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Vatican City, 27th March 2007 (CNA) - The
Press Office of the Holy See made public today the schedule for all the
liturgical events of Holy Week to be celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI, from
Palm Sunday through the Easter Triduum.
According to the press release, on Sunday
April 1st the Holy Father will celebrate Palm Sunday, also known as Passion
Sunday, which recalls both the triumphant reign of Jesus and the
announcement of his passion and death.
At 9:30 a.m. (local time) Pope Benedict will
offering the traditional blessing of palms and olive branches in St. Peter’s
Square. Following a procession, he will celebrate Holy Mass in St. Peter’s
Basilica.
The Vatican communiqué notes that on the same
day the Church also celebrates the 22nd World Day for the Youth, on the
theme, “As I have loved you, so you also should love one another (Jn
13:34).”
On the 5th of April, Holy Thursday, at 9:30
a.m. in St. Peter’s, the Holy Father will preside over the celebration of
the Chrism Mass, with the Cardinals, bishops, and priests present in Rome,
“as a sign of the intimate communion between the Pastors of the Universal
Chruch and between their brothers in the ministerial priesthood.”
Holy Triduum
Later that day, he will enter into the Holy
Triduum of the Passion and Resurrection of the Lord, “the highpoint of the
liturgical year,” which begins with the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, has the
Easter Vigil as its nucleus and ends with Vespers on Easter Sunday.
At 5:30 p.m. on Holy Thursday, in the Basilica
of St. John Lateran Pope Benedict XVI will celebrate the Holy Mass, at which
he will reenact Jesus’ washing of the feet of the twelve Apostles by washing
the feet of twelve men. At the conclusion of the celebration he will
process with the Blessed Sacrament to the Chapel of reposition. The Church
will also take a collection at this Mass to provide medical assistance to
the suffering people of Somalia.
On “Good Friday,” the day which the Church meditates on the Passion and
Death of the Lord in its adoration of the Cross, the Holy Father will
preside at the Liturgy of the Word, the Veneration of the Cross and a
Communion service, beginning at 5 p.m.
At 9:15 p.m. in the ancient Coliseum of Rome the Holy Father will lead the
Stations of the Cross, which will conclude with the Pope offering words to
the faithful and imparting his Apostolic Blessing.
According to ancient tradition, the press
release says, the night of the Easter is “in honor of the Lord” and the
Vigil commemorates the holy night on which Christ was risen, and is
considered the “mother of all vigils.” On this night, in fact, the Church
waits in hope for the Resurrection of the Lord and celebrates the Christian
Sacraments of Initiation.
On Holy Saturday, the Holy Father will
celebrate the Easter Vigil at 10 p.m. in St. Peter’s Basilica. The
celebration will begin with a procession with the Easter candle and the
singing of the Exsultet. The Mass, which will be concelebrated by several
Cardinals will include the Rites of reception into the Church.
After offering the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass
in St. Peter’s Basilica on Easter Sunday, the Pope will impart his “Urbi et
Orbi” blessing over the city of Rome and the world, from the central loggia
of the Basilica.
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