Thousands of worshippers flocked to Saint Peter’s Square
on Easter Sunday to hear Pope Leo XIV deliver his first
Easter Mass address as Pontiff.
Framed by White Roses on the central balcony of the
Vatican’s Basilica, the Pope called on “those who have the power to unleash Wars” to choose Peace.
“On this day of celebration, let us abandon every desire for conflict, domination and power, and implore the Lord to grant His Peace to a World ravaged by Wars,” the Pope said.
The first US-born Pope has become a vocal critic of the
Saint Vincent Ferrer, born in Spain in 1350, entered, at the age of eighteen, in The Order of Preachers and gave lustre to The Church by his virtues and his Preaching (Collect).
He was called “The Angel of The Judgement” and he went over the whole of Europe, warning sinners “to be ready for The Son of Man, Who will come at an unexpected hour” (Gospel).
The words of the Prophet: “Arise, ye dead, and come to Judgement,”, which he constantly repeated, caused the many miraculous conversions of which his life is full (Epistle). He put forth the proposal to end The Western Schism by deposing The Three Popes, who all claimed The Papal Tiara, and declared himself in favour of Martin V.
He died at Vannes, Brittany, France, in 1419.
Let us deserve by Penance to escape being condemned by The God Who is to judge us.
Sermon of The Right Reverend Dom Jean Pateau, Father Abbot, Our Lady of Fontgombault Abbey, France.
“Salve . . . Dies Prima”.
“Hail . . . O First Day”.
(Sequence; Adam of Saint Victor).
“Dear Brothers and Sisters, My dearly beloved Sons,
“Vanity of vanities, and all is vanity […] What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; and there is nothing new under the sun,” wails Qoheleth (Ecclesiastes 1:2-9).
“André Chouraqui translates it in a vivid way: “Smoke, says Qoheleth, smoke of smokes, and all is smoke.”
“Mankind’s history would thus be nothing but void, nothingness, an endless maze ineluctably going back to square one. From our first parents Adam and Eve’s disobedience, and the murder of Abel, to the last victim of the fratricidal conflicts that ceaselessly bloody the Earth, all seems to be nothingness. All seems to be hatred.
“Three days ago, this heavy pall had also descended upon the Lord’s disciples. Today, the day after the Sabbath, the sun has just risen, a sun just like every other day’s sun.
“On the way leading them towards the tomb where the Lord’s body has been put, Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of James, and Salome, are carrying their spices, and their only worry is, “Who shall roll us back the stone from the door of the sepulchre ?” (Mk 16:3).
“This stone separating them from the Lord is indeed heavy, heavy with all the evil of human history, especially heavy with this last crime, the death of the Innocent One, the death of Him who had proclaimed Himself Son of God, Bread of Life, and Fount of Salvation. Could a man roll back this stone ?
Choir of the Monks of Our Lady of Fontgombault Abbey.
Choeur des moines de l’abbaye Notre Dame de Fontgombault.
“Yet, behold, the stone has been rolled back. Instead of a corpse, they find a young man clothed in White: “Be not affrighted. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, Who was crucified ? He is risen: He is not here. Behold the place where they laid Him.” (v. 6)
“A few humble words, and yet, fraught with a great mystery: What man could not do, God has done. The hour of reconciliation between God and man has struck. These few words are going to echo from mouth to mouth on the whole Earth, today: “He is risen.”
“The Prophet Isaiah had announced: “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of Him that bringeth good tidings, and that preacheth Peace: of Him that sheweth forth Good, that preacheth Salvation, that saith to Sion: “Thy God shall reign !” (Is 52:7). The prophecy has been fulfilled. Women are its ambassadors.
“After appearing to Mary Magdalene and calling her by her name, to the disciples of Emmaus, to Peter, Jesus appears last to the disciples: “Peace be to you !” (Jn 20:19).
