Post by Bonobo on May 1, 2011 8:42:29 GMT 1
The coffin bearing the body of John Paul II has been exhumed ahead of the beatification ceremony of the Polish pontiff on Sunday.
The religious ceremony was attended by around 50 people, including top Vatican officials as well as former close aides of John Paul II, including Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz.
News agencies report that the wooden coffin will be placed in front of the main altar of St Peter’s Basilica.
The coffin will remain there after the beatification Mass, and the basilica will stay open until all visitors who want to view it have done so. It will then be moved to a new crypt under an altar in a side chapel near Michelangelo’s statue of the Pieta.
Preparations for the beatification ceremony on Sunday have entered their final stage, with over 100,000 faithful expected to attend the solemnities on Saint Peter’s Square in the Vatican.
Rome authorities have also prepared one million bottles of water for pilgrims who have descended upon the city to take part in the beatification events, which are expected to start on Saturday evening with a vigil at the Circus Maximus.
On Sunday, the beatification ceremony is the penultimate step of John Paul II’s journey to Sainthood. Father Wieslaw Dawidowski tells us of the deeper meaning of the solemn ceremony.
“[Beatification] is a legal proclamation of the fact that the Church has obtained a certitude concerning the virtues and moral achievements of that person,” he says. (pg)
Father Wieslaw Dawidowski was talking to Michal Kubicki.
Listen to it here:
www.thenews.pl/national/artykul154419_what-is-the-meaning-of-beatification.html
Waiting for the ceremony
]
ABOARD THE POPIELUSZKO TRAIN (AP) -- They slept in the aisles and celebrated Mass in the restaurant car.
Eight hundred Poles boarded a special train Friday night for a 26-hour trip across Europe, bound for Rome and the beatification of the late Pope John Paul II. They were joining tens of thousands of Poles who are massing in Rome for Sunday's beatification, a major celebration for a nation overjoyed at seeing the Polish-born pontiff moved closer to sainthood.
The pilgrim train arrived at Rome's St. Peter's Station, near the Vatican, early Sunday, after having crossed through Poland, the Czech Republic and Austria. The Poles donned yellow baseball caps emblazoned with an image of John Paul and walked toward St. Peter's Square, where they planned to spend several hours praying and waiting for the morning beatification.
Saturday began with morning Mass celebrated by priests and monks in the train's dining car. They gathered around a makeshift altar on a dining table bedecked with a white cloth and a four-inch (10-centimeter) crucifix. The faithful followed along in the aisles, some kneeling or hands clasped in prayer, and priests pushed their way down packed, narrow aisles to give them Communion.
Mieczyslawa Rzepecka, 55, who was making the pilgrimage with her husband and son, said she planned to eat only dry crackers and water during the journey, a partial fast meant as a gesture of piety. The long train ride didn't bother her -- she said she knows that most Poles were making the trip by bus, which is longer and much more cramped.
"If you love John Paul, this is not hard," she said.
Most, however, dug in Saturday to a lunch of pork balls in dill sauce, boiled potatoes and beets. In one compartment, passengers who before the trip were strangers were sharing cake and reminiscing about their memories of John Paul.
Beata Klodkiewicz, a 47-year-old religion teacher, spoke passionately in support of John Paul's teachings on the sanctity of marriage and his opposition to in vitro fertilization.
"I have had six miscarriages, but I would never consider in vitro," she said, sitting next to her husband. "During in vitro a lot of babies can be destroyed."
The "Popieluszko" train the pilgrims were traveling in is named for Jerzy Popieluszko, a Polish priest recently beatified for having been murdered by the communist regime in 1984 -- the system that John Paul is credited with helping to topple.
The train is due to pull into Rome a few hours before Sunday's beatification.
For those who arrived earlier, an all-night prayer vigil begins Saturday night in Rome's Circus Maximus, featuring testimony from the French nun whose inexplicable cure from Parkinson's disease was the miracle needed to beatify John Paul.
The journey for the Poles aboard the Popieluszko began with a Mass at Popieluszko's former church in Warsaw on Friday evening. The pilgrims then made their way together to a nearby train station, pulling suitcases or carrying backpacks and bottles of water.
