12/24/2020 17:15
Clarín.com
World
Updated 12/24/2020 5:15 PM
Pope Francis officiated the
loneliest
mass of the Rooster on Thursday
, before a few faithful and advanced to respect the curfew due to the pandemic
, and called to serve others fleeing from the conduct of the "illiterate of goodness."
In a ceremony that began at 7:30
p.m.
(3:30
p.m.
in Argentina),
two hours before the usual time
to adapt to the anti-coronavirus regulations in force in Italy, the pontiff led his eighth Rooster Mass as Pope.
During the ceremony, Francisco asked to get away from the "mangers of vanity" and called for freedom from "the vicious circles of dissatisfaction, anger and lamentation."
"You who save me, teach me to serve.
You who do not leave me alone, help me to console your brothers
, because from tonight all are my brothers" were the words with which the pontiff concluded his homily on Christmas Eve, in a basilica of San Pedro rarefied.
And it is that the Vatican temple little or nothing resembled the one in the past on a festive date as marked as this one, in which the birth of Jesus of Nazareth is commemorated, one of the most important Masses of the liturgical year, if not the most .
Pope Francis led the Rooster Mass at the Vatican.
Photo EFE.
"Only the love of Jesus transforms life, heals the deepest wounds and frees us from vicious circles of dissatisfaction, anger and lamentation," said Jorge Bergoglio during the celebration, shorter than in previous years to ensure its completion at 22 local time, when the curfew established by the Italian Government begins.
In front of the altar of the Chair, where the ceremony took place instead of the traditional central altar of the Basilica, some
170 faithful and 30 cardinals, all wearing chinstraps,
followed the ceremony, far from the 10,000 people who filled the Basilica and the vicinity previous years.
At the ceremony, which marks the beginning of the Vatican celebrations for the Christmas and New Year holidays, the Pope lamented the times when, "starving for entertainment, success and worldliness, we feed our lives with foods that do not satiate and leave a void inside".
"Insatiable to possess,
we threw ourselves into so many mangers of vanity
, forgetting the manger of Bethlehem," criticized the bishop of Rome, who this week, along the same lines, had already warned of the danger that "consumerism" would take over the Christmas.
This year, in addition, the installation of a manger with futuristic dyes in San Pedro Square generated various criticisms for the inclusion of an astronaut among the traditional figures, and Francisco himself omitted the references to the work when last week he did summon to visit an exhibition with more than 100 mangers installed on one side of Plaza San Pedro.
In this context, Francis stated in his homily "that the time we have is not to feel sorry for ourselves, but to console the tears of those who suffer."
Without explicit references to the coronavirus pandemic during the homily, the Pope had started the celebration after hearing the "calenda", the typical song that sounds only for this Mass.
Pope Francis led the Rooster Mass at the Vatican.
AFP photo.
The celebrations agenda continues this Friday at noon, when
Francis addresses his traditional Christmas message,
in which he will review the Vatican's concern for conflicts in the world, and will impart the Apostolic Blessing "Urbi et Orbi", that is, to the city of Rome and the world.
For the first time in history, and to avoid crowds of the faithful in St. Peter's Square in the midst of the pandemic, the Pope will impart the blessing from the Hall of Blessings, a room built in 1622 inside the Vatican Apostolic Palace, and not from the central balcony of the Basilica, as is customary.
On Saturday 26, meanwhile, he
will offer the Angelus from the Library of the Apostolic Palace,
and not from the traditional window, also to avoid the presence of the faithful in the streets.
This year, for the first time, the Vatican media offered the free sign language translation (LIS) during Mass this afternoon, and will continue the service during the blessing tomorrow.
This year's celebrations also take place after the recent swab to which the pontiff underwent, with a negative result, after it was known that two of his closest collaborators had tested positive for coronavirus.
According to Vatican sources informed Télam, Bergoglio, 84 years old and considered a risk group for the disease, tested negative for coronavirus in a preventive test that was carried out in the Vatican early last Monday, once the positives were confirmed the Papal Almoner, the Polish Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, and the President of the Vatican Governor's Office, the Italian Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello.
Sources: AFP and Télam.