For the first time in about three years, there was an outdoor Mass in St. Peter’s Square. Palm Sunday’s papal Mass was outdoors. The crowds though, while big, are much smaller than in Pope Benedict’s time. Even prior to the pandemic, Pope Francis’ crowds were dwindling for outdoor Masses at the Vatican, even for Easter Sunday.
But I post two screen shots of this morning’s Mass. Oddly enough, throughout his papacy, at the consecrations of the bread and wine, Pope Francis somewhat follows the rubrics of the Ancient Latin Mass, not the new one. He bows to consecrate the bread and the wine after he says “take this all of us” which is what occurs in the ancient liturgical books’ rubrics.
The pope always has high and long elevations, more so than what I do.
But today, it appears that his left arm is compromised. After consecrating the Host, he is unable to have a high or long elevation and his left arm is very weak as he elevates the Host, using the left hand in a weak way.
Then with the elevation of the chalice, the photo below shows how high the pope is able to go which isn’t high at all and it is a very short-time elevation and his left arm is not used at all.
Our recently retired bookkeeper developed similar issues, first with her arm that she couldn’t raise at all and then with her legs, so much so she began to fall and needed a walker. She had to have spinal surgery on her neck to deal with issues of her spine. While this led to her retirement, she is improving and gaining better motion with arm and legs. The surgery was on the discs in her neck and they enter from the front of the neck to get to the back.
At any rate, the ravages of time take a toll on our bodies and in old age small injuries, such as a fall, lead to an escalation of decline.
We all have to face our own decline and fall and the four last things, death, judgement, heaven or hell.
2 comments:
The Pope certainly does not look well. I pray that he is not suffering too much.
Pope John Paul II, suffering from Parkinsons, had to elevate one-handed. However, a lot of able-bodied priests followed suit - after all, in OF versus populum Masses elevation is not strictly necessary at the consecrations, but the former 'minor elevation' at the end of the Canon is transmogrified into a major event with a concluding 'Great Amen'.
This was deliberate; it was conforming the Roman custom to the Byzantine one, namely that the entire Eucharistic Prayer effects the change of the elements, not the words of consecration in themselves.
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