Jubilee of Mercy News:1. Is the Jubilee of Mercy attracting far fewer pilgrims to Rome than expected? 2. Experimentation returns to the Papal Liturgy; Gospel accompanied by "dramatization" in Jubilee Mass for the Sick at St. Peter's

1. Is the Jubilee attracting fewer pilgrims than expected?

On June 10, Archbishop Rino Fisichella of the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization announced that since the beginning of the current Jubilee, 9,100,935 pilgrims have visited the four Papal Basilicas - St Peter's, St John Lateran, S. Maria Maggiore and S. Paolo Fuori le Mura - and the Sanctuary of our Lady of Divine Love. The Jubilee of Mercy started on December 8, 2015 and will end on November 20, 2016, which means that we are already slightly more than halfway through the Jubilee year. While the summer season (peak season for tourists despite the heat) is still ahead, the Christmas, Lent, Holy Week and Easter seasons favored by numerous pilgrims have long been over.

Masterpost of Sources: Sources for Research on the Solemn Papal Mass

Modern rendition of the Constantinian Vatican Basilica

Below there is a collection of items being a basis for a historical and liturgical study of the Book on Pontifical Ceremonies, with particular emphasis on the course, structure, rites and traditions related to the celebration of the Solemn Mass by the Bishop of Rome.

The Interactive Bibliography on the Papal Liturgy

Over a few years of an online presence of Caeremoniale Romanum, a foundation for an "interactive" bibliography on the Pontifical Liturgy has been laid down, i.e. each of the bibliographic items was presented and/or described; sometimes fragments of some items were published.

The bibliography is updated on an ongoing basis, also thanks to the kindliness of readers and fans of the project. The writer hopes thus to have his small contribution to the development of studies on the jewel of the liturgy which is the Roman Rite.

De episcoporum consecratione a Romano Pontifice

Joachim Nabuco: Episcoporum consecrationes Summo Pontifici a iure reservantur, qui sat frequenter personaliter eas persolvit, praesertim si consecrandi sint e familia vel domo sua, seu SRE cardinales [1].

1. Consecrationes a Summo Pontefice fieri solent intra missam lectam, praesertim propter duo, I° quia missa solemnis Papae est nimis prolixa, et 2° quia solus Papa consecratur ad altare papale, ubi Papa solet solemniter celebrare [2]. Vide notam I, p. 221 [: Romae saeculo XIII, dominus apostolicus electo dabat hostiam integram et diaconus ministrans calicem cum sanguine Christi. Id etiam probat episcoporum consecrationes intra missarum solemnia, id est cum cantu et sacris ministris, a summo pontifice fieri consuevisse. Andrieu tome II, p. 336].

2. Episcopi conconsecrantes intra archiepiscopos Apostolico solio assistentes seliguuntur. Vide notam 2, p. 182 [: Privilegium erat Apostolicum, et quidem exclusivum, consecrandi episcopos sine conconsecratoribus. In Ordine Romano XXXV saeculi X legis “Et benedicet eum Dominus Apostolicus per semetipsum... nam a ceteris episcopis benedici non potest minus quam a tribus.” Andrieu, Ordines Romani, IV, p. 44. Sed multum antea diaconus Carthaginiensis Fulgentius Ferrando, in suo Breviario, capite VI, scripsit “Ut unus episcopus episcopum non ordiner, excepta Ecclesia Romana.” Apud Duchesne, Les Origines du culte chrétien, ed. 3, p. 361. Grisar, Storia di Roma e dei Papi, Roma 1908, in- 4, p. 776. Privilegium tam insigne reliquerunt summi pontifices inde a saeculo XII vel circiter, amore forsan uniformitatis. Quis scit utrum ad tam singulare privilegium revertantur aliquando Petri successores. Vide excurcum De consecratione Summi Pontificis, n. 291a].

3. Capellani assistentes erunt episcopi duo ex assistentibus ad solium vel e familia sua, qui utuntur superpelliceo super rochetum et cruce pectorali.

4. Papa consecrationem exsequitur iuxta P[ontificalem] R[omanum] et induitur omnibus vestibus pontificalibus. Facit praeparationem et se vestit ad thronum, ubi in fine sacras deponit vestes.

5. Vittae lineae capiti et humeris electi imponuntur ab uno e subdiaconis apostolicis. Pius XI, Ad incrementum decoris, n. 78.

