Having missed the EWTN direct telecast of the Santa Sabina rites, I also missed the 6 pm replay because EWTN had a signal dropout in my area till 9 pm... so I did not know the Pope had used an electric cart for the procession...to which AP devoted a story by itself, without being snide about it, for a change. Must be the Lenten spirit at work!
Pope marks start of Lent
using a light Popemobile
for traditional procession
ROME. Feb. 22 (AP) - Pope Benedict XVI rode on a motorised cart in an Ash Wednesday procession, forsaking the traditional short walk between two Rome churches as the 84-year-old Pontiff tries to conserve his energy.
The Pope wore
an ermine-trimmed crimson cape to protect him from the chilly, early evening air [It was nothing more than the winter mozzetta that was appropriate for the non-Eucharistic liturgy before the Mass!] as he stood in the cart during the brief procession atop the Aventine Hill, between St Anselmo Church and the Basilica of Santa Sabina.
The white vehicle resembled a kind of mini Popemobile he uses on trips and to get around the vast expanse of St Peter's Square.
[It could have been the light electric cart he used in Piazza San Marco in Venice last May.]
But Pope Benedict walked briskly and unassisted into and out of the basilica, where he led a solemn service to mark the start of the Lenten season of penitence, including the placement of ashes on the forehead of faithful.
Last year's penitential procession.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 23/02/2012 06:16]