VATICAN - At the midday Marian prayer of the Regina Caeli on Easter Monday the Pope recalls the “new Annunciation” which calls Mary to rejoice, “because the Lord is risen”

Castel Gandolfo (Agenzia Fides) - On Easter Monday, 24 March the Pope led the recitation of the ‘Regina Caeli’ from his Summer Residence at Castel Gandolfo: “once again after the days of Lent the song of the Alleluia has returned. Alleluia, a universally known Jewish word means ‘Praise the Lord”. Benedict XVI, in his address to visitors, those spoke of the episodes when Christ's friends on that morning of Easter sung the Alleluia. The same message resounds in the Marian antiphon ‘Regina Caeli’, in the form of an announcement: “is like another ‘annunciation’ to Mary, this time not by an angel but by Christians who tell Mary to rejoice because her Son, whom she carried in her womb, is risen as He promised”. During the Annunciation at Nazareth, the heavenly messenger addresses her with the greeting “rejoice" and the Holy Father suggested its significance: “Rejoice Mary, because the Son of God is about to become man in you”. Following the tragedy of the Passion and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the call to rejoice, as Benedict suggests, resounds again: “‘Gaude et laetare, Virgo Maria, alleluia, quia surrexit Dominus vere, alleluia’ - Rejoice Virgin Mary, the Lord is truly Risen!”. Calling the faithful to impress this “Alleluia” on their hearts, the Pope imparted his Apostolic Blessing. (Agenzia Fides 25/3/2008 - righe 16, parole 216)