Having spent an enjoyable afternoon at Parkminster, it is time to look at the latest Papal Liturgy photos. Fr Z noticed a detail in his post
Jingle keys, jingle keys, jingle all the way. Having restored the big six and the large crucifix to the altar when celebrating
versus populum, the Holy Father has now added the seventh candlestick:
I'll let Fr Z explain:
"But Father! But Father!", some of you are no doubt saying, "What’s with that seventh candle thing anyway? Big deal!"
Yes, it is a big deal. It is a signal to a watching world. Indeed the whole world was watching, too: this was the televised Midnight Mass.
The seventh candle could be used for Pontifical High Mass when celebrated by an Ordinary in his diocese (or by the Pope anywhere, of course). The seventh candle, placed in the middle and in line with the other six, but it should be a little higher. This pushes the crucifix a little out of line… which also emphasizes it, in my opinion. Pope Benedict is acutely sensitive to the position of the Cross during Holy Mass.
Many people have noticed on the excellent mitre that the Pope was wearing. (Notice also the Cardinal's dalmatic.)
Fr Z
shows the stemma of Pope John Paul I as evidence that it was his mitre. Here is a remarkable comparison, thanks to the inimitable
Papa Ratzinger Forum. First, we see Pope Benedict wearing the mitre for the
Urbi et Orbi blessing yesterday:
Then, Pope John Paul I wearing the same mitre - as Cardinal Ratzinger pays his respects:
Having some interest in ecclesiastical headgear, I followed up the link on several blogs to the site devoted to clerical hats:
Klerikale Kopfbedeckungen. But I have to confess that I found it a little worrying after the first couple of hundred. I think you probably want to see this as a site for reference rather than for visiting every day :-)
I'll let Fr Z explain:
Fr Z shows the stemma of Pope John Paul I as evidence that it was his mitre. Here is a remarkable comparison, thanks to the inimitable Papa Ratzinger Forum. First, we see Pope Benedict wearing the mitre for the Urbi et Orbi blessing yesterday:
Then, Pope John Paul I wearing the same mitre - as Cardinal Ratzinger pays his respects:
Having some interest in ecclesiastical headgear, I followed up the link on several blogs to the site devoted to clerical hats: Klerikale Kopfbedeckungen. But I have to confess that I found it a little worrying after the first couple of hundred. I think you probably want to see this as a site for reference rather than for visiting every day :-)
1 comment:
Many thanks, Father, for this photo of the short lived John-Paul I, with his gentle and infectious smile.
I remember him well.
He was Cardinal Patriarch of Venice, and was elected Pope in 1978, the "year of three popes".
After the years when Paul VI had agonised over the world, it seemed possible for a moment that that John Paul I, with his gentle humour, might actually attract a lot of people back to the Church.
(It doesn't do to remember him as a moderniser.
When he took possession of his "cathedral" of St.John Lateran, he celebrated Mass in Latin, and in his homily spoke against liturgical abuse.)
He was also the last pope to use the sedia gestatoria.
When I saw his smile, and heard his first speech in his beautiful Italian, I wondered if the Church might be on the verge of a new spring.
But it was not to be.
Twenty years on, I find Pope Benedict makes me wonder the same thing.
Hope springs eternal !
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