Pope Francis: Regina coeli and scavi visit

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis prayed the Regina coeli with pilgrims gathered in St Peter’s Square on Monday – a holiday in Italy and the Vatican, for which more than a quarter million people packed the square to recite the traditional Eastertide prayer of Marian devotion. The temperature was warm and the weather spring-like, with hazy sunshine and occasional brisk breezes even at noonday, when the Holy Father appeared in the window of the Papal apartment in the Apostolic Palace. Listen:

“Happy Easter to you all!” he said to the gathered faithful, thanking them for coming in such large numbers, “to share the joy of Easter, the central mystery of our faith.” He went on to say, “Let us pray that the power of Christ’s resurrection might reach everyone - especially those who suffer - and every place that is in need of trust and hope.”

The focus of his remarks before the prayer was twofold: the reality of the resurrection and of Christ's grace; the need for us to cooperate with that grace so that it can become effective in our lives and in the world. “Christ has conquered evil fully and finally, but it is up to us, to people in every age, to embrace this victory in our lives and in the realities of history and society,” said Pope Francis.

The Holy Father quoted from the Collect prayer for Easter Monday: “O God, who give constant increase to your Church by new offspring, grant that your servants may hold fast in their lives to the Sacrament they have received in faith.”

He went on to say, “Indeed, the Baptism that makes us children of God, and the Eucharist that unites us to Christ, must become life. That is to say: they must be reflected in attitudes, behaviors, actions and choices.” Noting that the grace contained in the Sacraments Easter is an enormous source of strength for renewal in personal and family life, as well as for social relations, the Pope went on to say, “Nevertheless, everything passes through the human heart: if I allow myself to be reached by the grace of the risen Christ, if I let that grace change for the better whatever is not good in me, [to change whatever] might do harm to me and to others, then I allow the victory of Christ to affirm itself in in my life, to broaden its beneficial action.”

“This,” he said, “is the power of grace! Without grace we can do nothing,” and with the grace of Baptism and Holy Communion we can become an instrument of God's mercy – that beautiful mercy of God. Pope Francis concluded, saying, “To Express in our lives the sacrament we have received: behold, dear brothers and sisters, our daily work, and, he added, “our daily joy! The joy of being instruments of the grace of Christ, as branches of the vine which is Christ himself, inspired by the sustaining presence of His Spirit!”

“We pray together,” said Pope Francis, “in the name of the dead and risen Lord, and through the intercession of Mary Most Holy, that the Paschal mystery might work deeply in us and in our time, in order that hatred give way to love, lies to the truth, revenge to forgiveness, sadness to joy.

Following the Regina coeli, the Pope greeted the pilgrims and tourists who had come from all around the world to be with him. “I greet each and every one of you with great affection,” said Pope Francis, expressing the hope that everyone might enjoy a peaceful and relaxing Easter Monday, “In which,” he said, “the joyful proclamation of Easter powerfully resounds: Christ is risen! A happy Easter to one and all!”

Later in the afternoon, Pope Francis had a private visit of prayer scheduled to the scavi – the excavations of the Vatican necropolis beneath the Basilica, which include the tomb of St Peter.

Taped footage of the private visit will be available from the Vatican Television Centre around 7 PM Rome Time, while still images will be provided by the Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore romano.