Thursday, February 04, 2010

Beatification Ceremony of St. Charbel

I have come across some very interesting footage showing the ceremony of the beatification of St. Charbel Makhlouf in St. Peter's Basilica at the close of the Second Vatican Council on 5 December 1965. Some points of interest I noticed: Mass was celebrated at the movable altar in front of the monument of the Chair of St. Peter. This seems to be the same altar which has recently been put there again. Very interestingly, while the Mass was celebrated versus populum as far as the principal celebrant is concerned, the concelebrants actually surround the altar fully, a practice which has since ceased. Also, the many crystal chandeliers which added such solemnity to St. Peter's on festive occasions are still there; they have sadly disappeared since.



Update 5 February:

Thanks to reader SMJ, who linked to these two colour images of the occasion:


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