(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis marked the Feast of St. Agnes with a centuries-old rite: the blessing of the lambs, from whose wool the Pallium will be made.
As per tradition, the small lambs, traditionally less than a year old, were carried to the Casa Santa Marta, where the Pope blessed them in the atrium, in baskets.
Come summer these same lambs will be shorn to supply the wool from which religious sisters will weave the Pallium.
Agnes means “lamb” in Latin. The saint of the same name was a martyr of the early 4th century, known for her consecrated virginity, she was killed as a young girl for refusing to worship pagan gods.
She is buried in the Basilica named for her, located on Rome’s Via Nomentana. To symbolize St. Agnes’ purity, when being blessed by the Pope one of the lambs wears a crown of white flowers, while the other wears a red floral wreath to recall her faithful witness even unto death.
The Pallium are white wool stoles, decorated with six black crosses worn by Metropolitan Archbishops around their necks as a symbol of their authority and unity with the Pope.
Once woven they are guarded in an urn at the tomb of St Peter until the Pope presents them to newly-appointed Metropolitan Archbishops on June 29, the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis marked the Feast of St. Agnes with a centuries-old rite: the blessing of the lambs, from whose wool the Pallium will be made. As per tradition, the small lambs, traditionally less than a year old, were carried to the Casa Santa Marta, where the Pope blessed them in the atrium, in…
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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has appealed for peace and reconciliation in Niger. Speaking on Wednesday at the weekly General Audience, the Pope explicitly referred to brutalities perpetrated against Christians, children and Churches. He invited those present to join him in praying for the victims of recent violence in Niger. Let us invoke the Lord –…
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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has appealed for peace and reconciliation in Niger. Speaking on Wednesday at the weekly General Audience, the Pope explicitly referred to brutalities perpetrated against Christians, children and Churches. He invited those present to join him in praying for the victims of recent violence in Niger. Let us invoke the Lord –…
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(Vatican Radio) The Holy See on Wednesday announced the names of the members of the Special College for the Examination of Appeals to the Ordinary Session of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which shall be charged with hearing the cases of high-ranking clerics charged with the most serious crimes ( delicta graviora ), specifically: the sexual abuse of minors, and certain serious abuses associated with the Sacrament of Penance. The Holy Father announced the creation of the College in a rescript in November, 2014 .
The College is composed of the following members:
President:
His Excellency, Archbishop Charles J. Scicluna, Auxiliary of Malta.
Members:
His Eminence Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education;
His Eminence Cardinal Attilio Nicora, Papal Legate for the Basilicas of St. Francis and St. Mary of the Angels in Assisi, President-emeritus of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See and the Financial Information Authority of the Holy See;
His Eminence Cardinal Francis Coccopalmerio, President of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts;
His Eminence Cardinal Giuseppe Versaldi, President of the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See;
His Excellency Archbishop José Luis Mollaghan, Archbishop-emeritus of Rosario;
His Excellency Archbishop Juan Ignacio Arrieta Ochoa de Chinchetru, Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts.
Alternate members:
His Eminence Cardinal Julian Herranz, President-emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts;
His Excellency Bishop Giorgio Corbellini, President of the Labour Office of the Apostolic See and the Disciplinary Commission of the Roman Curia.
(from Vatican Radio)…