On 22 January 2024, all our Sisters in Rome took part in the Eucharistic celebration at the tomb of our founder in the church of SS. Salvatore in Onda. The preparation began three days earlier with a Triduum, during which Holy Mass was celebrated daily in the same place. Every day more Pallottine Sisters and Fathers, UAC lay members and friends responded to the invitation.
On the first evening, the Rector of the Pontifical Urban College, Fr. Armando Nugnes, was the main celebrant. St. Vincent Pallotti at his time had been the spiritual director for the students at this college of Propaganda Fide. When he could not meet the seminarians during the period of the Roman Revolution, he sent them a letter of encouragement on 17 May 1849. Every year, a group of today’s seminarians meditates on his words and one of them then reads a response letter during Holy Mass. This year it was a student from Indonesia who expressed how the words of St. Vincent encourage them at times when they are facing difficulties in their vocational journey. After meditating on the letter, they realised that they are not alone and that Jesus is always close to them: “If we only look at our own confusion and worries, then everything becomes difficult. If, on the other hand, we know Jesus and know that the Holy Spirit and Mary are with us, everything will be easy”.
On Saturday 20 January, Fr. Daniel Rocchetti SAC, Rector of the Church, was the main celebrant and reminded the faithful of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. In his homily, he asked: “Do we really believe that what unites us, namely Christ Jesus, is stronger and much greater than what divides us?”
The third day of the Triduum was Sunday, on which Rector General Fr. Zenon Hanas SAC was the main celebrant. Referring to the readings of the day, he pointed out that the Word of God was speaking about conversion, the need for conversion and its effects. Vincent Pallotti’s “burning desire was for people to convert and believe in the Gospel. He longed that we would become God’s messengers of peace, hope, conversion and reconciliation. His most ardent wish was that there would be many messengers of God in the world to proclaim the kingdom of God, to bring faith, hope and love.”
Cardinal Artur Roche, Prefect of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, presided over the Eucharistic celebration on the solemnity of St. Vincent Pallotti. In his homily he introduced Vincent Pallotti as a pastor, “whose ministry reflected the vitality and radiance of the Gospel.” Saint Pope John XXIII, who canonised our founder at the beginning of Second Vatican Council pointed out in him the qualities needed, then as now, by those who put themselves at the service of the Church. In this way, Pallotti was a luminary for a Church in search of renewal, whose heart was constantly being reformed by his personal and conscious dedication to prayer and the word and life of the Gospel. The Lord invited to “keep your eyes on me and understand that it is only me you need. Do not worry about what to take and what you will need and do not delay in starting. All you need is me – me within you – to give to them … This was certainly the spirit that guided Vincent Pallotti on the streets of Rome and elsewhere”.
Cardinal Roche went on saying that similar words can be heard today in the voice of Pope Francis “to all those who dedicate themselves to the Gospel to be close to the sheep, to bring the work of the field hospital to homes and schools and hospitals and prisons, to camps for immigrants, even to seminaries and convents, to houses of formation – no place and no one is excluded … How fortunate we are to have a person like St. Vincent, so close to Christ, so close to his flock, so creative, so inspiring for you above all, and also for all of us, to encourage us to be the new lights that arise and the streams that bring health and life to our world. Following in his footsteps, we do not worry about how to fulfil our role, but above all, we keep our eyes on the One who is Life, expanding to his dimensions, rather than shrinking to the dimensions of ourselves.” And concluding, the Cardinal encouraged all: “remember, when God calls us, He has confidence in those He calls. We may not be top of the class, but we are the ones He has chosen. Christ has confidence in every one of us. So, let the truth of the Gospel shine … Let us go forward with the example of your founder, St. Vincent, and in fidelity to the Gospel and to our God who is Love and who brings light and vitality to all our paths.”
After the final blessing of the Holy Mass, the Cardinal blessed all those present with a relic of the Saint, and the congregation responded to his exclamation “Viva Pallotti!” with the same call.
Photos: Fr. Showri Raju Yetukuri, SAC
