midnight
It seemed as if the Pope were determined that the world should understand that war was declared ; for , although the command would not involve the absence of any Cardinal from his province for more than five days , yet many inconveniences must surely result . However , it had been said , and it was to be done . * * * * * It was a strange Christmas . Percy was ordered to attend the Pope at his second mass , and himself said his three at midnight in his own private oratory . For the first time in his life he saw that of which he had heard so often , the wonderful old-world Pontifical procession , lit by torches , going through the streets from the Lateran to St. Anastasia , where the Pope for the last few years had restored the ancient custom discontinued for nearly a century-and-a-half . The little basilica was reserved , of course , in every corner for the peculiarly privileged ; but the streets outside along the whole route from the Cathedral to the church -- and , indeed , the other two sides of the triangle as well , were one dense mass of silent heads and flaming torches . The Holy Father was attended at the altar by the usual sovereigns ; and Percy from his place watched the heavenly drama of Christ 's Passion enacted through the veil of His nativity at the hands of His old Angelic Vicar .