La Mostra 1925
Pius XI’s Holy Years
Pius XI celebrated two Holy Years: an ordinary one in 1925, and an extraordinary one in 1933 to celebrate the 1900th anniversary of the Redemption. The Jubilee of 1933 was the first Extraordinary Jubilee to be celebrated adopting every aspect of Ordinary Jubilee ceremony, including the ritual of the Holy Door, hence its inclusion as a true Holy Year. It was also the first Holy Year to be celebrated after the Lateran Accords and the Concordat between Italy and the Holy See, which resolved the “Roman question”
Il papa degli anni santi, in: Pio XI: monumenti e opere, Città del Vaticano 1936
Pius XI’s Holy Years
Pius XI celebrated two Holy Years: an ordinary one in 1925, and an extraordinary one in 1933 to celebrate the 1900th anniversary of the Redemption. The Jubilee of 1933 was the first Extraordinary Jubilee to be celebrated adopting every aspect of Ordinary Jubilee ceremony, including the ritual of the Holy Door, hence its inclusion as a true Holy Year. It was also the first Holy Year to be celebrated after the Lateran Accords and the Concordat between Italy and the Holy See, which resolved the “Roman question”
Il papa degli anni santi, in: Pio XI: monumenti e opere, Città del Vaticano 1936
Pius XI’s Holy Years
Pius XI celebrated two Holy Years: an ordinary one in 1925, and an extraordinary one in 1933 to celebrate the 1900th anniversary of the Redemption. The Jubilee of 1933 was the first Extraordinary Jubilee to be celebrated adopting every aspect of Ordinary Jubilee ceremony, including the ritual of the Holy Door, hence its inclusion as a true Holy Year. It was also the first Holy Year to be celebrated after the Lateran Accords and the Concordat between Italy and the Holy See, which resolved the “Roman question”
Il papa degli anni santi, in: Pio XI: monumenti e opere, Città del Vaticano 1936
Pius XI’s Holy Years
Pius XI celebrated two Holy Years: an ordinary one in 1925, and an extraordinary one in 1933 to celebrate the 1900th anniversary of the Redemption. The Jubilee of 1933 was the first Extraordinary Jubilee to be celebrated adopting every aspect of Ordinary Jubilee ceremony, including the ritual of the Holy Door, hence its inclusion as a true Holy Year. It was also the first Holy Year to be celebrated after the Lateran Accords and the Concordat between Italy and the Holy See, which resolved the “Roman question”
Il papa degli anni santi, in: Pio XI: monumenti e opere, Città del Vaticano 1936
The first canonization of the Holy Year 1925
During XX century Holy years there were several beatifications and canonizations. The first saint canonized in 1925 was St. Teresa from Lisieux.
Felici (papal photog.), La prima canonizzazione dell'anno santo 17 maggio: S. s. Pio XI proclama la canonizzazione di suor Teresa del bambino Gesù nella Basilica di San Pietro alla presenza di 40.000 persone, in: L'illustrazione italiana, a. LII, n. 21, 24 May 1925
Basilica of St. Peter's lighted for a canonization during the Jubilee of 1925
During XX century Holy years there were several beatifications and canonizations.
Addobbo interno della Basilica di S. Pietro per una canonizzazione, in: Cronistoria dell'anno santo MCMXXV. Appunti storici, dati statistici, atti ufficiali, con appendice storico-bibliografica a cura della Segreteria generale del Comitato centrale, Roma 1928
Pilgrim life in Rome for the Jubilee of 1925
Armando Bruni (photog.), Lunghe teorie di donne salmodianti attraversano la piazza di San Pietro per la visita di rito alla Basilica, in: L'illustrazione italiana,a. LII, n. 16, 19 April 1925
Pilgrim life in Rome for the Jubilee of 1925
Armando Bruni (photog.), I pellegrini a Roma: fanciulle in candidi veli si recano a visitare il pontefice; sulla porta delle basiliche fotografi occasionali ritraggono i pellegrini; vecchie e fanciulle venute da lontani paesi per ottenere le indulgenze giubilari; i pellegrini tedeschi sfilano inquadrati salmodiando; i pellegrini stanchi del lungo girare sostano sui gradini delle chiese al tepido sole di aprile; intermezzi profani: gustare la cucina romanesca ed ammirare i capolavori della città eterna, in: L'illustrazione italiana,a. LII, n. 16, 19 April 1925
The illuminations of St. Peter's for the Jubilee of 1925
Ugo Ojetti, La luminaria a San Pietro. Roma 17 maggio, in: Id., Cose viste, vol. III (1924-1925), Milano 1926
Ceremonies on the eve of the 1925 Holy Year
These images show the key moments from the eve of the Holy Year as envisaged under a long-standing ceremony. In detail: reading out the bull, the rogitum, the second promulgation and the recognitio ceremony (retrieval of the box walled up in the Holy Door on closing the previous Jubilee containing associated documents, medals, seals and a list of the people who donated bricks to build the wall). Also visible, a commemorative medal for the Holy Year featuring the pontiff as he opens the Holy Door
Felici (papal photogr.), La vigilia dell'anno santo, in: L'illustrazione italiana, a. LI, n. 51, 21 December 1924
Ceremonies on the eve of the 1925 Holy Year
These images show the key moments from the eve of the Holy Year as envisaged under a long-standing ceremony. In detail: reading out the bull, the rogitum, the second promulgation and the recognitio ceremony (retrieval of the box walled up in the Holy Door on closing the previous Jubilee containing associated documents, medals, seals and a list of the people who donated bricks to build the wall). Also visible, a commemorative medal for the Holy Year featuring the pontiff as he opens the Holy Door
Felici (papal photogr.), La vigilia dell'anno santo, in: L'illustrazione italiana, a. LI, n. 51, 21 December 1924
The pontiff worships in the Sistine Chapel prior to the ceremony (Holy Year 1925)
Since the sixteenth century, a representation of the Holy Year opening ritual has been undertaken in the Sistine Chapel. Francesco Zaccaria writes in 1774: “The Pope, Cardinals and Bishops dressed in white sacred vestments... gather at the Sistine Chapel where the Pontiff intones the Veni Creator. He and all of the Cardinals exit in order of seniority and start to walk towards the Swiss Portico”.
