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Today, the Feast of St. Charles Borromeo, is the anniversary of the coronation of Pope John XXIII. Pope John chose to be crowned pope on this feast, even though it was not, as usual, on a Sunday, because of his great devotion to the saint. As a church historian, he had studied the Acta from Borromeo's pastoral visits and, when Roncalli was consecrated a bishop, the ceremony took place in the Church of San Carlo in Rome. Here are two videos of the coronation. John XXIII loved the elaborate, baroque rituals surrounding the papacy, and could not have known that his was the penultimate such coronation: In 1978, Pope John Paul I declined to be crowned and the ritual changed. One thing that was lost should be retrieved, the sic transit gloria mundi, during which a Franciscan stood in front of the pope as he made his way into the basilica and chanted the words three times, each time burning some flax. That is in he first video - you can fast forward to 4:24 to hear the first chant. The second video shows the coronation itself on the loggia of the basilica. If you have the time, there are a total of 25 videos showing the entire ceremony.
