PAPAL MASTERS OF CEREMONIES OF THE "VIRGA RUBEA.". - The m. o. of the "v. r." are ecclesiastics of the pontifical chapel who have in it and in pontifical functions and processions the care and custody of the papal cross. On such occasions they go to fetch the said cross in the anticamera d'onore of the Apostolic Palace and carry it into the sala dei paramenti, where they consign it to the last auditor of the Rota, who carries it, in the procession, before the pope. When the procession reaches the chapel, the auditor hands the papal cross back to the m. o. of the "v. r.," who always stands at his side and who during the whole ceremony places it in cornu Evangelii on a special perforated stand. When the function is over, the m. o. of the "v. r." returns the cross to the auditor of the Rota, who carries it as far as the sala dei paramenti, where the m. o. of the "v. r.," having taken it, carries it back again to the anticamera d'onore.
The m. o. of the "v. r." form a college and are appointed by the pope by a note of monsignor maggiordomo, on whom they then depend. They are familiars of the pope and, whereas in the past they were numerous, at present there are two. They wear a cassock, a sash with tassels, a collar of purple silk, a mantellone of serge or scotto of the same color, black silk stockings and shoes with buckles.
These ecclesiastics are called ostiaries because for a long time they were entrusted with guarding the door (Latin ostium) of the hall of vestments, that is, of the room where, upon a bed (a remnant of ancient pontifical customs), the vestments that the pontiff must put on are placed. They have also acquired the additional designation "a virga rubea," since they carry a rod or staff about 2 palms long, covered in red velvet, adorned at the end and in the middle with silver-plate knobs. The ostiaries have been present in the pontifical household since its earliest development. As a college they are already found organized in the 12th century: 2 master ushers "de virga rubea" are recorded in a roll under Paul IV (1555). The Statutes of the m. o. of the "v. r." were confirmed by Clement X with the constitution In apostolicae Sedis dignitatis culmine, of 5 December 1671 (published in Rome by the Stamperia della R. Camera Apostolica in 1671).
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