When
the sacred college has finished the _adoration_, the choir having
ended the _improperii_ sings the anthem _Crucem tuam_, the psalm
_Deus misereatur nostri_, the hymn _Pange lingua gloriosi lauream
certaminis_[95] etc. Towards the end of this beautiful ceremony the
candles are lighted, the deacon spreads out the corporal[96] as usual,
placing the purificator near it. He then respectfully takes the cross,
and places it on the altar amid the candlesticks.
[Sidenote: Chant of _Pange lingua_ etc.]
A procession, arranged like that of the preceding day, now goes to
the Pauline chapel. Assisted as usual by the first Card. priest, the
Pope kneels and incenses the B. Sacrament three times. _M. Sagrista_
delivers the B. Sacrament to the Cardinal celebrant, who presents it
to the Pope; His Holiness covers it with the end of the veil placed
over his shoulders[97] and the procession returns to the Sixtine
chapel [98]. In the mean time the choir sings the hymn "_Vexilla Regis
prodeunt_". When the Pope arrives at the altar, he delivers the B.
Sacrament to the Card. Celebrant, who places it on the altar. His
Holiness then incenses it and returns to his throne.
During the procession the crucifix on the altar of the Sixtine chapel
is removed, and a larger cross containing a considerable relic of the
true cross is substituted for it. This relic was sent to Pope Leo the
Great in the 5th century by Juvenal Bishop of Jerusalem.
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