6. Super dona offerenda stemmata Summi Pontificis tantum apponentur.

7. Inthronizatio, quicumque sit electus, fit ad faldistorium, adstante Papa ad parvum thronum in suppedaneo a latere evangelii.

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[1] Apud APC (1907, p. 96) habes relationem episcoporum a summis pontificibus consecratorum; ibi videbis quam frequenter id fiebat. Gregorius XVI consecravit episcopum unum ad altare papale, contra regulam generalem. Die 25 Februarii 1906, in dominica quinquagesima, Pius X quatuordecim episcopos Galliae consecravit; die 28 Octobris 1926, in festo SS. AA. Simonis et Judae, Pius XI sex episcopos e Sinis sacravit; et in festo ssmae. Trinitatis anni iubilaei 1933 quinque episcopos e locis missionum nativos (Sina, India, Annam). Demum in festo D. N. Iesu Christi Regis anni 1939 Pius XII in Basilica sancti Petri duodecim sacravit episcopos missionarios, quos in perpulchra homilia salutavit. AAS 1940, p. 595. Die 27 Decembris 1958 Ioannes XXIII, g. r., consecravit cardinalem Tardini, a secretis Status, insimul cum aliis septem praesulibus.

[2] "Au XIIe siècle une vieille tradition (inde a sancto Gregorio Papa I) ne permettait de célébrer à l'autel de Saint-Pierre d'autre ordination que celle du Pape lui-même". Andrieu, Ordines Romani, IV, p. 127, Ordo XXXVI.

Beatification and Canonization of Saints

The Catholic Church canonizes or beatifies only those whose lives have been marked by the exercise of heroic virtue, and only after this has been proved by common repute for sanctity and by conclusive arguments. The chief difference, however, lies in the meaning of the term canonization, the Church seeing in the saints nothing more than friends and servants of God whose holy lives have made them worthy of His special love. She does not pretend to make gods (cf. Eusebius Emisenus, Serm. de S. Rom. M.; Augustine, City of God XXII.10; Cyrill. Alexandr., Contra Jul., lib. VI; Cyprian, De Exhortat. martyr.; Conc. Nic., II, act. 3).

The true origin of canonization and beatification must be sought in the Catholic doctrine of the worship (cultus), invocation, and intercession of the saints. As was taught by St. Augustine (Quaest. in Heptateuch., lib. II, n. 94; Reply to Faustus XX.21), Catholics, while giving to God alone adoration strictly so-called, honour the saints because of the Divine supernatural gifts which have earned them eternal life, and through which they reign with God in the heavenly fatherland as His chosen friends and faithful servants. In other words, Catholics honour God in His saints as the loving distributor of supernatural gifts.

The worship of latria (latreia), or strict adoration, is given to God alone; the worship of dulia (douleia), or honour and humble reverence, is paid the saints; the worship of hyperdulia (hyperdouleia), a higher form of dulia, belongs, on account of her greater excellence, to the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Church (Augustine, Reply to Faustus XX.21; cf. City of God XXII.10) erects her altars to God alone, though in honour and memory of the saints and martyrs. There is Scriptural warrant for such worship in the passages where we are bidden to venerate angels (Exodus 23:20 sqq.; Joshua 5:13 sqq.; Daniel 8:15 sqq.; 10:4 sqq.; Luke 2:9 sqq.; Acts 12:7 sqq.; Revelation 5:11 sqq.; 7:1 sqq.; Matthew 18:10; etc.), whom holy men are not unlike, as sharers of the friendship of God. And if St. Paul beseeches the brethren (Romans 15:30; 2 Corinthians 1:11; Colossians 4:3; Ephesians 6:18-19) to help him by their prayers for him to God, we must with even greater reason maintain that we can be helped by the prayers of the saints, and ask their intercession with humility. If we may beseech those who still live on earth, why not those who live in heaven?

[Catholic Encyclopedia]

Beatification of John Bosco A. D. 1929:

Cappella Papale in the Sistine Chapel - Apostolic Liturgy par excellence

« On appelle CHAPELLES PAPALES, les vêpres, les matines, les messes chantées, et les autres cérémonies ecclésiastiques auxquelles assiste le Pontife souverain, ou qu’il célèbre lui-même, d’après les vénérables rites de l’Église romaine, en présence des Cardinaux, Patriarches, Archevêques et Prélats, du plus grand nombre des Généraux d’ordres religieux, des premiers dignitaires de la cour papale, et de la Famille pontificale »

C. Moroni, Histoire des chapelles papales, Paris 1846, p. 1

Coronatio Summi Pontificis

Accipe thiaram, tribus coronis ornatam, et scias te esse Patrem Principum et Regum, Rectorem Orbis, in terra Vicarium Salvatoris Nostri, Cui est honor, et gloria in sæcula sœculorum.

