This news came in from Zenit three days ago; I'm not quite on the ball this week, but I'm terribly excited about the major POD potential of these events. I only a trip to Rome were within the budget:
ROME, OCT. 29, 2004 (Zenit.org).- The relics of St. Augustine will be in Rome from Nov. 7-15, for the 1,650th anniversary celebrations of his birth. The relics of the bishop of Hippo will be in
the basilica dedicated to him in the
Campo Marzio, and also in the Vatican.
Rome will observe the anniversary of the birth of this Doctor of the Church with celebrations, congresses and exhibitions from Nov. 7-15, the Italian newspaper
Avvenire confirmed.
It is anticipated that for one night during that week, the urn containing
St. Augustine's relics will be in
John Paul II's private chapel, as a sign of devotion and of the importance that the Holy Father accords to the thought of the saint of Tagaste, whom he has often quoted in the texts of his magisterium.
A restless man, "Doctor of Grace" and Father of the interior life, St. Augustine has thoroughly influenced Western culture. A rereading of his works shows how timely he is. This conviction has led the
Italian Augustinian Province and
St. Augustine's order to organize a week of celebrations under the motto "St. Augustine Among Us."
His remains will arrive in Rome from
Pavia on Nov. 7, and will be received in
St. Augustine's Basilica, where the prefect of the Congregation for Sainthood Causes, Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, will preside at vespers.
Each day will end with a Mass, that will be presided over, among others, by the prefects of the Vatican congregations for bishops, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, and for Catholic education, Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski; the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Angelo Sodano; and the president of the Pontifical Council for the Family, Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo.
A congress on St. Augustine will be held in the city of
Ostia, which recently chose him as its
patron.
Among the music initiatives planned, on Nov. 8 Monsignor Marco Frisina, maestro and composer, and director of the Liturgical Office of the Diocese of Rome, will conduct the concert "Augustine Meets Monica." On Nov. 11, the saint's relics will be taken to the
patristic institute Augustinianum, where the Aula Magna will be dedicated to the institute's founder, Agostino Trape. Cardinal Paul Poupard, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, will preside at vespers.
On the night that the relics are received in the Pope's private chapel, a torchlight youth procession will leave from the
Church of St. Agnes in Piazza Navona and arrive in St. Augustine's Basilica. The Italian Federation of Augustinian monasteries will hold a prayer vigil on Nov. 13. The following day the relics will be taken to Ostia, where Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, will preside over the Mass in the
Church of St. Aurea. A concluding ceremony with the relics will take place Nov. 15. [hyperlinks added]
