Canonization Ceremony step by step

Canonization Ceremony step by step

Monsignor Antonio Marto requests for Francisco and Jacinta Marto inclusion in the Catalogue of Saints

The canonization ceremony of Francisco and Jacinta Marto will occur at the beginning of the 10.00 a.m. Mass of the 13th of May in the Shrine of Fatima, presided by Pope Francis, immediately after the entrance chant and initial greeting, given by the Holy Father.

The reliquaries in the shape of candles containing the relics of the two new Catholic Church saints, a hair strand of Jacinta and a bone fragment from Francisco´s rib, integrate the Mass entrance cortege, being placed at the altar, next to Our Lady of Fatima´s image.

The transport of the relics of the youngest non-martyrs saints is made by Sister Angela Coelho, Postulator for the Canonization Cause of Francisco and Jacinta, and by Pedro Valinho, Postulation assessor and current Director of the Pilgrims Department of the Shrine.  

Next is the canonization ceremony of the two Little Shepherds, the first held in Portugal, which will be made in the Portuguese language.

After the Pope´s initial greeting, the choir sings the chant Veni Creator Spiritus, marking the beginning of the canonization ceremony.

The Bishop of Leiria-Fatima, Monsignor Antonio Marto, requests the Pope to register Francisco and Jacinta in the Catalogue of Saints and makes a brief presentation of the two new saints biography.

The Holy Father then asks the Assembly of Faithful to sing the saints litany.

In the end, the Holy Father pronounces, in Portuguese, the formula of canonization:

“To the honour of the Holy Trinity, for the exaltation of the Catholic faith and the increase of the christian life, by the authority of Our Lord Jesus Christ, of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, and of ourselves, after mature deliberation frequently invoking the divine assistance, and listening to the advice of our brothers in the episcopate, we decree and define Blessed Francisco e Jacinta Marto to be saints, and we place their name in the Catalogue of Saints, decreeing that in the Universal Church they are to be venerated among the Saints with pious devotion.”
 

In the end, those present acclaim the proclamation with a jubilee chant, during which a deacon will incense the two relics.

Accompanied by the Postulator for the Canonization Cause of Francisco and Jacinta, the Bishop of Leiria, Monsignor Antonio Marto, appreciates the proclamation and requests the Pope to write an Apostolic Letter relating the canonization of the two Little Shepherds.

The choir sings the Glory, marking the end of the Canonization Ceremony and the Eucharist continuation.

In the end of the Mass, the two relics leave the altar with Our Lady´s Image and together they follow the cortege to the Chapel of the Apparitions, where they will remain on display until the end of the same day.

After that they return to the House of Candles, where one can usually find them, because the most important relics of Francisco and Jacinta, their bodies, are guarded by the Shrine, in the tombs placed on the sides of the transept of the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima.

Pope Francis decision to canonize the two Little Shepherds on May 13th does not change the program defined to the Pope´s Pilgrimage to Fatima, it only delays the rest of the visit stops, namely the Holy Father´s lunch with the Portuguese bishops, at the Retreat House of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.

Symbolism of the Reliquaries

The reliquaries which keep the relics of Francisco and Jacinta have the shape of a candle, reminding the mission they have done so well: in the simplicity of their lives, they offer a reflex of the light of God which breaks the darkness with a touch of hope.

That was said by John Paul II, when he said that the two seers were “two candles which God lit to illuminate mankind in its darker and anxious hours”.

The relics, a hair strand of Jacinta and a bone fragment from Francisco´s rib, are considered first class, for being extracted from the body of the two seers.

Usually in canonizations are used first class relics, as in the case. The second class relics are objects (clothes, glasses, utensils, etc.) which have belonged to the saints, and the third class relics are objects which have touched the saint’s body.

In the beginning of the Mass during which the canonization of Francisco and Jacinta will occur, the two reliquaries will be taken in the procession next to Our Lady of the Rosary, until the Prayers Area altar.

The reliquaries will be transported over a white veil which has on its centre, a cross made of fragments from the white vest used in baptism by the ones who will now be proclaimed saints.

The white vest reminds us that, through baptism, we are covered by Christ (cf. CCC, 1243). The Church is the assembly of those who «washed their clothes and whitened them in the blood of the lamb» (Ap 7, 14).

The biggest interpellation that the Church receives from the spiritual example of the Little Shepherds is to assume the baptismal calling: a life, centred in God, which becomes a reflex of the white light God uses to illuminate the world.