I Bow tfye Pope Will Begin tfye Hew Year The ushering in of the twentieth century cen-tury is of more importance to the Catholic Catho-lic world. from its sacred aspect than any political or diplomatic crisis which might occur in the secular world. One of the most solemn ceremonies in the history of the church will be celebrated in ail of the great Catholic divisions of the world, beginning be-ginning at noon on the 24th day of December, De-cember, which is the beginning of the New Year of apostolic history. Pope Boniface VIII instituted the custom cus-tom of breaking clown the door of the I Basilica of St. Peter's in Rome, and afterward after-ward directed that the custom should be j observed at the beginning of each cen- j tury. in perpetuity. Since that time it has been observed only by the Jesuit fathers: but the Jeauit church of which the holy father is the head, has preserved this , ceremony and it is now carried out to the j utmost detail in all of the Jesuit churches . of the world. j The holy year begins- with the first j vespers of the feast of Christmas, which j is fixed at the meridian of the day pre- j ceding Christmas, or what we commonly i call "Christmas eve," and every Jesuit ! church in the world at that hour has its j holy door sealed. The workmen are present" pres-ent" and are prepared to receive the card- j inals. prelates and priests who approach. I awaiting the three strokes of the silver j mace, In order that the procession may I pass through. His holiness approaches I the door, seizes a silver mace, raises it over his head, strikes the door three times j and immediately from the other side it is demolished. It is not taken from its hinges, the lock is not broken: the door is broken down: there is an aperture made and if I this apert-re is large enough to permit I his holiness to pass througrh. he turns ! and salutes his consorts, who fall upon j thear knees; ,then ' he leads "the way i through the embrasure into the cathed- ral's interior. Immediately after the procession has : gone beyond the door, or rather passed ! through the aperture which has been ; made "by violence." the pope returns and ' with a silver trowel casts some lime upon j the floor and then selecting three stones I ! which have been placed ready at his hand. ! puts them in position, blesses the door, ; the trowel, the lime and the stones, re- ; assumes the head of the procession and passes on. Immediately the door is re- : sealed to await the coming of another "year of jubilee," which is Intended to 1 occur each twenty-five years only. The popo now proceeds to the altar. where, as the most devout penitent, he i gets upon his knees. In the meantime the dean of the college of cardinals, fol- ! lowed by a retinue of prelates, passes on j through St. Peter's and anoroaches the ' holy dcor of the Basil.ca of St. Paul's, and j there, representing the pope, performs the i same' ceremony. . After these two cere- monies are performed the cardinals and i priests retire to their respective basilicas I ar.d there perform the same ceremony in private: that is. they demolish and pass I through a holy dnor of their own. to their j particular apartments. Afterward for a whole year, these doors are sealed ami impassable to all pilgrims and all peni-! peni-! tents. It is only at the "feast of tho ' nativity." when a penitent may pass throuarh. and then only with the blessi:; and iiyon their knees. Accompanying the holy father and immediately im-mediately behind him is the high peniten- 1 tiary. who directs whatever shall be dt;i who stands between the pope- and the throng of peopfe who are present to wit- ness the ceremony. It is particularly interestir.pr to kn"'.v that the churches of the Jesuit fathers throughout the United States have preserved pre-served this custom with rigid directness, but also that it has been made an iin-nual iin-nual observance. "The year of the jubilee." jubi-lee." which occurs every rwenty-rtvo years, at the meridian of the 24th day of December, is with them an epoch. On such occasions a programme is'prep.trcd. arrangements are made, and the penu;ats of th church are bidden to be present .it the ceremony; and it is a. most solemn occasion. A procession is formed whi'-h I is presided over by the archbishop, who ! has already delegated on of the r'at'.iers j to rcpiesent the nope. Behind him are tin- I priests and lesser dignitaries of the f church, and following tnem is the nmlii. tude of penitents. In the utmost sil-jnce I and with bowed he-ids, they await thj f demolition of the c'oor. S The ceremony of breaking down tln I door is peculiarly attractive and extrfmf- ly picturesque. At the church of St. f Francis Navier in Sixteenth street New , York, the ceremony is performed' with J the same exactitude with which it ;s cor.- ; ducted at St. Peter's in the presenco of i J the pontificate. One of the fathers is ! delegated to represent the pope, and with f a silver mace, in hand' he approaches th if door and strikes upon it three solid f S ' biows. The archbishop and the priests. f the prelates and the accompany ins throng l'f kneel and with bowtd hearts await what ' I is to come. Two blows delivered bv a i $ priest who has been delegated to re pre- f snt the high penitentiary resound from ? the other side. The representative- of tho I pope then strikes one fierce blow with hi i silver mace, and immediately mallets and hammers are at work from the othpp ', I side, and while all are kneelinsr and pr-iy- : ing. the door is burst open, and as soon ' I as the aperture is sufficiently larg tr.o f procession passes through. I No one. not even the archbishop, raiss I his head at this time. Particles of the i refuse are. however, seized by each per. ! son in passing, and devoutly presprved ! The ceremony is conducted in absolute silence and is the most solemn occasion I of the Catholic year. I