“Smoke of smokes, would all be smoke ? No, this day is unlike the other days. This is the day which the Lord has made, the day on which Divine Peace is poured out on Earth, a unique day, an endless day, the day Qoheleth had hoped for without being able to imagine it. We have just sung, speaking to Christ:
“The gloomy bonds of Hell have been broken; chaos shakes with fear, crushed by Thy luminous face. (Hymn: Salve Festa Dies, st. 7).
“Let us live in the light of this day without end. Yet, we have to acknowledge that for many men and women, this day will be like yesterday and tomorrow.
“Such was the case for the contemporaries of the Apostles on this Easter Morning. Such is also the case for us when we lack Faith.
“If we consider the situation of the World, the Church, sometimes our families and communities, we may be greatly tempted to chorus with Ecclesiastes; “Vanity of vanities, and all is vanity.” (Ecc. 1:2).
“Don’t let us tread this way. Don’t let us allow the little music of murmurings, of desperation, to play its baleful harmonies in our hearts.
“On this Easter morning, the Lord offers us His Peace, a Peace that had been announced by the Angels during Christmas night: “On Earth, Peace to men of good will.” (Lk 2:14)
“Proof has been given of this boundless love. He has given His life for us.
“This Peace is the Peace the Lord had promised to His disciples, announced by the Angels during Christmas night: “Peace I leave with you; My Peace I give unto you; not as the World giveth, do I give unto you.” (Jn 14:27)
“No, this Peace isn’t a fleeting Peace, a compromise Peace. This fecund Peace unfolds with the gift of a new life: We were buried therefore with Him by Baptism into death, so that, as Christ was Raised from the Dead by the Glory of The Father, we, too, might walk in newness of life (Rm 6:4).
“It is our duty to share this Peace.
“Blessed are the Peacemakers, for they shall be called the Children of God.” (Mt 5:9).
“We are therefore going to implore it, in an especially ornate general intercession, for the Holy Catholic Church, for the Holy Father and those that help him in his task of government and teaching, for the Bishops, Priests, and all the Ministers, for the conversion of Peoples and their quietness, lastly, for our own City, our Country and its inhabitants.
“On this Easter Morning, the Lord invites us to the gift of Peace.
“Which is the member of my family, of my community, which one among my friends, my colleagues, who is most in need of the gift of Peace ?
“Our mission is to belie Qoheleth. No ! All is not in vain. All doesn’t lead to despair.
“After the darkness of Good Friday, follows the Blazing Light of the Glorious Christ, Victor of the Tomb. And this Light wants to shine on my life, too, provided I accept it.
“For whom does the Lord call me to become an ambassador of His Peace ? Nothing new under the Sun ? No, it shall not be so for him who walks in the Light of the Risen Christ.
“Not so either for The Blessed Virgin Mary. The Evangelists remain discreet on what her presence, her place, was during these hours.
“It is a Traditional belief that the Lord reserved for His Mother His first visit.
“To her who had not lost Peace, the Risen Christ comes and offers an increase in Peace.
“Therefore, Mary deserves the title of Regina Pacis, Queen of Peace. She has constituted herself the messenger of this Peace, as for instance in l’Île-Bouchard, on 11 December 1947: “I shall give happiness in families.”
“May we receive this happiness coming from Heaven, and proclaim it unto the ends of the Earth. Then, it will be truly Easter for us, for the World, a Passover from death to life, from darkness to Everlasting Light.
The following Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia.
“Vidi Aquam” is the name of an Antiphon, which is sung during the Latin Rite Catholic Mass. It accompanies the Aspérges, the ritual at the beginning of Mass when the Celebrant sprinkles the Congregation with Holy Water.
It Traditionally accompanies the Asperges, the ritual sprinkling of the Congregation by the Celebrant with Holy Water, as part of an Entrance Ritual, symbolising the cleansing of the people. Its words are taken from Psalm50 (51| (the Miserére).
Aspérges me, Domine, hyssopo et mundabor,
Lavabis me, et super nivem dealbabor.
Miserere mei,
Deus, secundum magnam misericordiam tuam.
