VATICAN CITY, MAY 4, 2006 (VIS) - Yesterday, commemorative celebrations began with a concert of popular music to mark the fifth centenary of the founding of the Swiss Guard. The concert was performed by the Swiss Guard Band in the Paul VI Hall.
This afternoon, at 5:00pm, Pope Benedict XVI will appear at the window of his studio overlooking St. Peter's Square to bless the 70 former guards who departed on April 7 from Bellinzona, in the Swiss canton Ticino. The guards have marched 720 kilometers along the old pilgrim route known as the Via Francigena. The guards will cross through the city of Rome, as they did 500 years ago and will be welcomed by the local authorities in Piazza del Popolo. They will then proceed to St. Peter's Square, where they will receive the pope's blessing.
On Friday, May 5, at 3:30pm, in the Auditorium Conciliazione a meeting will take place between all the members of the Swiss Guard and their families and friends. At 7:00pm, the choir and orchestra of the Collegium Musicum of Lucerne, with soloists from the Higher School of Music, also of Lucerne, the choir of Freiburg Cathedral and the Vokalensemble of the Swiss Canton of Schwyz will perform the "Carmen Saeculare" by Fr. Theo Flury O.S.B.
Saturday May 6, the main day of the fifth centenary celebrations, will begin with a commemorative Mass in St. Peter's Basilica. A wreath of flowers will then be laid in the Square of Roman Protomartyrs inside the Vatican remembering those guards who fell during the sack of Rome in 1527. At 4:30pm, the annual swearing-in ceremony for new recruits will take place; for the first time in history it will be held in St. Peter's Square, rather than in the San Damaso courtyard where it normally takes place. At 11:00pm, there will be a firework display over Castel Sant'Angelo.
Finally, on Sunday May 7, after the Regina Coeli, the Swiss Army Concert Band will offer a concert in St. Peter's Square.
.../SWISS GUARD CELEBRATIONS/... VIS 20060504 (340)
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