Thursday, April 05, 2007

Il Papa Begins Easter Triduum Celebrations

Pope Benedict XVI opened Easter celebrations with a Holy Thursday mass in St Peter's Basilica, to be followed by the ceremony of the washing of the feet at Rome's Basilica San Giovanni in Laterana.

Holy Thursday, for Christians, recalls Christ's last supper with his disciples before his arrest and crucifixion.

The rite of the eucharist - the sharing of bread and wine - commemorates this meal.

The Gospels say that Jesus, both God and man at the same time, washed the feet of the apostles on this occasion to signify that he was putting himself at the service of humanity.

During the chrismal mass, celebrated by bishops of every diocese in the Catholic world, the oil to be used in the coming year for baptisms and other sacraments is blessed, and all priests renew their vows.

In his homily Thursday, Benedict evoked the Russian writer Leon Tolstoy who spoke of "the love of the crucified Christ" who was solely able to "lend his whiteness to our dirty clothes, to lend his truth and light to our darkened spirit."

On Good Friday the pope will preside over the "celebration of the Passion" at St Peter's Basilica before proceeding to the Colosseum, in central Rome, where he will mark the traditional stations of the cross.

Saturday evening Benedict will return to St Peter's for an Easter vigil.

Easter Mass on Sunday will be celebrated in St Peter's Square, to be followed by the pope's blessing known as "urbi et orbi" (to the city and the world).

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