Thou wilt sprinkle me, O Lord, with hyssop
and I shall be cleansed,
Thou wilt wash me,
and I shall be washed whiter than snow.
Pity me, O God, according to Thy great mercy.
It is followed by the conventional Doxology (except on the First Sunday of Passiontide):
Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto,
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper,
et in sæcula sæculorum.
Amen.
Glory be to The Father,
and to The Son,
and to The Holy Ghost,
As it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
World without end.
Amen.
The Antiphon is then recited a second time.
From Easter until Pentecost, “Aspérges Me” is replaced by the more lengthy and florid Antiphon, “Vidi Aquam”.
Tradition attributes it to the Latin poet Venantius Fortunatus, who wrote it before 609 A.D. In that case, it would be one of the oldest Hymns passed down.
The Anthem is not included in the Liturgy. It is sung during the Procession at the start of Mass on Easter Sunday.
As at Christmas, The Station is made at Saint Mary Major, on this Greatest Feast of the whole year. The Church never separates Jesus and Mary, and, today, in one and the same Triumph, she honours The Mother and The Son. Before all else, The Risen Christ offers The Homage of His Gratitude to His Father in Heaven (Introit).
In her turn, The Church gives thanks to God, inasmuch as, by The Victory of His Son, He has re-opened The Way to Heaven, and implores Him to assist us that we may attain this, our final goal (Collect). For this, Saint Paul tells us, just as the Jews eat the Paschal Lamb with the unleavened bread, so we must feast on The Lamb of God, with the unleavened bread of Sincerity and Truth (Epistle and Communion), that is free from the leaven of sin.
English: The Nave,
Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major, Rome.
Deutsch: Basilika Santa Maria Maggiore, Hauptschiff.
In the Gospel and the Offertory, we read of the coming of The Holy Women to The Sepulchre to embalm Our Lord. They find an empty tomb, but an Angel proclaims to them The Great Mystery of The Resurrection.
Let us joyfully keep this day on which Our Lord has restored Life to us in His Own Rising from The Dead (Easter Preface), and affirm with The Church that "The Lord is Risen Indeed", and, like Him, make our Easter a passing to an entirely New Way of Life.
Every Parish Priest celebrates Mass for the people of his Parish.
Mass: Resurréxi. Sequence: Victimæ Paschali Laudes. Preface: For Easter. Communicantes: For Easter. Until The Saturday before Low Sunday, inclusive. Hanc Igitur: For Easter. Until The Saturday before Low Sunday, inclusive.
The following Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia.
The Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major (Italian: Basilica Papale di Santa Maria Maggiore, Latin: Basilica Sanctæ Mariæ Maioris), or Church of Santa Maria Maggiore, is the largest Catholic Marian Church in Rome.
Other Churches in Rome, Dedicated to Mary, include Santa Maria-in-Trastevere, Santa Maria-in-Aracœli, and Santa Maria sopra Minerva, but the greatest size of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major justifies the adjective (Papal Basilica) by which it is distinguished from the other twenty-five.
According to The 1929 Lateran Treaty, the Basilica, located in Italian territory, is owned by The Holy See and enjoys Extra-Territorial Status, similar to that of foreign embassies. The building is patrolled internally by Police agents of Vatican City State, not by Italian Police.
The Church may still sometimes be referred to as “Our Lady of The Snows”, a name given to it in The Roman Missal, from 1568 to 1969, in connection with The Liturgical Feast of The Anniversary of its Dedication on 5 August, a Feast that was then denominated “Dedicatio Sanctæ Mariæ ad Nives” (Dedication of Saint Mary of The Snows).
This name for the Basilica had become popular in the 14th-Century, in connection with a legend that The 1911 Catholic Encyclopedia reports thus: “During the Pontificate of Liberius, the Roman Patrician, John, and his wife, who were without heirs, made a vow to donate their possessions to The Virgin Mary. They Prayed that she might make known to them how they were to dispose of their property in her honour”.
On 5 August, at the height of the Roman Summer, snow fell during the night on the summit of the Esquiline Hill.
