At noon today (Rome time), the Holy Father, Pope Francis appeared at the window of his study in the Vatican Apostolic Palace to recite the Regina Coeli (which replaces the Angelus during the liturgical season of Easter) with the faithful and with pilgrims gathered in Saint Peter's Square.
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
We know that every Sunday, we remember the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, but in this period that follows Easter, Sunday is seen with a significance that is even more illuminating. In the tradition of the Church, this Sunday, the first one after Easter, was called in albis. What does this mean? The expression was meant to recall the rite of those who had received baptism during the Easter Vigil. Each one of them had received a white garment - an alba bianca - to indicate their new dignity as a child of God. Even today, we still do this: to those who newborn babies, we offer a small symbolic vest, while adults receive a larger one, as you saw during the Paschal Vigil. That white vest, in the past, was presented to them for the period of one week which ended with this second Sunday of Easter, and based on this custom, we derived the name in albis deponendis, which means the Sunday on which we take off the white vest. Therefore, taking off their white vests, neophytes began their new life in Christ and in the Church.
There is something else. During the Jubilee of the Year 2000, Saint John Paul II decreed that this Sunday would be dedicated to Divine Mercy. It is true, it was a good thing: it was the Holy Spirit who inspired this. A few months ago, we concluded the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy and this Sunday we are invited to accept the grace that comes from Divine mercy. Today's gospel is the account of the apparition of the risen Christ to the disciples while they were gathered in the Upper Room (cf Jn 20:19-31). Saint John writes that Jesus, after having greeted his disciples, said to them: As the Father has sent me, so I send you. Having said this, he breathed on them and added: Receive the Holy Spirit. All those whose sins you forgive will be forgiven them (Jn 20:21-23) This is the sense of the mercy that was presented on that day of Jesus' resurrection as forgiveness for our sins. The risen Jesus passed on to his Church, as a first task, his own mission of proclaiming tangible evidence of forgiveness to everyone. This is the first task: proclaiming forgiveness. This visible sign of his mercy carries with it the gift of peace in our hearts and joy that is renewed every time we meet the Lord.
In the light of Easter, mercy is seen as a true form of knowledge, and this is important: mercy is a true form of knowledge. We know that there are many ways to learn things. We learn things through the use of our senses, we learn things through institutions, we learn things through reasoning and also in other ways. Good, we can also learn things through experiencing mercy, because mercy opens the door of the mind in order that we might better understand the mystery of God and of our personal experience. Mercy helps us to understand that violence, bitterness and vengeance make no sense, and the first victim is always the one who lives with these sentiments, because they rob us of our own dignity. Mercy opens the door of the heart and allows us to experience closeness above all with those who are alone and marginalized, because we are made more aware of the fact that we are all brothers and sisters, children of one Father. Mercy favours the recognition of those who need consolation and helps us to find adequate words to comfort them.
Brothers and sisters, mercy warms the heart and makes it more aware of the needs of our brothers and sisters through sharing and participation. In short, the experience of mercy commits us all to being instruments of justice, reconciliation and peace. Never forget that mercy is the key to a life of faith, the concrete form through which we make the resurrection of Jesus visible in our world.
May Mary, the Mother of Mercy, help us to believe and to live all this with joy.
Following the recitation of the Regina Coeli, the Holy Father continued:
Dear brothers and sisters,
Yesterday in Oviedo (Spain), Father Luis Antonio Rosa Ormières, a priest, was proclaimed Blessed. Having lived in the nineteenth century, he devoted his many human and spiritual qualities in service to education and for this reason, he founded the Congregation of the Sisters of the Guardian Angel. His example and his intercession can help especially those who are working in schools and in the field of education.
I cordially greet all of you, Romans and pilgrims from Italy and from many other countries, especially the Confraternity of Saint Sebastian from Kerkrade (Netherlands), the Nigerian Catholic Secretariat and the parishioners from Liebfrauen in Bocholt (Germany).
I greet the Polish pilgrims, and I express sincere appreciation for the initiative proposed by Caritas Poland in support of many Syrian families. A special greeting to devotees of Divine Mercy who are gathered today in the church of Santo Spirito in Sassia, as well as those who are participating in the Race for Peace: a relay that begins here in the Square today and that will travel to Wittenberg (Germany).
I greet the many groups of young people, especially those who have recently celebrated Confirmation - there are so many of you! - from the Dioceses of Piacenza-Bobbio, Trento, Cuneo, Milan, Lodi, Cremona, Bergamo, Brescia and Vicenza ... and also the Massaccio School in Treviso and the San Carpoforo Institute in Como.
Finally, I thank all those who during this period have sent me messages and greetings for Easter. In response, I wish with all my heart to invoke for each of you and for every family the grace of the Risen Lord. Have a good Sunday, and please, don't forget to pray for me. Enjoy your lunch and good bye!
