My reflection is from The Little Black Book:
“Holy Thursday processions may have originated with the elaborate procession of a wooden crucifix from the church of San Marcello al Corso in Rome.
When the crucifix was the only religious artifact to survive the church’s fire on May 23, 1519, people began to believe it had miraculous powers. During an epidemic a few years later, in 1522, they carried the San Marcello crucifix through the streets of Rome, believing it protected any neighborhood through which it passed. It took 16 days to complete the procession, which ended at Saint Peter’s Basilica. The plague ended shortly afterwards.
Since then, a procession of the San Marcelo crucifix to Saint Peter’s has taken place during Holy Years and Jubilee Years. The names of the popes who have witnessed these processions are inscribed on the back of the cross.
On March 27, 2020, Pope Francis brought the crucifix of San Marcello to Saint Peter’s Square for a special Urbi et Orbi blessing in response to the covid-19 pandemic. while outdoors, the crucifix was damaged by heavy rain and required minor retouching. It was kept in Saint Peter’s Basilica for the Vatican‘s Holy Week liturgies, and then returned to San Marcelo church after the Easter Triduum.”
Tonight is a Mass at 7 o’clock at Saint Joseph church for Holy Thursday. If you can’t attend, take some extra time this evening in prayer thanking Jesus for his great love for us
