VATICAN - "Mane nobiscum Domine" (Stay with us Lord!) latest Letter Apostolic written by John Paul II presented in the Vatican: the Pope does not ask for anything out of the ordinary, his wish is that everything we do may be “marked by deeper interior awareness”

Vatican City (Fides Service) - "Mane nobiscum Domine" (Stay with us Lord!) is the title of the latest Letter Apostolic written by John Paul II which was presented this morning in the Holy See Press Room. African Cardinal Francis Arinze, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments illustrated the contents. The letter, written for the imminent start of the special Year of the Eucharist, focuses on the icon of the two disciples in Emmaus. After explaining that the Year of the Eucharist follows in the wake of the Second Vatican Council and the Great Jubilee 2000, (Chapter 1) the Pope focuses on the Eucharist as a mystery of light (chapter 2), a source and manifestation of communion (3) and a source of mission (4).
Many times during his Pontificate and especially in the Letter “Ecclesia de Eucharistia”, which this latest letter warmly recommends an in-depth re-reading, Pope John Paul II has called the Church to reflect on the Eucharist following the teaching of the Church Fathers, the ecumenical Councils and the previous popes.
The Pope mentions two events major events which will mark the opening and the closing of the Year: the 48th International Congress in Guadalajara, Mexico,10 to 17 October 2004 and the 11th General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops to be held in Rome 2-29 October 2005 to reflect on the them "The Eucharist source and summit of the life and mission of the Church". He also mentions the 20th World Youth Day in Cologne 16-21 August 2005. All the members of the Church - bishops, priests and other ministers, seminarians, consecrated persons, the laity and young people especially are called to do their part to make this Year of the Eucharist rich in spiritual fruits. The Pope closes his Letter with an invocation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Church's model and he urges the faithful to imitate also her relationship with this Most Holy Mystery.
Archbishop Piero Marini, Master of Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff, one of the five Vatican officials who presented the Letter to the press said that “The Year of the Eucharist and the Liturgical Year are one and the same reality of grace considered from two different angles”. “At the pastoral level the celebration of this "special year" offers an opportunity for prolonged catechesis on the many aspects of the Eucharistic mystery. For example the structure and dynamics proper to the Mass that is the Eucharistic Celebration; the Eucharist as the central point of Christian worship; how the Liturgy of the Hours prepares and prolongs the Eucharist; the relation between the Eucharist and the other Sacraments; present day difficulties with regard to celebrations of Sunday Mass”.
The Pope’s Master of Ceremonies explained that the Year of the Eucharist will open on October 17 with a solemn Mass in St Peter’s Basilica celebrated by the Pope followed by a time of Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, the sending of a Message to the whole Church and solemn Benediction, to close a little more than a year later on 29 October 2005 at the same time as the Synod of Bishops. Since “all the other Sacraments have their point of encounter in the Eucharist, it would be good the during the Year of the Eucharist, to give special care to the celebration of the other Sacraments and to help the faithful recognise the relation which exists between each of the other Sacraments with the Eucharist” the Archbishop said.
He underlined that for the Year of the Eucharist the Pope does not ask for anything out of the ordinary, his wish is that everything we do may be “marked by deeper interior awareness. Therefore "the Year of the Eucharist is not a time to hold special liturgical Celebrations - Archbishop Marini concluded - Rather than organising a parallel year, it is a question of fostering more intense participation in the Christ’s mystery as the Church helps us to live it with our Celebrations during the Liturgical Year: incarnation, birth, sacred passion, resurrection from the dead, ascension, pentecost and waiting for the parousia of our Lord and Saviour”. (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 8/10/2004; righe 44, parole 591)