Just got this hot off the wires! And posted by me at 5:45 AM Eastern Daylight Savings Time, October 16, 2011! (Am I the first?) It occurred this morning for the first time for Pope Benedict!
Will this be coming back?????
The Holy Father declared "The Year of Faith" at the conclusion of his homily at a beautiful OF Mass in St. Peter's Basilica for the "New Evangelization." It will begin in October and will mark the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council.
This raises the question of whether or not the Holy Father will also issue an encyclical about the correct interpretation of the Second Vatican Council. We already know how he feels about it, but like his desire that those who receive Holy Communion from him do so kneeling and on the tongue (this occurred this morning too at the Basilica although other communion stations were standing)as well as his desire for the traditional decoration of the altar now known as the "Benedictine arrangement" he has not codified or promulgated any of his opinions or desires about these things in any written publication like a "motu proprio".
The Holy Father has only "modeled" for pastors (meaning bishops) his desire for the Liturgy and his understanding of the Second Vatican Council not as a rupture from the Tradition of the Church but within the Church's grand tradition of the "hermeneutic of continuity!" Is it time now to stop modeling and take steps like the photo above?
Would it be too daring for him to do so similar to Summorum Pontificum?
There was one other thing that shocked me and I'm not sure if he used this for the procession of this morning's Mass or not and I didn't notice how he was walking because I wasn't watching him depart the high altar, but he departed the basilica on a platform that was three steps high and he was "rolled" out almost as though he were on the gestatorial chair! Is the Holy Father having a harder time walking now or is this something to allow the Holy Father to be seen in procession as it elevates him? Does anyone know?
I'm sure other bloggers will pick up on this one!
This is what the Associated Press said:
Pope moves on wheeled platform
Posted: Oct 16, 2011 4:56 AM EDT Updated: Oct 16, 2011 4:56 AM EDT
VATICAN CITY (AP) - For the first time, Pope Benedict XVI is using a wheeled platform to move up the long aisle of St. Peter's Basilica.
The 84-year-old pontiff used the same device employed by his ailing predecessor, John Paul II, to reach the main altar, where he was celebrating Mass Sunday.
Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi insists that Benedict is using the platform not for any medical reason but simply to "ease his effort" and "lighten his fatigue." Lombardi also told reporters Saturday that the device would serve to better protect the pope. On Christmas Eve in 2009, a woman with psychological problems scrambled over the barrier at the end of the pews and caused Benedict to fall down in her rush to embrace him.
5 comments:
A pope is never sick or in "failing health" until he is dead.
Old Roman Proverb
I luv those red Prada's! I am even on the same page with the Pope on shoes. Impeccable taste.
For a man in his mid-80s, he is in very good/excellent health. I have read he does monitor it as well, trying to nip things in the bud. This is just another practical step in that manner.
The Sedia would still be so much better. So would the Tiara for that matter.
At least put a thronelike, red chair on there so the Pope may sit while being "pushed" to the altar. If the Holy Father still refuses to use the age old traditional Sedia that was last used by John Paul I, then at least make this new contraption look like the old for continuity's sake.
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