The crowd of more than 100,000, waving hundreds of national flags, chant “Be-ne-det-to!” in the moments leading up to the “Urbi et Orbi” blessing. That's Latin for “to the city [Rome] and the world.”
The crowd erupts into a roar as the Pope approaches his balcony. The Pope speaks for 15-20 minutes, reminding us of the truth of the Resurrection and the light it sheds on the sufferings of humanity, which the Pope lists one by one while giving a brief answer and the assurance of his prayers.
Then he sends his Easter greetings in nearly a hundred languages (including Esperanto, to the delight of the tiny group that holds up signs with the letters of “Esperanto” every single year!). The announcement of each language provokes a loud cheer by its representatives, notably the Spanish and German languages; occasionally a single person begins to cheer wildly when his rare native tongue (such as Burmese or Uzbek) is announced, causing general laughter.
After the blessing, sung in Latin, a brave soul cries out, “Viva il Papa!” and the joyous response is “VIVA!” Then the Gendarme Corps of the Vatican City State and the Italian Carabinieri perform their respective national anthems, and people start pushing toward the exits.
If you have the grace to live in Rome, as I do, it is wonderful to be able to attend every year, but after a while the only thing that is striking about the blessing is how similar it is every single time, even down to the smallest details. The focus of the message is a bit different, but the theme is the same:
Christ is truly risen, and in his resurrection he has conquered death and sin and opened the gates of Heaven for us.
It is easy to become accustomed to the timeless message of Easter, as easy as it is to get used to the Urbi et Orbi blessing; at the same time, what’s important is not necessarily to learn something new about the Easter mystery, but to repeat the important truths of our faith, going deeper into them each time so that they can guide our lives.
By Colin Gore
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