WILL POPE LEO XIV BLESS THE LITTLE LAMBS ON WEDNESDAY’S FEAST OF SAINT AGNES (AGNUS) OR WILL HE CONTINUE POPE FRANCIS’ DISCONTINUATION OF THIS MARVELOUS LITTLE tRADITION?

 Pope Benedict XVI celebrated the blessing of the little lambs on the Feast of St. Agnus with great flair and humbly embracing, in the most humble way, great papal dignity in doing so.

Pope Francis offered a kind of variation to this blessing in his first year but then discontinued doing so for the rest of His Holiness’ papacy. 

Pope Francis was not humble in embracing papal protocol and easily dispensed of papal traditions in the most “PREPOTENZA” way. You’ll have to look up what the Italian word “prepotenza” means, but it his the opposite of humble, as a clue:

So, if we are to place wagers on what Pope Leo XIV will do, how much would you bet that he will recover this great tradition of blessing on the Feast of Saint Agnes (Agnus) on Wednesday?

And if he recovers this tradition, will His Holiness look more like Pope Benedict while offering this blessing or more like Pope Francis?

Time will tell by tomorrow!

This is what AI says about this blessing and Pope Francis:

Every January 21, on the 

Feast of St. Agnes, the Pope historically blesses two lambs in a centuries-old Vatican tradition. While Pope Francis participated in this ceremony during the early years of his pontificate, recent reports indicate that he discontinued the specific ritual of personally blessing the lambs in the Vatican a few years into his leadership. 

Tradition and Symbolism

• The Pallium: The wool from these lambs is shorn on Holy Week by the Benedictine nuns of St. Cecilia in Trastevere. It is then woven into palliums—white wool stoles decorated with six black crosses—which the Pope bestows upon newly appointed Metropolitan Archbishops on the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul (June 29).
• St. Agnes: The martyr’s name sounds like the Latin word for lamb (agnus), and she is often depicted with one to symbolize her purity and chastity.
• Floral Crowns: Traditionally, one lamb is adorned with a red floral wreath(symbolizing her martyrdom) and the other with white flowers (symbolizing her purity). 

Evolution of the Rite

Although the Pope no longer blesses them personally at the Vatican, the lambs are still brought to the Basilica of Saint Agnes Outside-the-Walls on the morning of January 21. They are placed on the altar over the martyr's tomb and blessed by a high-ranking cleric or the Abbot of the Lateran Canons before being entrusted to the nuns for weaving