An extra celebration for the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe has been held annually in the Vatican ever since Benedict XVI’s pontificate.
Ever since he took office in 2014, Pope Francis has continued in this vein. This liturgical service in St. Peter’s Basilica will be presided over by him, in Spanish.
In his speeches and writings over the past year, he has been particularly outspoken against the intellectual colonisation that the people of Latin America have endured.
“Our procreative capacity compels us to protect our people against the ideological colonialism that seeks to eradicate the most prosperous among them, be they indigenous, African American, mixed, rural, or suburban.”
To add to the festive atmosphere, a different guest choir is invited each year. Traditional worship services have included recitations of the Lord’s Prayer in Quechua or Nahuatl, as well as musical compositions like the Agnus Dei by indigenous Francisco Varay and the Misa Criolla by Ariel Ramrez.
Two separate choirs will be performing this year. They are the choirs from the Sistine Chapel and the Colegio Po Latino Americano. The reason for this is that this year marks the 160th anniversary of the founding of Colegio Po.
In addition to Latin Americans already residing in Italy, tourists and business travellers will also be in attendance at the ceremony. A historic event, with the first Latin American pope serving as master of ceremonies, is open to the public.
The Liturgical Calendar For The Year’s Closing Celebrations, As Announced By The Vatican And Pope Francis
Pope Francis is to resume his regular schedule of public liturgies in December and January after the constraints imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic were lifted.
On December 8, the feast day of Mary Immaculate, Pope Francis will once again join the faithful in honouring her as the Immaculate Conception.
He plans on going to the Spanish Steps in the middle of Rome at 4 o’clock in the afternoon, where a large crowd usually congregates.
In 2020 and 2021, when the public ceremony was postponed due to a pandemic, Pope Francis nonetheless made his way to the Immaculate Conception statue early in the morning to put a basket of flowers at its feet.
On December 8 at noon, the Pope leads the faithful assembled in St. Peter’s Square in the recitation of the Angelus prayer.Mass for the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe will be held at St. Peter’s Basilica on the evening of December 12 at 6 p.m., when Pope Francis will preside.
The Nativity of the Lord Mass will be held by the Pope on December 24 at 7:30 p.m. Despite its name, the Mass is not said at midnight in the Vatican. Instead, it has been gradually moved to a more convenient time of day.
In his annual Christmas blessing “Urbi et orbi” (to the city and the world), the Pope will speak from the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica at noon on December 25.
As part of the celebrations for the Feast of the Mother of God, Pope will preside over an evening prayer service in St. Peter’s Basilica on the evening of December 31. After the vespers service, we shall worship God in the Eucharist, receive the benediction, and sing the “Te Deum” as a way to express our gratitude to Him for the past year.
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At 10 a.m. on January 1st, he will lead a Mass honouring the Blessed Virgin Mary in St. Peter’s Basilica. On January 6 at 10 a.m., in honour of the Epiphany, he will hold a Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica.
On January 8, the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, Francis will baptise infants during a Mass celebrated in the Sistine Chapel beginning at 9:30 a.m.Tickets can be requested from the Prefecture of the Papal Household via the Vatican website (Vatican. VA).
Women, Laity, Synodality
The Commission writes, “St. Mary of Guadalupe, in her dialogue with St. Juan Diego, invites us to appreciate, with new strength, the beauty and dignity of the prophetic presence of women, the much-needed protagonism of the laity,
the option for the poor, synodality as a dynamic dimension of communion, and to adopt a radical orientation of all life towards Jesus Christ.”
It goes on to say that we are tasked with turning not just our homes but also our nations and the entirety of the African continent into “holy houses” where belief in “the true God for Whom we exist” can be openly professed.
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The Holy Mass
A recitation of the Holy Rosary will begin at 5:30 pm CET, thirty minutes before the Pope will preside over a Holy Mass. Several choirs, including those from the Sistine Chapel, the Pontifical Latin American College, and the Pontifical Mexican College, will provide musical accompaniment for the ceremony.
The event is open to anybody visiting Rome on that day, but it is primarily geared toward the many people from Latin America who live in Italy and will be visiting the Eternal City.
If you are a member of the faithful and would like to attend this event, you can get tickets (which are always free of charge) by contacting the Prefecture of the Papal Household.
Final words
Worship (or adoration) is reserved exclusively for God, according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (the Church’s official teaching). Catholics, Orthodox Christians, and even some traditionalist Protestants pay homage to Mary and the Saints. We honour Mary because she is overflowing with the very life and love and grace of God (Luke 1:28).
