Another lesser known tradition took place yesterday at the Vatican. Each year on January 21, the Feast of St. Agnes, two lambs (in Italian, agnelli) are blessed by the Pope. The lambs' wool will be used to weave the Pallia presented, on June 29, to those Metropolitan Archbishops who were named in the past year. According to the daily press bulletin issued by the Vatican, "The Pallium is a liturgical sign of honor and of jurisdiction worn by the Pope and by Metropolitan Archbishops in their churches [i.e., their Archdioceses] and in those of their Province. It is made up of a band of white wool on which stands out six crosses in black wool."The blessing took place following the Wednesday General Audience, and is obviously more than just a passing "quickie event", as evidenced by the fact that the Holy Father took the time to put on a rochet, mozzetta, and stole. While there is a rite of blessing that takes place, I haven't been able to find the blessing published anywhere, probably because only the Pope does it. I suppose we can call that.....
wait for it...
THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS
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