Greetings of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
prior to the recitation of the Regina Coeli
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
We know that every Sunday, we remember the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, but in this period that follows Easter, Sunday is seen with a significance that is even more illuminating. In the tradition of the Church, this Sunday, the first one after Easter, was called in albis. What does this mean? The expression was meant to recall the rite of those who had received baptism during the Easter Vigil. Each one of them had received a white garment - an alba bianca - to indicate their new dignity as a child of God. Even today, we still do this: to those who newborn babies, we offer a small symbolic vest, while adults receive a larger one, as you saw during the Paschal Vigil. That white vest, in the past, was presented to them for the period of one week which ended with this second Sunday of Easter, and based on this custom, we derived the name in albis deponendis, which means the Sunday on which we take off the white vest. Therefore, taking off their white vests, neophytes began their new life in Christ and in the Church.
There is something else. During the Jubilee of the Year 2000, Saint John Paul II decreed that this Sunday would be dedicated to Divine Mercy. It is true, it was a good thing: it was the Holy Spirit who inspired this. A few months ago, we concluded the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy and this Sunday we are invited to accept the grace that comes from Divine mercy. Today's gospel is the account of the apparition of the risen Christ to the disciples while they were gathered in the Upper Room (cf Jn 20:19-31). Saint John writes that Jesus, after having greeted his disciples, said to them: As the Father has sent me, so I send you. Having said this, he breathed on them and added: Receive the Holy Spirit. All those whose sins you forgive will be forgiven them (Jn 20:21-23) This is the sense of the mercy that was presented on that day of Jesus' resurrection as forgiveness for our sins. The risen Jesus passed on to his Church, as a first task, his own mission of proclaiming tangible evidence of forgiveness to everyone. This is the first task: proclaiming forgiveness. This visible sign of his mercy carries with it the gift of peace in our hearts and joy that is renewed every time we meet the Lord.
In the light of Easter, mercy is seen as a true form of knowledge, and this is important: mercy is a true form of knowledge. We know that there are many ways to learn things. We learn things through the use of our senses, we learn things through institutions, we learn things through reasoning and also in other ways. Good, we can also learn things through experiencing mercy, because mercy opens the door of the mind in order that we might better understand the mystery of God and of our personal experience. Mercy helps us to understand that violence, bitterness and vengeance make no sense, and the first victim is always the one who lives with these sentiments, because they rob us of our own dignity. Mercy opens the door of the heart and allows us to experience closeness above all with those who are alone and marginalized, because we are made more aware of the fact that we are all brothers and sisters, children of one Father. Mercy favours the recognition of those who need consolation and helps us to find adequate words to comfort them.
Brothers and sisters, mercy warms the heart and makes it more aware of the needs of our brothers and sisters through sharing and participation. In short, the experience of mercy commits us all to being instruments of justice, reconciliation and peace. Never forget that mercy is the key to a life of faith, the concrete form through which we make the resurrection of Jesus visible in our world.
May Mary, the Mother of Mercy, help us to believe and to live all this with joy.
Following the recitation of the Regina Coeli, the Holy Father continued:
Dear brothers and sisters,
Yesterday in Oviedo (Spain), Father Luis Antonio Rosa Ormières, a priest, was proclaimed Blessed. Having lived in the nineteenth century, he devoted his many human and spiritual qualities in service to education and for this reason, he founded the Congregation of the Sisters of the Guardian Angel. His example and his intercession can help especially those who are working in schools and in the field of education.
I cordially greet all of you, Romans and pilgrims from Italy and from many other countries, especially the Confraternity of Saint Sebastian from Kerkrade (Netherlands), the Nigerian Catholic Secretariat and the parishioners from Liebfrauen in Bocholt (Germany).
I greet the Polish pilgrims, and I express sincere appreciation for the initiative proposed by Caritas Poland in support of many Syrian families. A special greeting to devotees of Divine Mercy who are gathered today in the church of Santo Spirito in Sassia, as well as those who are participating in the Race for Peace: a relay that begins here in the Square today and that will travel to Wittenberg (Germany).
I greet the many groups of young people, especially those who have recently celebrated Confirmation - there are so many of you! - from the Dioceses of Piacenza-Bobbio, Trento, Cuneo, Milan, Lodi, Cremona, Bergamo, Brescia and Vicenza ... and also the Massaccio School in Treviso and the San Carpoforo Institute in Como.
Finally, I thank all those who during this period have sent me messages and greetings for Easter. In response, I wish with all my heart to invoke for each of you and for every family the grace of the Risen Lord. Have a good Sunday, and please, don't forget to pray for me. Enjoy your lunch and good bye!
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