THE GOODNESS, THE PLEASANT MANNER AND COURTESY OF POPE LEO XII

Eugene narrated his audience with the Pope:

The Pope receives in his small private room. He was seated on a settee, with a desk before him on which he leaned. I made as I entered the first customary genuflection but there was not enough room between the door and the place where he sat to make a second; I found myself promptly at his feet that I did not try to kiss either because when bowing profoundly I did not see them or, too struck by the appearance of the Pontiff, whom my faith showed immediately as the Vicar of Jesus Christ, I became attentive only to the charm and the goodness of his face. I handed him with respect the letter from my uncle which he placed before him on his desk. Then began our interview, which ran on several subjects, and lasted nearly three quarters of an hour.

It would be impossible for me to relate to you all that was said, still less to describe to you the goodness, the pleasant manner and courtesy of the sovereign Pontiff. I was kneeling beside him. Several times he motioned for me to rise; I did not wish to, I was comfortable at his feet, besides I leaned against the desk. I could have remained longer in this position without discomfort. I explained the principal purpose of my journey, but many were the episodes that entered into this narration; even the miracles of Blessed Alphonse Marie de Liguori entered into it. You should have seen with what interest he listened to the succinct narration which I made to him of the good operated by our missionaries. I took care not to forget to tell him what you had just written to me: “At this moment the two youngest missionaries of the Society are working marvels, etc. One of them, Most Holy Father, is not yet old enough to become priest; he was ordained in August with the dispensation of sixteen months that your Holiness deigned to grant to us; and yet the good God has used them to convert Protestants, etc.”

Letter to Henri Tempier in Marseilles, 22 December 1825, EO VII n. 213