This Sunday, I attended the 9:30 a.m. English Mass at the Holy Spirit Church in Sassia [Chiesa di Santo Spirito in Sassia]. This is a stone’s throw from the Vatican and is the second church providing a regular Sunday Mass in English, west of the Tiber.
(The Church is on the corner of Borgo Santo Spirito & Via dei Pentitenzieri. NB: the Mass time will change in Advent.)
The Divine Mercy, Sancto Spirito in Sassia
The SS church is amazingly ornate and larger than Sanct’Anna but as an aside, it has a copy of the Divine Mercy as seen by St. Faustina.
The original—painted by Eugene Kazimierowski in 1934—is now in the Sanctuary of Divine Mercy in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius. (Not in Krakow!) For more information on the Divine Mercy click the link to a CNA article, HERE!)
The priest reminded us to attend the Angelus and to bring devotional items for blessing by the Pope! That left adequate time to chat on the steps of the church with some delightful pilgrims from the US, have an Americano (a coffee!), grab the new Rosaries acquired yesterday and get back to line-up for security.
Where to go?
By chance, I came along the Via di Porta Angelica, alongside the Vatican wall immediately north of the Square.
People were already lined up there to go through security.
Security includes a bag search, bag x-ray and walk-through metal detectors which left just enough time to get into the square. We came in right under the Papal Palace! Many were already in the square, so there must have been another entrance working on the far side also.)
I met an Italian couple who had not been to the Angelus in 6 years: they noted that the security is a new feature…what a surprise in these difficult times.
What do you need?
Nothing! The instructions on the Vatican web-site are:
The Sunday Blessing (Angelus) is an event welcome to everyone, tickets are not needed nor issued and seating is not available.
The Holy Father appears from the Papal Palace window at noon to bless the many visitors and pilgrims. The Sunday Angelus is held weekly at 12:00pm (noon) on Sunday, it lasts around 15 minutes and is held in St. Peter's Square.
NO TICKETS ARE NEEDED FOR THE SUNDAY ANGELUS.
The Angelus
The Holy Father gives a very short homily; the Angelus; the Sunday Blessing and greetings from a window at the top of the Papal Palace. The Palace is north of the Basilica and faces St. Peter’s Square obliquely. (He uses the second window from the top right corner. HINT: it is the one with the Papal banner!)
St. Peter’s Basilica faces EAST not South, so the Papal Palace is north of the square (Blue pointer.)
Papal banner from the window.
The crowd towards the Basilica, to the west.
The crowd to the south.
The Angelus is quite short but there was phenomenal spirit in the crowd and great reactions to everything the Pope said in his short homily. Don’t miss it!
The full text of the homily and greetings today is already on the Vatican website and posted below:
(I will change this photo to an 𝕏 video link later.)
The Blessing
If you are uncertain as to when the Holy Father is giving the blessing, watch the crowd around you: many will be making the Sign of the Cross!
Don’t forget to bring all your devotional items as the Holy Father blesses the people there, their families and these items.
What else are you going to bring back from Rome?!
Kevin Hay
(Follow Kevin on 𝕏 / Twitter @ kevinhay77)