Before the Regina Coeli
After the Regina Coeli
At midday today, Easter Monday, the Holy Father Francis appeared at the window of his study in the Vatican Apostolic Palace to pray the Regina Coeli with the faithful and pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square.
The following is the Pope’s introduction to the Marian prayer:
Before the Regina Coeli
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
On this Monday of celebration, called “Monday of the Angel,” the liturgy makes resound the announcement of the Resurrection proclaimed yesterday: “Christ is Risen, Alleluia!”
In today’s passage from the Gospel we can hear the echo of the Angel’s words addressed to the women who approached the sepulchre: “Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead’” (Matthew 28:7). We also feel as though the invitation were addressed to us to “go quickly” and proclaim to the men and women of our time this message of joy and hope. It is of sure hope, because when, at dawn on the third day, the crucified Jesus was resurrected, the last word was no longer that of death but of life! And this is our certainty. The tomb is not the last word, it is not death; it is life! Therefore, we repeat so much: Christ is Risen,” because in Him the tomb was defeated and life was born.
By virtue of this event, which constitutes the true and proper novelty of history and of the cosmos, we are called to be new men and women according to the Spirit, affirming the value of life. There is life! It has already started to rise again! We will be men and women of resurrection, men and women of life, if, in the midst of the events that trouble the world — there are so many today – in the midst of the worldliness that estranges us from God, we are able to offer gestures of solidarity, gestures of hospitality, nurturing the universal desire for peace and the aspiration for an environment free of degradation. They are ordinary and human signs which, however, when sustained and inspired by faith in the Risen Lord, acquire a far superior efficacy than our capacities allow. And this is so because Christ is alive and working in history through His Holy Spirit; He rescues us from our miseries, reaches every human heart and gives back hope to anyone who is oppressed and suffering.
May the Virgin Mary, silent witness of the Death and Resurrection of her Son Jesus, help us to be living signs of the Risen Christ amid the events of the world, so that all those who are in tribulation and difficulties do not remain victims of pessimism and defeat, of resignation, but find in us many brothers and sisters who offer them support and consolation. May our Mother help us to believe intensely in the Resurrection of Jesus: Jesus is Risen, He is alive here, among us, and this is a wondrous mystery of salvation with the capacity to transform hearts and life. And may she intercede in a particular way for the persecuted and oppressed Christian communities which today, in so many parts of the world, are called to a more difficult and courageous witness.
And now, in the light and the joy of Easter, we turn to her in the prayer that, for fifty days until Pentecost, takes the place of the Angelus.
Regina Coeli…
After the Regina Coeli
Dear brothers and sisters,
In the atmosphere of Easter that characterizes this day, I warmly greet you all: families, parish groups, associations and individual pilgrims from Italy and from all over the world.
I hope that every one of you will spend in serenity these days of the Octave of Easter, in which the joy of the Resurrection of Christ continues. Take every good opportunity to be witnesses of the peace of the Risen Lord.
I wish a good and Holy Easter to you all! Please, do not forget to pray for me. Have a good lunch, and goodbye.
