VIDEO - Traditional Ceremony to Break the Seal of the Vatican's Holy Door and Opening of Ceremonial Box to Prepare for the Holy Year Jubilee 2025 at St Peter's Basilica
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The ceremony that allows to verify the integrity of the Holy Door, closed in the last Holy Year, in view of the next reopening, took place yesterday evening, December 2nd in the Vatican Basilica. A solemn prayer and then blows of the hammer and chisel to open a gap in the wall and recover the box which contains, among other things, the key that on the evening of December 24 will allow Pope Francis to open the Holy Door and begin the Jubilee. It was an evocative ceremony - the one held yesterday evening, December 2, in the Vatican Basilica - which rendered with greater intensity the imminence of what will happen on Christmas Eve.
The recognitio , this is the Latin (to verify) name of the rite, is conducted to verify that the Holy Door closed during the last Jubilee is intact, ready to be reopened for the new Holy Year. It was introduced yesterday evening with a speech by Cardinal Archpriest Mauro Gambetti, then the “sampietrini” knocked down the wall that seals the Holy Door from the inside of the Basilica and extracted the metal box that had been walled up there on November 20, 2016, the closing day of the last Jubilee, that of Mercy. Cardinal Gambetti led the procession, singing the litanies of the saints, to the Altar of the Confession, where they stopped for a moment of prayer, and then reached the Chapter Hall, where the metal box extracted from the Holy Door was opened. (continues below the video)
What's Inside the Box?
In addition to the key, the box brought to light the handles of the Holy Door, the parchment of the Deed certifying its closing, four golden bricks and some medals, including those of the pontificates of Francis, Benedict XVI and John Paul II. The rite was also attended by Archbishops Rino Fisichella, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, and Diego Ravelli, master of papal liturgical celebrations, who took delivery of the documents and objects of the recognitio , which will be brought to Pope Francis.
Yesterday evening, 2 December, the rite of the recognitio took place in Saint Peter’s Basilica. It is a ceremony in which it is verified, it is ascertained, as the Latin term means, that the Holy Door closed at the end of the last Jubilee is intact and sealed, ready to be reopened for the new Holy Year.
The recognitio was introduced by a prayer from Cardinal Archpriest Mauro Gambetti. The “Sampietrini” broke down the wall sealing the Holy Door inside the Basilica, extracting the metal case conserved there from the day of the closure of the last Jubilee, the Jubilee of Mercy, on 20 November 2016. The case contains the key permitting the opening of the Holy Door this coming 24 December, as well as the handles, the parchment of the deed attesting to its closure, four gilded bricks and some medals, including those of the Pontificates of Francis, Benedict XVI and John Paul II.
Cardinal Gambetti then led the procession, accompanied by the singing of the litanies of the Saints, from the Holy Door to the Altar of the Confessio, where he paused for a moment of prayer. The participants in the rite then approached the Chapter Hall, where the metal case extracted from the Holy Door was opened. Archbishop Rino Fisichella, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, and Archbishop Diego Ravelli, master of pontifical liturgical celebrations, were present, and received the documents and objects of the recognitio, which will be taken to Pope Francis.
This afternoon, the same ceremony will be held for the Holy Door of the Basilica of Saint John Lateran. The rite of the recognitio will be held on 5 December at the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside-the-Walls and on 6 December at the Basilica of Saint Mary Major.
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