Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) – The annual Triduum for the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, the two main patrons of the city of Rome, celebrated by the Benedictine monks of the Abbey of Saint Paul Outside the Walls, will begin on June 26 with “Ecumenical Vespers” at 6:00pm. This year, the Triduum will take on special meaning, as it will be a preparation for the inauguration of the Pauline Year, declared by the Holy Father Benedict XVI. The Vespers on the 26th will be presided by the Benedictine Abbot Father Edmund Power, OSB and will be take on an ecumenical character as all Rome’s Christians have been invited to participate.
On June 27, the Vespers will be followed by a Solemn Votive Mass for Saints Peter and Paul, presided by the Abbot and during which a young man from Mexico, Diego Rebeles Nava, OSB will make his temporal monastic profession.
In the afternoon, on Saturday, June 28 at 5:30pm, there will be First Pontifical Vespers for the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, presided by the Holy Father Benedict XVI, who will proclaim the inauguration of the Pauline Year that will conclude June 29, 2009.
On Sunday, June 29, Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, there will be a 7:00am celebration of Lauds, presided by the Benedictine Abbot. At 10:30, there will be a Mass presided by the Basilica’s Archpriest, Cardinal Andrea Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo. In the afternoon, there will be Vespers at 5:30pm and a Mass presided by the Abbot. At 8:00 in the evening, beginning at the Quadruple Portico, there will be a procession around the Basilica with the Chain of Saint Paul, the precious relic that will remain exposed beside the Apostle’s tomb for public veneration, during the Pauline Year. (SL) (Agenzia Fides 5/6/2008)
