AT THE CATHEDRAL
OF SAINT JAMES
Ovation for the Pope
Translated from
Nov. 6, 2010
EFE is the official Spanish news agency.
The first part of the Pope's visit to Santiago has taken place without incident. The Pope visited the Cathedral after eiding in the Popemobile from Lavacolla airport to the city. because of the heavy fog, there were less people than expected along the route. There were also complaints that the Popemobile went by too fast.
But the vast plaza in front of the Cathedral and the surrounding streets were filled with pilgrims. Inside the Cathedral, the Pope broke protocol and went up towards the persons admitted for the visit, mostly sick and aged people with their families.
Then, he went out through the main entrance to greet the people gathered in Plaza Obradoiro, who acclaimed with a thundering ovation.
After admiring the so-called Portal of Glory, he proceeded to the Plaza de la Quintana where he was given an adaptation of the traditional pilbrim's cape to wear before re-entering the Cathedral through the Holy Door.
After the rite of embracing the image of St. James, following the age-old practice, he presided at a brief liturgy where he addressed the faithful, earning great applause when he began and ended the discourse in the Galician language.
The rite concluded with the cathedral's famous 'botafumeiro' - world's largest thurible - swinging from the ceiling to waft incense on the congregation.
[Still 'processing' available photos]
From the cathedral, he proceeded to the Archbishop's Palace for lunch with the bishops of the Spanish conference and a mid-afternoon rest before a 5 p.m. Mass at Plaza Obradoiro.
THE HOLY FATHER'S DISCOURSE
Your Eminences,
Dear Brother Bishops,
Distinguished Authorities,
Dear Priests, Seminarians and Religious,
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Dear Friends,
[In Galician:] I thank Archbishop Xulián Barrio Barrio of Santiago de Compostela for his kind words. I am happy to greet all of you with affection in the Lord and with gratitude for your presence in this highly significant place.
To go on pilgrimage is not simply to visit a place to admire its treasures of nature, art or history. To go on pilgrimage really means to step out of ourselves in order to encounter God where he has revealed himself, where his grace has shone with particular splendour and produced rich fruits of conversion and holiness among those who believe.
Above all, Christians go on pilgrimage to the Holy Land, to the places associated with the Lord’s passion, death and resurrection. They go to Rome, the city of the martyrdom of Peter and Paul, and also to Compostela, which, associated with the memory of Saint James, has welcomed pilgrims from throughout the world who desire to strengthen their spirit with the Apostle’s witness of faith and love.
In this Holy Year of Compostela, I too, as the Successor of Peter, wished to come in pilgrimage to the “House of Saint James”, as it prepares to celebrate the eight-hundredth anniversary of its consecration.
I have come to confirm your faith, to stir up your hope and to entrust to the Apostle’s intercession your aspirations, struggles and labours in the service of the Gospel.
As I embraced the venerable statue of the Saint, I also prayed for all the children of the Church, which has her origin in the mystery of the communion that is God. Through faith we are introduced to the mystery of love that is the Most Holy Trinity. We are in some sense embraced by God, transformed by his love.
The Church is this embrace of God, in which men and women learn also to embrace their brothers and sisters and to discover in them the divine image and likeness which constitutes the deepest truth of their existence, and which is the origin of genuine freedom.
Truth and freedom are closely and necessarily related. Honestly seeking and aspiring to truth is the condition of authentic freedom. One cannot live without the other.
The Church, which desires to serve unreservedly the human person and his dignity, stands at the service of both truth and freedom. She cannot renounce either, because what is at stake is man himself, because she is moved by love for man, “the only creature on earth which God has wanted for its own sake”(Gaudium et Spes, 24), and because without this aspiration for truth, justice and freedom, man would lose his very self.
From Compostela, the spiritual heart of Galicia and at the same time a school of unbounded universality, allow me to exhort all the faithful of this beloved Archdiocese, and those of the Church in Spain, to live their lives enlightened by the truth of Christ, confessing the faith with joy, consistency and simplicity, at home, at work and in their commitment as citizens.
May the joy of knowing that you are God’s beloved children bring you to an ever deeper love for the Church and to cooperate with her in her work of leading all men and women to Christ.
Pray to the Lord of the harvest that many young people will devote themselves to this mission in the priestly ministry and in the consecrated life: today, it is as worthwhile as ever to dedicate one’s whole life to the proclamation of the newness of the Gospel.
I cannot conclude without first expressing my appreciation and gratitude to the Catholics of Spain for the generosity with which they support so many institutions of charity and of human development.
Continue to maintain these works which benefit society as a whole, and whose effectiveness has been shown in a special way in the present economic crisis, as well as when grave natural disasters have affected certain countries.
[In Galician:] With these sentiments, I ask Almighty God to grant all of you the boldness which Saint James showed in bearing witness to the Risen Christ. In this way, may you remain faithful in the ways of holiness and spend yourselves for the glory of God and the good of our brothers and sisters in greatest need. Thank you.
12 noon, New York time: The Mass is now underway in Plaza Obradoiro.
1:50 pm., NY - The Mass has ended. That was probably the most musically beautiful and impeccable Mass I have heard in the 5-1/2 years of the Pontificate. I wish I knew who was the Mass composer - Spain has an embarrassment of riches in terms of great liturgical composers. The Archdiocese of Santiago spared no musical resources for this Mass - a seamlessly integrated repertoire, a choir and orchestra inside the Church, a man's chorus on the great steps of the Cathedral, the most hauntingly beautiful chanting of the Responsorial Psalm by an elderly male cantor, a flute solo as the background for the post-Communion reflection, and the greatest personal surprise for me, the communion hymn sung by everyone: a Spanish popular hymn I had not heard since I was 14 years old and left my hometown for college - so evocative of everything beautiful in my Catholic upbringing that, forgive me for indulging, I burst into tears. It ends with an invocation that is truly stirring and majestic, even when sung by anyone - "Gloria al Cristo Senor! Cielo y tierra, bendecid al Senor! Honor y gloria a ti, Rey de la gloria. Honor por siempre a ti, Dios del Amor", matched to inherently reverent music... What a lovely day this has been, a feast for the heart and spirit, as well as for the senses... Thank you, Santiago Apostol! Watch over the Successor of Peter...
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 06/11/2010 20:31]