In obedience to a vision of The Virgin Mary, which they had the same night, the couple built a Basilica in honour of Mary on the very spot which was covered with snow.
The legend is first reported only after the year 1000. It may be implied, in what the Liber Pontificalis of the Early-13th-Century says of Pope Liberius: “He built the Basilica of his own name (i.e. the Liberian Basilica) near the Macellum of Livia”. Its prevalence in the 15th-Century is shown in the painting of the “Miracle of The Snow” by Masolino da Panicale.
The Feast was originally called “Dedicatio Sanctæ Mariæ” (Dedication of Saint Mary’s), and was Celebrated only in Rome, until inserted for the first time into the General Roman Calendar, with “ad Nives” added to its name, in 1568.
A Congregation, appointed by Pope Benedict XIV in 1741, proposed that the reading of the legend be struck from The Office and that the Feast be given its original name. No action was taken on the proposal until 1969, when the reading of the legend was removed and the Feast was called “In dedicatione Basilicæ S. Mariæ (Dedication of the Basilica of Saint Mary)”.
The legend is still Commemorated by dropping White Rose Petals from the Dome during the Celebration of the Mass and Second Vespers of the Feast.
The earliest building here was the Liberian Basilica, or Santa Maria Liberiana, after Pope Liberius (352 A.D. - 366 A.D.). This name may have originated from the same legend, which recounts that, like John and his wife, Pope Liberius was told in a dream of the forthcoming Summer snowfall, went in procession to where it did occur and there marked out the area on which the Church was to be built. “Liberiana” is still included in some versions of the Basilica's formal name, and “Liberian Basilica” may be used as a contemporary, as well as historical, name.
No Catholic Church can be honoured with the title of Basilica unless by Apostolic Grant or from Immemorial Custom. Saint Mary Major is one of the only four Basilicas that today hold the Title of Major Basilica. The other three are Saint John Lateran, Saint Peter, and Saint Paul-without-the-Walls. (The Title of Major Basilica was once used more widely, being attached, for instance, to the Basilica of Saint Mary of The Angels, in Assisi.) All the other Catholic Churches that, either by Grant of the Pope or by Immemorial Custom, hold the Title of Basilica, are Minor Basilicas.
It is agreed that the present Basilica was built in the Reign of Pope Sixtus III (432 A.D. - 440 A.D.). The Dedicatory Inscription on the Triumphal Arch, “Sixtus Episcopus plebi Dei” (Sixtus the Bishop to the people of God) is an indication of that Pope’s role in the construction. As well as this Church on the summit of the Esquiline Hill, Pope Sixtus III is said to have commissioned extensive building projects throughout the City, which were continued by his successor, Pope Leo I (the Great).
Church Building in Rome in this period, as exemplified in Saint Mary Major, was inspired by the idea of Rome being, not just the Centre of the World of the Roman Empire, as it was seen in the Classical Period, but the Centre of the Christian World.
Santa Maria Maggiore, one of the first Churches built in honour of The Virgin Mary, was erected in the immediate aftermath of the Council of Ephesus of 431 A.D., which proclaimed Mary, Mother of God. Pope Sixtus III built it to Commemorate this decision.
When the Popes returned to Rome after the period of the Avignon Papacy, the buildings of the Basilica became a temporary Palace of the Popes, due to the deteriorated state of the Lateran Palace.
The Basilica was restored, re-decorated and extended by various Popes, including Eugene III (1145–1153), Nicholas IV (1288–1292), Clement X (1670–1676), and Benedict XIV (1740–1758), who, in the 1740s, commissioned Ferdinando Fuga to build the present façade and to modify the Interior. The Interior of Santa Maria Maggiore underwent a broad renovation, encompassing all of its Altars, between 1575 and 1630.
The original architecture of Santa Maria Maggiore was Classical, and Traditionally Roman, perhaps to convey the idea that Santa Maria Maggiore represented Old Imperial Rome, as well as its Christian future.