Some on board said they were going to Rome to give thanks to John Paul for prayers he had answered already, or to Pope Benedict XVI for the speedy beatification of their beloved countryman. Others said they were seeking cures for health problems, while some said they wanted to recapture the powerful sense of community they experienced during John Paul's lifetime at youth gatherings he led.
Sylwia Kurowska, 31, said she is expecting a spiritual experience similar to John Paul's funeral at a packed St. Peter's Square in 2005, when the wind turned the pages of a book of Gospels on his coffin.
"That felt like a scene from the Bible, with God giving a sign that is there," Kurowska said. "I think something will happen during the beatification that will create that same kind of atmosphere."
Malgorzata Drutkowska, 60, began to cry as she gave her reason for the trip: praying to John Paul for the health of loved ones. In particular, she will pray for a 33-year-old daughter recently diagnosed with diabetes, a husband who has suffered two heart attacks, an elderly friend with Parkinson's disease, and spinal problems of her own.
"I am praying for all this," she said, holding her hand to her heart as wiped away tears.
Before boarding, some young people joined in religious songs with a long-bearded monk. Loved ones kissed each other goodbye. A man on the platform lifted Polish-Italian phrase books to the train windows, hoping for buyers.
"I don't have room in my bags for that," one woman told him.
Several priests walked about in the yellow baseball caps with John Paul's image, prompting Rzepecka to ask several people around her: "Are they giving out caps?"
Soon enough, organizers did indeed hand out the yellow caps and buttons of Christ and John Paul. Prayers were said over the train's intercom system. Organizers also passed out maps of Rome and a printout with some common Polish expressions translated into Italian.
In any case, the pilgrims from the Popieluszko train -- like so many other Poles on limited budgets -- will have little time to use any Italian in Rome. After the beatification, there will only be a few hours left before they have to board the train for the return trip home.
Some, like Klodkiewicz and her husband, plan a meal at a Roman pizzeria before heading home. Others plan to linger as long as possible at the Vatican, where St. Peter's Basilica will remain open for as long as it takes to let the faithful come pray before the late pope's sealed casket.
The religious ceremony was attended by around 50 people, including top Vatican officials as well as former close aides of John Paul II, including Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz.
News agencies report that the wooden coffin will be placed in front of the main altar of St Peter’s Basilica.
The coffin will remain there after the beatification Mass, and the basilica will stay open until all visitors who want to view it have done so. It will then be moved to a new crypt under an altar in a side chapel near Michelangelo’s statue of the Pieta.
Preparations for the beatification ceremony on Sunday have entered their final stage, with over 100,000 faithful expected to attend the solemnities on Saint Peter’s Square in the Vatican.
Rome authorities have also prepared one million bottles of water for pilgrims who have descended upon the city to take part in the beatification events, which are expected to start on Saturday evening with a vigil at the Circus Maximus.
On Sunday, the beatification ceremony is the penultimate step of John Paul II’s journey to Sainthood. Father Wieslaw Dawidowski tells us of the deeper meaning of the solemn ceremony.
“[Beatification] is a legal proclamation of the fact that the Church has obtained a certitude concerning the virtues and moral achievements of that person,” he says. (pg)
Father Wieslaw Dawidowski was talking to Michal Kubicki.
Listen to it here:
www.thenews.pl/national/artykul154419_what-is-the-meaning-of-beatification.html
Waiting for the ceremony
]ABOARD THE POPIELUSZKO TRAIN (AP) -- They slept in the aisles and celebrated Mass in the restaurant car.
Eight hundred Poles boarded a special train Friday night for a 26-hour trip across Europe, bound for Rome and the beatification of the late Pope John Paul II. They were joining tens of thousands of Poles who are massing in Rome for Sunday's beatification, a major celebration for a nation overjoyed at seeing the Polish-born pontiff moved closer to sainthood.
The pilgrim train arrived at Rome's St. Peter's Station, near the Vatican, early Sunday, after having crossed through Poland, the Czech Republic and Austria. The Poles donned yellow baseball caps emblazoned with an image of John Paul and walked toward St. Peter's Square, where they planned to spend several hours praying and waiting for the morning beatification.
