After an unusual journey, a pair of lambs destined for great things
were blessed by Pope Benedict XVI in a traditional ceremony at the
Vatican on Jan. 21.
The soft, pure wool from the little lambs will be used to make a
vestment, called a "pallium," which the Pope places on the shoulders of
the world's newest metropolitan archbishops each summer.
The lambs have quite an adventure before they arrive in the Vatican.
Sister Hanna Pomnianowska of the Sisters of the Holy Family of
Nazareth told the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano that the lambs
come from a Trappist Monastery at Tre Fontane, just outside of Rome.
They are brought to the sisters the day before the ceremony, where
they are the "joy" of the convent and the surrounding neighborhood.
They
are washed with soap to "bring out the shine" in their coats,
blowdried, fed and generally "coddled" before the next day's
festivities.
The sisters have had the responsibility since 1884, she said, but
they carry on a tradition that was passed on to them by a neighboring
convent before it closed.
The morning of the Feast of St. Agnes, the sisters adorn the two
lambs with flowers, small roses and a mantle each, one white and one
red.
The initials S.A.V adorn the white one and stand for "St. Agnes
Virgin," while S.A.M. is emblazoned on the red background for "St. Agnes
Martyr."
At 9 a.m., a pair of representatives from the Basilica of St. John
Lateran arrive to haul the lambs to the Basilica of St. Agnes
Outside-the-walls in northern Rome.
The Order of Lateran Canons Regular run the parish dedicated to St. Agnes, which has more than 10,000 parishioners.
On this, one of the most special days of the year in parish life, the
lambs are carried inside in baskets for the 10:30 a.m. Mass.
This year, the Pope's auxiliary bishop for the Diocese of Rome's
North Region, Bishop Guerino Di Tora, presided over the Mass and Lateran
Abbot Fr. Pietro Guglielmi blessed the lambs in the special rite.
From there, the lambs are loaded into a truck again for the ride to the Vatican.
This year, they arrived in time for the 11:30 a.m. presentation
ceremony at the Vatican's Urban VIII Chapel.
They were ceremoniously
presented to the Pope, who then entrusted them to the Benedictine
religious sisters of the Roman convent of St. Cecilia in Trastevere.
As they do every year, the sisters will use the lambs' wool to make a
pallium for each of this year's newly-appointed heads of Catholic
archdioceses in the world with sees in major cities.
The pallium is a special white liturgical vestment emblazoned with
six black silk crosses.
It is placed over the shoulders of the
archbishops when they are recognized by the Pope.
It is a symbol of both
their pastoral authority and their unity with the Successor of Peter.
Last year, 38 metropolitan archbishops received the pallium in St. Peter's Basilica.
The pallia from this year's lambs will be ready for the ceremony on
June 29, the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul.
At that point the woolen
vestments begin another journey, out from Rome to the archdioceses of
the world.
SIC: CNA/INT'L