Vatican City, April 2014 (VIS) – At
5 p.m. the Holy Father left the Vatican for the St. Mary of
Providence Centre of the Don Carlo Gnocchi Foundation, where at 5.30
p.m. he celebrated Holy Mass “in Cena Domini”, with which the
Easter Triduum begins. This Maundy Thursday celebration includes the
announcement of the commandment to love and the ritual washing of the
feet, a gesture of love and humility. When the Holy Father was
Cardinal Archbishop of Buenos Aires, he used to celebrate this Mass
in a hospital, a prison or a reception centre for the poor and
marginalised, and likewise the Don Gnocchi Foundation is an
institution dedicated to the care of people with all types of
disabilities, both physical and mental.
The celebration took place in the
church within the Centre, and the participants included the guests of
the Centre accompanied by their relatives, as well as staff,
volunteers, and directors. During the Mass, the Pope washed the feet
of twelve disabled persons of various ages, ethnic origins and
religious beliefs, representing the patients assisted in the 29 Don
Gnocchi Foundation Centres present in Italy, and he briefly explained
the meaning of this gesture.
“We have heard what Jesus did, at the
Last Supper: it was a farewell gesture. It is the legacy He leaves
us. He is God Who made Himself our servant. And this is the legacy He
leaves us: you to must serve one another. He took this path for love:
you too must love one another and be servants, in love. This is the
legacy Jesus leaves us. And washing the feet is a symbolic gesture:
the slaves used to to this, servants used to do this for those who
came to eat, to lunch or to dine, because in those times the roads
were made of earth and, entering the house, it was necessary to wash
one's feet. And Jesus carried out this gesture, the task of a slave
or a servant. He leaves this as an inheritance to us. We must serve
one another. And therefore the Church, which today commemorates the
Last Supper when Jesus instituted the Eucharist, during the ceremony
also carries out this gesture of washing feet, which reminds us that
we must serve each other. Now I too will perform this gesture, but
let us all, in our hearts, think of others and think of the love that
Jesus tells us we must have for others, and let us think of how we
can serve them better, because this is what Jesus wants from us”.
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