Saturday began with morning Mass celebrated by priests and monks in the train's dining car. They gathered around a makeshift altar on a dining table bedecked with a white cloth and a four-inch (10-centimeter) crucifix. The faithful followed along in the aisles, some kneeling or hands clasped in prayer, and priests pushed their way down packed, narrow aisles to give them Communion.
Mieczyslawa Rzepecka, 55, who was making the pilgrimage with her husband and son, said she planned to eat only dry crackers and water during the journey, a partial fast meant as a gesture of piety. The long train ride didn't bother her -- she said she knows that most Poles were making the trip by bus, which is longer and much more cramped.
"If you love John Paul, this is not hard," she said.
Most, however, dug in Saturday to a lunch of pork balls in dill sauce, boiled potatoes and beets. In one compartment, passengers who before the trip were strangers were sharing cake and reminiscing about their memories of John Paul.
Beata Klodkiewicz, a 47-year-old religion teacher, spoke passionately in support of John Paul's teachings on the sanctity of marriage and his opposition to in vitro fertilization.
"I have had six miscarriages, but I would never consider in vitro," she said, sitting next to her husband. "During in vitro a lot of babies can be destroyed."
The "Popieluszko" train the pilgrims were traveling in is named for Jerzy Popieluszko, a Polish priest recently beatified for having been murdered by the communist regime in 1984 -- the system that John Paul is credited with helping to topple.
The train is due to pull into Rome a few hours before Sunday's beatification.
For those who arrived earlier, an all-night prayer vigil begins Saturday night in Rome's Circus Maximus, featuring testimony from the French nun whose inexplicable cure from Parkinson's disease was the miracle needed to beatify John Paul.
The journey for the Poles aboard the Popieluszko began with a Mass at Popieluszko's former church in Warsaw on Friday evening. The pilgrims then made their way together to a nearby train station, pulling suitcases or carrying backpacks and bottles of water.
Some on board said they were going to Rome to give thanks to John Paul for prayers he had answered already, or to Pope Benedict XVI for the speedy beatification of their beloved countryman. Others said they were seeking cures for health problems, while some said they wanted to recapture the powerful sense of community they experienced during John Paul's lifetime at youth gatherings he led.
Sylwia Kurowska, 31, said she is expecting a spiritual experience similar to John Paul's funeral at a packed St. Peter's Square in 2005, when the wind turned the pages of a book of Gospels on his coffin.
"That felt like a scene from the Bible, with God giving a sign that is there," Kurowska said. "I think something will happen during the beatification that will create that same kind of atmosphere."
Malgorzata Drutkowska, 60, began to cry as she gave her reason for the trip: praying to John Paul for the health of loved ones. In particular, she will pray for a 33-year-old daughter recently diagnosed with diabetes, a husband who has suffered two heart attacks, an elderly friend with Parkinson's disease, and spinal problems of her own.
"I am praying for all this," she said, holding her hand to her heart as wiped away tears.
Before boarding, some young people joined in religious songs with a long-bearded monk. Loved ones kissed each other goodbye. A man on the platform lifted Polish-Italian phrase books to the train windows, hoping for buyers.
"I don't have room in my bags for that," one woman told him.
Several priests walked about in the yellow baseball caps with John Paul's image, prompting Rzepecka to ask several people around her: "Are they giving out caps?"
Soon enough, organizers did indeed hand out the yellow caps and buttons of Christ and John Paul. Prayers were said over the train's intercom system. Organizers also passed out maps of Rome and a printout with some common Polish expressions translated into Italian.
In any case, the pilgrims from the Popieluszko train -- like so many other Poles on limited budgets -- will have little time to use any Italian in Rome. After the beatification, there will only be a few hours left before they have to board the train for the return trip home.
Some, like Klodkiewicz and her husband, plan a meal at a Roman pizzeria before heading home. Others plan to linger as long as possible at the Vatican, where St. Peter's Basilica will remain open for as long as it takes to let the faithful come pray before the late pope's sealed casket.
