"The Child asks us to be a voice for those who have no voice", Pope stresses on Christmas DayThe end-of-year and beginning-of-year celebrations presided over by the Pope Francis will take place under the gaze of the Infant Madonna, an ancient painting in the style of a late Byzantine icon preserved in the Sanctuary Museum of the Abbey of Montevergine, in southern Italy, founded nine centuries ago by St. William of Vercelli.
The last celebration of the year will be the First Vespers of the Solemnity of Mary Most Holy Mother of God, which will take place on Sunday in St. Peter's Basilica, followed by the customary singing of the Te Deum in the presence of the patriarchs, cardinals, archbishops and bishops present in Rome.
On the following day, the first day of the year 2024, at 10 a.m., Pope Francis will preside at Mass in St. Peter's Basilica on the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Blessed Virgin Mary. 57th World Day of Peace.
The special painting that will accompany the celebrations is done in tempera on chestnut wood boards, 3.5 centimeters thick, 231 centimeters high and 99 centimeters wide. It is dated between the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, made by a master from Campania, and was the first to be venerated in the sanctuary. It represents the Virgin suckling the Child. The Virgin wears a cap in which her hair is gathered and a golden crown on her head. Her eyes are fixed and she wears a red tunic and a blue mantle with golden ornaments, as well as pearls and corals.
Galaktotrophousa
This is the classic representation of the Mother of God in the recurring late Byzantine iconography of Galaktotrophousa, the one who feeds with milk, in the act of offering her bare breast to the Child to be fed, in a solemn and sacred pose. The classical imperial attire in which she is dressed resembles a basilisa of the Eastern Roman Empire.
At the feet of the Madonna is depicted a monk dressed in white in adoration; in it is recognized the long history of the Benedictine monastic community that for nine centuries has been taking care of the Sanctuary dedicated to the Madonna, located at the top of Mount Parthenium, about 70 km from Naples.
Virginal Jubilee
The abbey has decided to bring the ancient image to Rome for the liturgical veneration of Pope Francis, and of the faithful who will be present at the celebrations at the end and beginning of the year in St. Peter's Basilica, as a tribute and thanksgiving for the Pontiff's granting of the celebration of the "virginal jubilee", which will end on Pentecost 2024.
It was the Cardinal Secretary of State, Pietro Parolin, who opened the celebrations for the 900th anniversary of the foundation of the Benedictine Abbey on May 28, recalling in his homily that Our Lady always "helps us to accept with simplicity what we are and to place our whole being - temperament, abilities, past, dreams... - in God's hands so that his salvation may be realized in us and, through us, in everyone."