"Receive the tiara adorned with three crowns and know that thou art Father of Princes and Kings, Ruler of the World, Vicar of Our Savior on earth, to Him be the honor and glory forever and ever".

Pius P. P. X

  

Pius P. P. XI

  

Pius P. P. XII

Insignia of the Pope

From Archdale A.King's Liturgy of the Roman Church (London 1957, pp. 158-161):

TIARA

The Papal tiara, like the mitre, seems to have been derived from the camelaucum or regnum, and to have retained the from of a tall pointed cap for many centuries. As a head-covering for the Pope, it is first called a tiara in the life of Paschal II (1099-1118) [1]. An 11th-century fresco of Nicholas I (858-67) in the lower church of S. Clemente (Rome) depicts the tiara as a high and pointed coneshaped hat, ornamented with a gold band. This gold circlet or ‘crown’ on the ‘imperial phrygium’ is referred to by Suger, abbot of St. Denis (Paris), in 1130. Ordo Romanus XI (12th century) makes a definite distinction between the mitre and the tiara. By the 13th century, the gold circlet was already fashioned in the form of a tooth-edged crown (regnum), to which a second was added under Boniface VIII (1294-1303) and a third under Clement V (13-5-14), from which is derived the triregnum. The form of the headgear, however, remained until the 14th century a tall cap, resembling a sugar-loaf, from which two black lappets (caudae) were suspended [2].

The inventory of papal treasures made in 1295 still shows a single royal circlet round the tiara. The second crown may have been added as an expression of pomp, but it is more probably explained as an indication of the twofold authority of the Pope – spiritual et temporal. The first notice of the three crowns is found in an inventory made in 1315 or 1316, and the tomb of Benedict XI, who died at Perugia in 1304, shows the early type of tiara. The effigy of Clement V (ob. 1314) at Uzès was unfortunately so mutilated by the Hunguenots that it is impossible to ascertain the form of the ‘hat’, but there are still only two crowns on the tomb of John XXII (ob. 1334) at Avignon. The first monument to represent the Pope with the triple crown is that of the Cistercian Benedict XII (ob. 1342), which is also to be seen at Avignon.

From the end of the middle ages, the upper part of the tiara had a growing tendency to ‘break loose’, until it became larger than the base, allowing for a rich ornamentation of chasing and precious stones. The small cross on the top of the tiara was introduced in the 16th century. The tiara is not strictly a liturgical ornament, and at solemn functions the Pope wears a mitre, while the tiara is carried before him. It is, however, worn for the ceremony of coronation, the return to the sacristy after a solemn Mass, and in the procession to and from the Mass commemorative of the anniversary of the coronation.

FLABELLUM

The ostrich-feather fans or flabella, which are carried on either side of the papal sedia gestatoria and flank the throne on solemn occasions, may possibly be derived form the fan once used by the deacon during the canon of the Mass [3]. Two of these fans are found today in the museum of the University of Pennsylvania, having been exchanged for another pair by an American in 1902.

FALDA

Proclamatio Dogmatis Assumptionis Beatæ Mariæ Virginis (A. D. 1950) [Edited 16.VII]

"Quapropter, postquam supplices etiam atque etiam ad Deum admovimus preces, ac Veritatis Spiritus lumen invocavimus, ad Omnipotentis Dei gloriam, qui peculiarem benevolentiam suam Mariae Virgini dilargitus est, ad sui Filii honorem, immortalis saeculorum Regis ac peccati mortisque victoris, ad eiusdem augustae Matris augendam gloriam et ad totius Ecclesiae gaudium exsultationemque, auctoritate Domini Nostri Iesu Christi, Beatorum Apostolorum Petri et Pauli ac Nostra pronuntiamus, declaramus et definimus divinitus revelatum dogma esse : Immaculatam Deiparam semper Virginem Mariam, expleto terrestris vitae cursu, fuisse corpore et anima ad caelestem gloriam assumptam".

Pius P. P. XII, Constitutio apostolica Munificentissimus Deus, A. D. 1950

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