By Elise Harris
Vatican City, Apr 15, 2014 / 09:39 am
The Holy See announced earlier today that those incarcerated at the Roman prison "Regina Coeli" will receive a pocket-sized copy of the Gospels as a gift from Pope Francis for Easter.
According to the Vatican's announcement, 1200 copies of the small Gospels will be delivered to the "Regina Coeli" prison on Wednesday of Holy Week, the day before the Easter Triduum begins.
It is the same copy that the Pope handed out to the participants of his April 6 Sunday Angelus address in St. Peter's Square, and to the faithful who attended Mass celebrated by the Pope in the Church of St. Gregory the Great the same day.
Archbishop Konrad Krajewski, Almoner of His Holiness, will be responsible for the distribution of the Gospels, which also contain the Acts of the Apostles, during a visit to the prison.
On April 17, Holy Thursday, Archbishop Krajewski will celebrated Mass "In Cena Domini" at the "Isola dell'Amore Fraterno," which is a voluntary association that was founded in 1996 and that works to provide preventative measures, solidarity and assistance for detainees, ex-convicts as well as the socially marginalized or those who are estranged from their families.
Pope Francis' activities for Holy Thursday include presiding over a Chrisim Mass inside of St. Peter's Basilica at 10:30 a.m., as well as a visit to the St. Mary of Providence Centre later that evening, where he will also celebrate Mass with the center's patients.
As a residential rehabilitation site for disabled persons in Rome, the center contains 150 beds for patients who require rehabilitation because of neuro-motor impairment and which is operated by the Don Carlo Gnocchi Foundation.
Saturday, April 19, the Pope will preside over the Easter Vigil at 8:30 p.m. in St. Peter's Basilica, and on Easter Sunday he will hold a public Mass in St. Peter's Square at 10:15 a.m.
Following the Mass, the Roman Pontiff will give the traditional "Urbi et Orbi," which is a special blessing given "to the city and to the world," from the Basilica's central balcony.
For the Second Sunday of Easter, or Divine Mercy Sunday, which takes place on April 27, Pope Francis will preside over a public Mass in St. Peter's Square at 10 a.m., during which he will canonize both Bl. John Paul II and John XXIII.