Felici (papal photogr.), L’adorazione del Pontefice nella Cappella Sistina, prima della cerimonia, in: L'illustrazione italiana, a. LII, n. 1, 4 January 1925 (L'anno Santo)
The pontifical throne erected in the entrance to the Basilica at Saint Peter’s next to the Holy Door (Holy Year 1925)
These are the final preparations before the opening of the Holy Door. Francesco Zaccaria (1774) says: “The Pontiff, having arrived on his Throne, which is raised opposite the great Door... sits on it but briefly; the Cardinal Major Penitentiary having presented him with a golden Hammer, he takes it in his right hand and... strikes the door three times with the Hammer.”
Felici (papal photogr.), Il trono pontificio eretto nell'atrio della Basilica di San Pietro. A destra di chi guarda, la porta santa, in: L'illustrazione italiana, a. LII, n. 1, 4 January 1925 (L'anno Santo)
Opening of the Holy Door (24 December 1924)
Felici (papal photogr.), L'apertura della porta santa 24 dicembre, in: L'illustrazione italiana, a. LII, n. 1, 4 January 1925 (L'anno Santo)
The slab over the Holy Door at Saint Peter’s knocked down in a single blow (Holy Year 1925)
Armando Bruni (photogr.), Mons. Pelizzo [sic], economo della Fabbrica di San Pietro, dà le ultime disposizioni per la manovra che farà cadere di un colpo la lastra che chiude la porta santa, in: L'illustrazione italiana, a. LII, n. 1, 4 January 1925 (L'anno Santo)
The Pope kneels before being the first to cross the threshold of the Holy Door
Francesco Zaccaria (1774): “...He descends without mitre from the Throne, and having taken the Cross in his hand kneels before the Holy Door..., and then He alone passes through, carrying a lit candle and the Cross...”
Felici (papal photogr.), Il Papa, tenendo nella destra la croce astata patriarcale e nella sinistra il cero acceso, inginocchiato sulla soglia della porta santa, intona il primo versetto del Te Deum, in: L'illustrazione italiana, a. LII, n. 1, 4 January 1925 (L'anno Santo)
Opening of the Holy Door (24 December 1924)
Felici (papal photogr.), L'apertura della porta santa 24 dicembre, in: L'illustrazione italiana,a. LII, n. 1, 4 January 1925 (L'anno Santo)
Lux mundi
Michelangelo’s dome, which Pius XI had illuminated by torchlight on special occasions (the dome would be visibly far more imposing after the Borgo “spine” was demolished) is a symbol of the light that Christianity has brought to Earth.
Lux mundi, in: Pio XI: monumenti e opere, Città del Vaticano 1936
Lux mundi
Michelangelo’s dome, which Pius XI had illuminated by torchlight on special occasions (the dome would be visibly far more imposing after the Borgo “spine” was demolished) is a symbol of the light that Christianity has brought to Earth.
Lux mundi, in: Pio XI: monumenti e opere, Città del Vaticano 1936
First great ceremonies of Holy Year 1925
Dopo l'apertura della Porta Santa a S. Pietro. Il pontefice con la sua corte passa tra la folla orante, in: La Domenica del Corriere, a. XXVII, n. 2, 11 January 1925
The Cardinal Legate opens the Holy Door at St. John Lateran (Holy Year 1925)
Il cardinale Pompily compie la cerimonia dell'apertura della Porta Santa nella Basilica di S. Giovanni in Laterano, in: La Domenica del Corriere, a. XXVII, n. 2, 11 January 1925