One of our brothers was given the great privilege of being able to serve as an assisting Deacon for the Holy Father during his celebration of the liturgical office of Vespers with the Bishops of the United States. While waiting in the sacristy for the arrival of Pope Benedict XVI and his entourage, he took some photos of the papal vestments and other liturgical items. Above is a picture of the Crypt Church set up in preparation for Vespers.

Above, you can see the Pope’s main liturgist, Msgr. Guido Marini to the right. He and his assisting emcees brought some of the Pope’s vestments with them, which they begin to set out here.

Here are a number of the Holy Father’s vestments set out. In the lower left of the picture is the Holy Father’s Missal. The U.S. Bishop’s Conference put together all of the text of all the liturgical ceremonies into one book which they had specially bound. Only the Holy Father gets the book in white.  You can also see his cincture, his surplice still folded, an ornate stole on top of his miter, and at the far end is the stole he wore with the cope.

Here on the left you can see another version of the same Missals. These, however, are not white but burgundy in color. These were created for the use of the Bishops and other prelates and priests during the various liturgies of the Apostolic Visit. Like the Pope’s copy, they have a gold embossed image of the Papal Seal on the cover of the book. They contain all of the liturgical texts the Pope will use, in both Washington and New York.

To the right can be seen a close-up view of the stole the Holy Father wore. This is not the stole he wore during Vespers. That stole was specially made by the Polish sisters who work at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. This stole was worn by the Holy Father during his talk with the Bishops following Vespers.  It was brought with the Holy Father from Rome by Msgr. Marini.

As well planned as these liturgies are, problems do arise. When the Pope’s stole was unpacked, one of the attending Monsignors tried on the stole to assure its fit on the Holy Father. At that time, a problem was noticed with the cords that bind the stole. Here, in the picture at left, one of the Polish sisters who work in the sacristy at the Shrine makes some last minute repairs to ensure that everything is ready for the Holy Father.

Above is the Holy Father’s surplice. The lace banding at the bottom of the surplice hangs down below the counter top. To the left is the miter the Holy Father will wear. The Pope’s attendant brought with them at least three different miters. They compared each with the cope he was to wear and chose the one that matched best.

Here is a copy of the Cope that the Pope wore during Vespers. The cope was made in 1900 and had embroidered into it “Grand Prix Paris 1900″.

Here is a close up of the incredible detail of the embroidery of the cope. The cope has an image of the Blessed Virgin under a number of her titles surrounded by a great number of saints. In the halos over the saints is even sewn in the names of each of the saints.

Here is a close-up of the Pastoral Staff increasingly being used by Pope Benedict the XVI.

Finally, after Vespers the Pope returns to the Upper Church of the Basilica and greets the people again before he leaves.

Trackback URI |