Pope Francis delivers his Easter blessing and encourages Christians to rediscover the joyous hope that Christ’s resurrection brings by working for peace and helping everyone who suffers from war and poverty.
Pope Francis presided over Mass on Easter Sunday in St. Peter’s Square to mark the Resurrection of Christ.
Pope Francis delivers his Easter blessing and encourages Christians to rediscover the joyous hope that Christ’s resurrection brings by working for peace and helping everyone who suffers from war and poverty.#Easter2023 #UrbietOrbihttps://t.co/zorMxCZum4
— Vatican News (@VaticanNews) April 9, 2023
Over 100,000 pilgrims filled a sunny St. Peter’s Square on Easter Sunday morning.
The Catholic faithful were joined by tens of thousands of flowers from the Netherlands, which adorned the steps leading up to the Vatican Basilica and continued an annual tradition begun in 1985.
Over 100,000 pilgrims celebrated Easter Sunday with #PopeFrancis, as he presided over Mass in St. Peter’s Square and delivered his Apostolic Blessing “To the City and the World”.#Easter2023 pic.twitter.com/eG3c9OKllg
— Vatican News (@VaticanNews) April 9, 2023
Pope Francis presided over the Mass on the Solemnity of the Resurrection of the Lord, better known as Easter Sunday.
Once again, tens of thousands are expected to attend the celebration.
Let us revive the beauty of that moment when we realized that he is alive and we made him the Lord of our lives. Let us return to Galilee. Let each of us return to his or her own Galilee, to the place where we first encountered him. Let us rise to new life!
— Pope Francis (@Pontifex) April 8, 2023
Today the power of Easter calls you to roll away every stone of disappointment and mistrust. The Lord is an expert in rolling back the stones of sin and fear. He wants to illuminate your sacred memory, your most beautiful memory, to make you relive your first encounter with him.
— Pope Francis (@Pontifex) April 8, 2023
The Pope did not deliver a homily at the Sunday morning Mass, since he had already delivered his reflections the night before.
At the Easter Vigil Mass, Pope Francis reflected on the surprise and joy of the women who visited the tomb where Jesus had been laid.
Instead of Jesus’ lifeless body, the women found an empty tomb and an angel who told them that He had been raised from the dead.
As the Pope noted, the women “went away quickly from the tomb, fearful yet overjoyed, and ran to announce this to His disciples.”
In the same way, he added, Easter should motivate all Christians to “leave behind our sense of defeat, to roll away the stone of the tombs in which we often imprison our hope, and to look with confidence to the future, for Christ is risen and has changed the direction of history.”
Despite our dreary routine, said Pope Francis, we must harness the power of Easter to revive the “beauty of that moment we realized that He is alive and we made Him the Lord of our lives.”
The Pope’s Mass on Sunday morning wrapped up a whirlwind Paschal Triduum—or three days of Easter.
On Easter Sunday, Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ and thus the victory of life over death.
“Let us revive the beauty of that moment when we realized that Jesus is alive and we made Him the Lord of our lives.”
Pope Francis presides over the Easter Vigil Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica.https://t.co/jMeehymvvg pic.twitter.com/iNFiKYrKrc
— Vatican News (@VaticanNews) April 8, 2023
After the traditional Mass on the most important feast day of the Catholic Church, the pontiff plans to give the traditional blessing “Urbi et Orbi,” Latin for “to the city and the world,” from the central loggia.
The Holy See announced that on the occasion of the Easter holidays and “to express the joy of the resurrection of Jesus Christ,” the forecourt of St. Peter’s Basilica will be decorated with around 35,000 flowers and plants from the Netherlands and transformed into a “flower garden.”
VATICAN NEWS
