The Birthday of the Mother of Jesus

The Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church are united in their celebration of the Nativity of Mary. This feast was born in the East and was introduced to Rome by Sergius 1, in the seventh century. On that day, a procession would leave from the Church of Sant’Andrea al Foro, and head to the Basilica of Saint Mary Major. According to the liturgical Calendar, the Feast Day was celebrated on 8 September. In the East, the Nativity of Mary had been celebrated since the 4th century and was linked to the construction of the Basilica of Saint Anne in Jerusalem, which was built on the site of Anne and Joachim’s house, where Mary was believed to be born. From Jerusalem the recollection of the nativity of Mary spread to Constantinople, where the Eastern Church linked it to the Conception. It should be noted that the Church celebrates the birth on earth and in heaven only of Jesus, Mary and John the Baptist.

For another thousand years of splendour

"The Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls - Jubilee 2025": is the theme of the Agreement between the Governorate of Vatican City State and the Heydar Aliyev Foundation of Azerbaijan, which will be signed on Wednesday morning, 11 September, in the Palace of the Governorate, by Cardinal Fernando Vérgez Alzaga, President of the Governorate, and Anar Alakbarov, Assistant to the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and executive Director.

Cardinal James Michael Harvey, Archpriest of the Papal Basilica of Saintt Paul Outside the Walls, Sr. Raffaella Petrini, General Secretary of the Governorate, Mr Ilgar Yusif oğlu Mukhtarov, Ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the Holy See and Mr Salvatore Farina, Director of the Directorate of Infrastructures and Services, will participate in the signing ceremony.

The project is funded by the Foundation for the safety and preservation of the marble cladding and decorative apparatuses of the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls, in preparation for the upcoming Jubilee. The intervention was necessary to ensure the public’s safe transit and passage into the Basilica, as structural movements and widespread rise in water have degraded the marble cladding of the walls and of the columns of the naves.

During the restoration works, the marble surfaces that decorate the aisles and transept of the Basilica will be covered for protection.

Assistance to all Vatican residents and employees

The Governorate’s Directorate of Health and Hygiene is responsible for medical and health care, public health and hygiene, emergency medical care and first aid throughout the territory of Vatican City State, the Pontifical Villas and other buildings and areas provided for by the Lateran Treaty. The first health care system of the Sacred Apostolic Palaces has its roots in the Pontificate of Leo XIII, in October 1893. Through many changes over the years, it is now organized into the Directorate of Health and Hygiene, as it is known by Vatican residents and employees. In particular, it has 26 doctors, specialized in different fields. The following is an interview with Professor Andrea Arcangeli, Director of Directorate of Health and Hygiene of the Governorate of Vatican City State.

The little pencil in God’s hands

“God still loves the world and He sends you and me to be His love and His compassion to the poor”, Mother Teresa often told people she met, involving them in charity towards those in need. She was convinced that in serving the poorest of the poor, one should not simply act as social workers, but as brothers and sisters who seek out other brothers and sisters. Her charity was fuelled by faith. It was not just philanthropy. Mother Teresa felt the urgent need to lift people from their misery, but she also believed in the importance of bringing to them the message that God is love and that his love translated into attention to their condition. Her thoughts regarding this were very clear: “God has identified himself with the hungry, the sick, the naked, the homeless; hunger, not only for bread, but for love, for care, to be somebody to someone; nakedness, not of clothing only, but nakedness of that compassion that very few people give to the unknown; homelessness, not only for a shelter made of stone, but that homelessness that comes from having no one to call your own.”

He is one of the first four Doctors of the Church of the West, who promoted the evangelization of England and laid down the fundamental norms for chants, which later took his name. Gregory the Great was born to a wealthy Roman patrician family, some time around 540. He received a sound education, studying a range of subjects that went from the law, to the Bible, to the works of the Fathers, in particular of Saint Augustine.