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In 1840 His present Holiness Gregory XVI ordered it to be again exposed to the public veneration in the Sixtine chapel: He gave it to the charge of the chapter of S. Peter's, who deliver it to M. Sagrista on Good-friday morning: and it remains in the Sixtine chapel till the end of Tenebrae on that day. Moroni Cappelle Pontificie etc.
It is still said in Greek, in which it was originally composed, as well as in Latin, in the Roman church. The sum collected is at present the perquisite of M. Sagrista and the two principal Masters of ceremonies.
The cardinals bearing their mitres and torches precede two by two the Holy Father, who bare-headed and on foot carries the blessed Sacrament under a canopy supported by eight assistant bishops or protonotaries . When the Pope reaches the altar, the first cardinal deacon receives from His hands the B. Sacrament, and preceded by torches carries it to the upper part of the macchina; M. Sagrista places it within the urn commonly called the sepulchre, where it is incensed by the Pope; in the mean time the conclusion of the hymn is sung.
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 and the procession returns to the Sixtine chapel . 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.
M. Sagrista then shuts the sepulchre, and delivers the key to thy Card. Penitentiary, who is to officiate on the following day.
As the missal prescribes, the altar is covered at a convenient hour, and the candles of the altar are not lighted till the beginning of the mass. A light, from which the charcoal for the incense is enkindled, is struck from a flint in the sacristy; where also M. Sagrista privately blesses water.
His Holiness reads the usual prayers over the palms, sprinkles them with holy water, and incenses them three times. When the palms have been blessed , the Cardinal Dean receives from the governor of Rome and presents to the Pope those three palms, which were borne by M. Sagrista, the deacon and subdeacon.
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