[Footnote A:  “How,” says Marforio to Pasquino, “shall I, being a true son of the Holy Church, obtain admittance to her services?” To which Pasquino returns for answer:  “Declare that you are an Englishman, and swear that you are a heretic.”]

It is the universal rule among priests to fast before saying Mass, and never to take the wafer or body of Christ upon a full stomach.  The law is de rigueur, and is almost never broken.  But sometimes the temptation of the appetite, it may be supposed, will overcome even a pious man; for priest though one be, one is also flesh-and-blood.  An anecdote lately told me by the Conte Cignale (dei Selvaggi) may not be out of place in this connection, and I instance it as an undoubted exception to the general rule.  A friend of his, an English artist, enamored of Italian life, was spending the summer in one of the mountain towns.  Finding little society there except the physician and the parish priest, he soon became on intimate terms with them.  One morning the priest called on him before he had finished breakfast.  A savory dish was smoking on the table, and the fumes of the hot coffee filled the room.  “I wish you could take breakfast with me,” said he; “but I know you are to say Mass, and that it would be contrary to rule for you to eat until it is performed.”  The priest shrugged his shoulders and looked deprecatorily at the artist and at the breakfast.  “Still,” continued the latter, “if your scruples would allow you, I should be delighted if you would help me with this capital dish.”  The temptation was great; the smell was savory.  The priest made a strong internal defence, but the garrison was forced at last to capitulate. "Eh!" said he, as he took his seat, "in fatto e il costume generale di non mangiare prima di dire la messa e di prendere l’ostia.  Ma—­in queste circostanze,”—­here he looked to see that the door was well fastened,—­"mi pare che si potrebbe far un letto per nostro Signore, Gesu Cristo."

It is the custom in Rome at the great festas, of which Christmas is one of the principal ones, for each parish to send round the sacrament to all its sick; and during these days a procession of priest and attendants may be seen, preceded by their cross and banner, bearing the holy wafer to the various houses.  As they march along, they make the streets resound with the psalm they sing.  Everybody lifts his hat as they pass, and many among the lower classes kneel upon the pavement.  Frequently the procession is followed by a rout of men, women, and children, who join in the chanting and responses, pausing with the priest before the door of the sick person, and accompanying it as it moves from house to house.