Easter - Pasqua - Pâques - Pascua 2005
Pope St John Paul II's Message to the Participants at the Vigil Mass
26 March 2005 - in English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese & Spanish
Dearest Brothers and Sisters,
At the end of the penitential journey of Lent and after having meditated in these last days on the sorrowful passion and dramatic death of Jesus on the Cross, we are celebrating on this singular night the glorious mystery of his Resurrection.
Thanks to television, I am able to follow from my apartment the suggestive Easter Vigil, over which Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger is presiding in St Peter's Basilica. To him, I send my fraternal greeting, which I extend to the other Cardinals, Archbishops and Bishops present. I also greet with affection the priests, men and women religious and the faithful gathered around the altar of the Lord, with a special thought for the catechumens who prepare themselves during this holy Vigil to receive the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist.
This night is truly extraordinary, one in which the blazing light of the Risen Christ definitively defeats the dark power of evil and death, and rekindles hope and joy in the hearts of believers. Dear friends, guided by the liturgy, let us pray to the Lord Jesus so that the world may see and recognize that, thanks to his passion, death and Resurrection, what was destroyed is rebuilt, what was ageing is renewed and completely restored, more beautiful than ever, to its original wholeness.
I warmly express to all my fervent best wishes, and I assure you of a remembrance in my prayers so that the Risen Lord bestows on each of you and your families and communities the paschal gift of his peace. I accompany these sentiments with a special Apostolic Blessing.
Saint John Paul II's Urbi et Orbi Message
St Peter's Square, Easter Sunday, 27 March 2005 - in English, French, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese & Spanish
1. Mane nobiscum, Domine!
Stay with us, Lord! (cf Lk 24:29)
With these words, the disciples on the road to Emmaus
invited the mysterious Wayfarer
to stay with them, as the sun was setting
on that first day of the week
when the incredible had occurred.
According to the promise, Christ had risen;
but they did not yet know this.
Nevertheless, the words of the Wayfarer along the road
had progessively made their hearts burn within them.
For this reason they had invited him: "Stay with us".
Then seated around the supper table,
they had recognized him at the "breaking of bread".
And suddenly he had disappeared.
Before them there remained the broken bread,
and in their hearts the sweetness of his words.
2. Dearest Brothers and Sisters,
the Word and the Bread of the Eucharist,
mystery and gift of Easter,
remain down the centuries as a constant memorial
of the passion, death and resurrection of Christ!
We too today, the Passover of the Resurrection,
with all the Christians of the world repeat
Jesus, crucified and risen, stay with us!
Stay with us, faithful friend and sure support
for humanity on the path of the roads of time!
You, living Word of the Father,
instill trust and hope in so many who are searching
for the true meaning of their existence.
You, Bread of eternal life, nourish man
hungry for truth, for freedom, for justice and for peace.
3. Stay with us, living Word of the Father,
and teach us words and gestures of peace:
peace for the earth consecrated by your blood
and soaked in the blood of so many innocent victims:
peace for the countries of the Middle East and of Africa,
where so much blood continues to be shed;
peace for the whole of humanity, on which always looms
the danger of fratricidal wars.
Stay with us, Bread of eternal life,
broken and distributed to those at table:
give also to us the force of a generous solidarity
towards the multitudes who, still today,
suffer and die from poverty and hunger,
decimated by fatal epidemics
or devastated by immense natural disasters.
By the force of your Resurrection,
may they also become participants in a new life.
4. We too, the men and women of the third millennium,
we have need of You, risen Lord!
Stay with us now and right up to the end of time.
Grant that the material progress of peoples
may never obscure the spiritual values
which are the soul of their civilization.
Sustain us, we pray to You, on our way.
In You we believe, in You we hope,
because You alone have the words of eternal life (cf Jn 6:68).
Mane nobiscum, Domine! Alleluia!"
Pope Saint John Paul II's words at the General Audience
Easter Wednesday, 30 March 2005 - in English, German, Italian, Portuguese & Spanish
"I greet the Italian-speaking pilgrims, and especially the boys and girls from the Diocese of Milan who have come to the tomb of Peter to express their faith in Christ who died and rose. Dear friends, may friendship with Jesus, our Redeemer, always illumine your lives! Stay united to Him, listening to his Word and actively participating in the Eucharistic Banquet. Be his faithful witnesses, especially among your peers. I renew my Easter greetings to you all with affection.
An alle Pilger und Besucher deutscher Sprache richte ich einen österlichen Gruß. Der Friede des Auferstandenen sei allezeit mit euch!
Pozdrawiam pielgrzymów z Polski. Dziękuję Wam za obecność, za wszelkie przejawy życzliwości i za towarzyszenie mi w modlitwie. Z wdzięcznością myślę o wszystkich rodakach w kraju i za granicą. Z serca wszystkim błogosławię."