Senior Correspondent of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) on Sports Beat, Tor Hagher was at a Holy Thursday Event in Nassarawa State selected among twelve parishioners for the symbolic feet washing, which is a major attraction of the celebration.
Hagher who announced this via his verified Facebook Page, prayed that the lessons of the season remain forever with faithful, just as he maintained that “I was certainly not Judas Iscariot”.
He wrote, “I was privileged to be among the twelve chosen for the symbolic washing of feet during the Mass of the Lord’s Supper.
“I can’t say if I was Simon Peter , Andrew, John, or ….But I was certainly,not Judas Iscariot.
May the lessons of the Lenten Season and Easter reside with us forever”, Hagher added.
Pope Francis while celebrating the Chrism Mass on Holy Thursday washed the feet of 12 Italian inmates.
He was previously captured hoisting the Gospel book.
During the Mass inside St. Peter’s Basilica, at the, Vatican, Thursday, April 14, 2022 the Pontiff blessed a token amount of oil that will be used to administer the sacraments for the year.
The Washington Times reported that the ritual was closed to the public for security reasons and to protect the privacy of the inmates.
But afterwards, the Vatican said the pope performed the foot-washing, following Jesus’ example, “in a sign of love inspired by love” aimed at service and humility.
The 12 inmates included men and women of various ages and of different nationalities, it said
Symbolizing the number of Jesus’ apostles, the twelve sat on chairs on a raised platform. The pontiff washed, dried, then kissed the feet of each of the inmates, all who were wearing masks against the spread of COVID-19.
Some inmates leaned over to kiss the pope’s hands in gratitude.
In the prison chapel, the pope celebrated a Mass attended by inmates, some prison staff and Italy’s justice minister, the Vatican said in a statement.
Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, Francis advised the 1,800 priests in attendance not to focus on worldly concerns such as power or status but exhorted them to “serve, with a clear conscience, the holy and faithful people of God.”
During the Holy Thursday Mass, large urns of oil are blessed for use in ceremonies in churches in the Rome area. When Francis went to bless the oil by breathing into it, an aide helped him rise from his chair and walk toward the silver urn. At the end of the ceremony, Francis descended the steps down from the altar clinging to an aide’s arm, and even while assisted limped his way out of the basilica.
Holy Week, which draws hundreds of thousands of faithful to the Vatican, began with Palm Sunday Mass on April 10 in St. Peter’s Square and culminates this Sunday at Easter, when the faithful mark the resurrection of Jesus.
This year, the Good Friday torch-lit Way of the Cross procession in Rome returns to its traditional venue at the ancient Colosseum after a two-year absence due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Vatican has invited a Russian woman and a Ukrainian woman, who work together at a Rome hospital, to carry a cross together during the procession. That has angered some Ukrainians, including the country’s ambassador to the Holy See and the archbishop of Kyiv. Their objections center on whether such a gesture, implying reconciliation, is suitable, given Russia’s invasion of its neighbor and its ongoing war against the country’s people.
The Vatican is still going ahead with the procession’s lineup of participants, who take turns carrying a lightweight cross during the procession, which is presided over by the pontiff and recalls Jesus’ death by crucifixion.
