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Posted on 04/13/2005 10:25:56 AM PDT by NYer
Principal Celebrant: Archbishop Leonardo Sandri, substitute for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State.
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The text of the prayer read by Archbishop Leonardo Sandri Sunday at a Mass at St. Peter's Square. Sandri said Pope John Paul II had prepared the prayer himself before he died Saturday.
Dearest Brothers and Sisters!
The joyous Hallelujah of Easter resonates today too. Today's page of John's Gospel emphasizes that he who was Resurrected, the evening of that day, appeared before the Apostles and "showed them his hands and his side" (John 20,20), that is, the signs of the painful passion that were marked indelibly onto his body even after the resurrection. Those glorious wounds, which eight days later he made the unbelieving Thomas touch, reveal the mercy of God who "so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son" (John, 3, 16).
This mystery of love is at the center of today's liturgy of Sunday in Albis, dedicated to the worship of Divine Mercy.
To humanity, which at times appears lost and dominated by the power of evil, of selfishness and fear, the Lord resurrected offers as a gift his forgiving love, reconciles and reopens the spirit to hope. It is a love that converts hearts and gives peace. How much need the world has to understand and receive Divine Mercy!
Oh Lord, who with your death and resurrection reveal the love of the Father, we believe in You and with confidence we repeat today: Jesus, I trust in You, have mercy of us and the entire world.
The liturgic solemnity of the Annunciation, that we will celebrate tomorrow, pushes us to contemplate with the eyes of Mary the immense mystery of this merciful love that springs from the Heart of Christ. Helped by Her we can understand the true sense of the joy of Easter, which is based on this certainty: He whom the Virgin carried in her womb, who suffered and died for us, is truly resurrected. Hallelujah!
Anyone else notice that the epistle reading in the Italian always seems to commence with "Fratelli," ("Brethren") and the Gospel with "In illo tempore," ("At that time") as it did in Anglophone countries in the old lectionary?
I wonder what the Latin typical lectionary for the Mass of Paul VI says?
Woody
Pinging the more informed! Do any of you know?
I have no answer to Woody's question, but did want to thank you for posting these threads. I am enjoying these Masses so much, especially the music.
They truly are inspirational. You're in for a very special and quite different experience on Thursday, with the Oriental Churches. Mar Nasrallah Boutros Cardinal Sfeir, Maronite Patriarch of Antioch and all the East will be the Principal Celebrant. The Consecration will be in Aramaic, using the language and words of our Lord at the Last Supper.
Within the one Catholic Church there are in fact many churches which maintain their own traditions of theology, liturgy, spirituality, and government that are quite different from those usually associated with "Roman," or Latin (Western) Catholicism.
As most of us realize, the Church began in the East. Our Lord lived and died and resurrected in the Holy Land. The Church spread from Jerusalem throughout the known world. As the Church spread, it encountered different cultures and adapted, retaining from each culture what was consistent with the Gospel. In the city of Alexandria, the Church became very Egyptian; in Antioch it remained very Jewish; in Rome it took on an Italian appearance and in the Constantinople it took on the trappings of the Roman imperial court. All the churches which developed this way were Eastern, except Rome. This cultural adaptation resulted in the 22 different rites of the Catholic Church today.
Most Catholics in the United States have their roots in Western Europe where the Roman rite predominated. It has been said that the Eastern Catholic Churches are "the best kept secret in the Catholic Church." The Vatican II Council declared that "all should realize it is of supreme importance to understand, venerate, preserve, and foster the exceedingly rich liturgical and spiritual heritage of the Eastern churches, in order faithfully to preserve the fullness of Christian tradition" (Unitatis Redintegrato, 15). Pope John Paul II said that "the Catholic Church is both Eastern and Western."
Many people forget - or do not realize - that Christianity came from Judaism. It is from Jewish roots that the church of Antioch sprung. In fact, the church of Antioch was founded by St. Peter and it was there that the terms "Christian" and "Catholic" were first used.
The Maronite liturgy is one of the oldest in the Catholic Church. St. Peter and other Apostles brought the liturgy of the Last Super to Antioch where it developed in Greek and Syriac concurrently. The early Antioch liturgy is the basis of the Maronite liturgy.
You can learn more at this link.
A Roman Catholic may attend mass at any Eastern Catholic Church and fulfill their Sunday obligation.
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