This is a splendid example of a Benedictine Monastic Liturgy and an example too of how splendidly the Mass of Pope Paul VI can and should be celebrated. It includes all the Propers in glorious Gregorian Chant and a wonderful Latin setting of the rest of the Mass. I am not sure which Latin Mass setting it is, but glorious indeed it is.
There are a couple of things that I thought were interesting.
1. Pope Leo is not afraid to wear ornate vestments, both His Holiness’ miter and chasuble of beautiful fabric and bejeweled.
2. For the Liturgy of the Word, the Old Testament Reading, Responsorial Psalm and Epistle reading were read from a podium on the Epistle side o the altar, from the congregation’s vantage point. The Gospel was read at an ambo on the Gospel side of the altar, from the nave’s point of view.
3. There was no offertory procession of the offerings. These were simply placed on the altar as the altar was prepared, thus the Pope did not receive the offerings from representatives of the assembly.
4. I like/love the altar arrangement with the hanging crucifix directly over the altar. Once again, and for the umpteenth time, Pope Leo looks for the crucifix, then realizes that it is above him and then asks the MC if he should first incense the crucifix from his side of the altar, which he does. Wouldn’t it be nice for a splendid crucifix to be suspended directly above the papal altar at St. Peter’s Basilica and that there be no more “hide and seek” crucifix placements!
HOLY MASS ON THE 125TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE DEDICATION
OF THE CHURCH OF SAINT ANSELM ON THE AVENTINE
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS POPE LEO XIV
Feast of Saint Martin - Tuesday, November 11, 2025
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"You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church" (Mt 16:18). Dear brothers and sisters, we have heard these words of Jesus as we commemorate the 125th anniversary of the Dedication of this church, strongly desired by Pope Leo XIII, who promoted its construction.
He intended this building, along with that of the annexed International College, to contribute to strengthening the Benedictine presence in the Church and the world, through ever greater unity within the Benedictine Confederation. This was the goal for which the Office of Abbot Primate was also established. He believed that your ancient Order could be of great service to the well-being of all the People of God in a challenging time, such as the transition from the 19th to the 20th century.
Indeed, monasticism from its origins has been a "frontier" reality, encouraging courageous men and women to establish centers of prayer, work, and charity in the most remote and inaccessible places, often transforming desolate areas into fertile and rich lands, agriculturally and economically, but above all spiritually. The monastery has thus increasingly become a place of growth, peace, hospitality, and unity, even in the darkest periods of history.
Our own time, too, faces many challenges. The sudden changes we are witnessing challenge and question us, raising previously unseen issues. This celebration reminds us that, like the Apostle Peter, and with him Benedict and so many others, we too can respond to the demands of the vocation we have received only by placing Christ at the center of our existence and our mission, starting with that act of faith that makes us recognize Him as the Savior and translating it into prayer, study, and the commitment to a holy life.
Here, all this is accomplished in various ways: first in the liturgy, then in Lectio divina, in research, in pastoral care, with the involvement of monks from all over the world and with openness to clergy, religious men and women, and lay people of the most diverse backgrounds and circumstances. The monastery, the Athenaeum, the Liturgical Institute, and the pastoral activities connected to the Church, in accordance with the teachings of Saint Benedict, must thus grow ever more synergistically as an authentic "school of the Lord's service" (St. Benedict, Rule, Prologue, 45).
This is why I have thought of the complex in which we find ourselves as a reality that must aspire to become a beating heart in the great body of the Benedictine world, centered, according to the teachings of Saint Benedict, on the Church.
The first reading (cf. Ezekiel 43:1-2, 4-7a) presented us with the image of the river flowing from the Temple. It harmonizes very well with that of the heart, which pumps the lifeblood of blood throughout the body, so that each member may receive nourishment and strength for the benefit of the others (cf. 1 Cor 12:20-27); as well as with that of the spiritual edifice of which the second reading spoke, founded on the solid rock that is Christ (cf. 1 Pet 2:4-9).
In the industrious hive of Saint Anselm, may this be the place from which everything begins and to which everything returns to find verification, confirmation, and deepening before God, as Saint John Paul II recommended during his visit to the Pontifical Athenaeum on the occasion of the centenary of its foundation. Referring to his patron saint, he said: "Saint Anselm reminds everyone [...] that knowledge of the divine mysteries is not so much an achievement of human genius, but rather a gift that God gives to the humble and to believers" (Address, June 1, 1986).
He was referring, as mentioned, to the teachings of the Doctor of Aosta, but we hope that this will also be the prophetic message that this Institution brings to the Church and the world, as the fulfillment of the mission we have all received: to be a people God has acquired for himself, so that we may proclaim the wonderful works of him who has called us from darkness into his marvelous light (cf. 1 Pet 2:9).
The Dedication is the solemn moment in the history of a sacred building in which it is consecrated to be a meeting place between space and time, between the finite and the infinite, between man and God: an open door to the eternal, in which the soul finds an answer to the "tension between the circumstances of the moment and the light of time, of the broader horizon [...] which opens us to the future as the final cause that attracts us" (Francis, Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, 222) in the encounter between fullness and limitation that accompanies our earthly journey.
The Second Vatican Council describes all this in one of its most beautiful passages, when it defines the Church as "human and divine, visible yet endowed with invisible realities, eager for action and dedicated to contemplation, present in the world yet a pilgrim; […] in such a way, however, that what is human in her is ordered and subordinated to the divine, the visible to the invisible, action to contemplation, this present world to the city to come, toward which we journey" (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 2).
It is the experience of our life and the life of every man and woman in this world, in search of that ultimate and fundamental answer that "neither flesh nor blood" can reveal, but only the Father who is in heaven (cf. Mt 16:17); ultimately in need of Jesus, "the Christ, the Son of the living God" (v. 16). We are called to seek Him, and to Him we are called to bring all those we meet, grateful for the gifts He has bestowed upon us, and above all for the love with which He preceded us (cf. Rom 5:6). This temple will then increasingly become a place of joy, where we experience the beauty of sharing with others what we have freely received (cf. Mt 10:8).
2 comments:
Nice bit of chant but what you’d expect from st anselamo.
The thing I’d say is that all the masses you link to would be exactly the same whichever pope was celebrating coz they’re organised by the papal office for liturgical ceremonies!
That crucifix is absolutely splendid - beautiful in every way!
I am glad to know our good Pope Leo is humble enough to vest well for Mass and to ensure that the crucifix is incensed properly.
I feel confident we are in very good and faithful hands under his leadership.
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