the gates had been thrown open . The three thousand members of the International Pilgrimage were increased tenfold by the arrival of all the tourists in Italy , who had hastened to Rome eager to witness one of those great pontifical functions which nowadays are so rare . Moreover , the devotees and partisans whom the Holy See numbered in Rome itself and in other great cities of the kingdom , helped to swell the throng , all alacrity at the prospect of a demonstration . Judging by the tickets distributed , there would be a concourse of 40,000 people .