At 12pm Monday, Pope Francis appeared at the window of the Apostolic Vatican Palace, to recite the Regina Caeli with the faithful and pilgrims gathered in Saint Peter’s Square
Here is a translation of the Pope’s words on introducing the Marian prayer of Eastertide.
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Before the Regina Caeli
Dear Brothers and Sisters, good morning!
Happy Easter! “Cristos anesti! – Alethos anesti!”, Christ is risen! – He is truly risen!” He is here, among us in the Square! During this week we can continue to exchange Easter wishes as if it were the only day.
Great is the day that the Lord has made.
The dominant sentiment perceived, in the evangelical accounts of the Resurrection, is joy full of wonder, but a great wonder! A joy that comes from within! And, in the Liturgy, we relive the state of mind of the disciples because of the news the women brought to them: Jesus is risen! We have seen him!
We let this experience, imprinted in the Gospel, be imprinted also in our hearts and shine in our life. We let the joyful wonder of Easter Sunday shine in our thoughts, our looks, our attitudes, our gestures and our words. I wish we were so luminous! However, this is not makeup! It comes from within, from a heart immersed in the source of this joy, as that of Mary Magdalen, who weeps for the loss of her Lord and did not believe her eyes when seen Him risen. Whoever has this experience becomes a witness of the Resurrection because, in a certain sense, he himself has risen, she herself was raised. Then one is able to bring a “ray” of the light of the Risen One to different situations: to happy ones, rendering them more beautiful and preserving them from egoism; to painful ones, bringing serenity and hope.
It will do us good this week to take the Book of the Gospel and read those chapters that speak of Jesus’ Resurrection. It will do us so much good to take up the Book, to find the chapters and read about it! It will do us good this week to think also of the joy of Mary, the Mother of Jesus. How profound her sorrow was, so much so as to pierce her soul, how intimate and profound was her joy, which the disciples were able to draw from. Having passed through the experience of the Death and Resurrection of her Son, she is seen in faith as the supreme expression of the love of God, Mary’s heart became a source of peace, of consolation, of hope and of mercy. All the prerogatives of our Mother stem from here, from her participation in Jesus’ Pasch. From Friday to Sunday morning, she did not lose hope: we contemplated her as the sorrowful Mother but, at the same time, as a Mother full of hope. She, the Mother of all the disciples, the Mother of the Church, is the Mother of hope.
To her, silent witness of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus, we pray that she may introduce us to the joy of Easter. We will do so with the recitation of the Regina Caeli, which in Eastertide replaces the prayer of the Angelus.
After the Regina Caeli:
I give my cordial greeting to you all, dear pilgrims, who have come from Italy and from several countries
to take part in this meeting of prayer.
Remember this week to take up the Gospel, to find the chapters that speak of the Resurrection and to
read, every day, a passage of those chapters. It will do us good, in this week of the Resurrection of Jesus.
I express to each of you the hope that you will spend this Monday of the Angel, in which the joy of Christ’s resurrection is prolonged, in joy and serenity.
Happy and holy Easter to all! Have a good lunch and good-bye!
[Original text: Italian] [Translation by ZENIT]
