The Vicariate of Rome has announced that the cardinal vicar Baldo Reina will preside over a penitential rite with Eucharistic celebration in the parish of San Nicola di Bari, in Ostia, next Monday, December 1 at 19:00. The celebration will take place as a response to the serious profanation that occurred on Tuesday, November 25, which requires a liturgical act of reparation in accordance with the norms of the Church.
In the ceremony, the bishop Renato Tarantelli Baccari, vicegerent and auxiliary for the South sector of the Diocese of Rome, and the parish priest of the community, don Cosmo Scardigno, will concelebrate.
A necessary rite to purify the profaned temple
The statement explains that the penitential rite will follow what is provided by the Ceremoniale Episcoporum, which establishes the blessing of water to “purify the altar and the walls of the profaned church”. During the beginning of the liturgy, Cardinal Reina will perform the corresponding entrance prayers and proceed to the purifying aspersion.
Following the liturgical norms, the altar will remain stripped until the proclamation of the Word. Only at the end of the Liturgy of the Word —and before beginning the Eucharistic part— the deacons will prepare the altar again.
Masses temporarily relocated by the community
As a pastoral measure, and until the penitential rite is celebrated, the parish community has moved the Sunday and daily Holy Mass to the nearby church of San Nicola al Villaggio dei Pescatori. This relocation will remain in effect until Sunday, November 30.
The Vicariate has not given details about the nature of the profanation that occurred on the 25th, but the magnitude of the act and the need for a solemn penitential rite indicate that it is a serious event that has directly affected the altar or the sacred space reserved for the Eucharist.