Pope Francis presides at Easter Sunday Mass

Source: Vatican News

More than 45,000 pilgrims filled a sunny St Peter's Square on Easter Sunday morning for Mass on the Solemnity of the Resurrection of the Lord, led by Pope Francis.

The steps leading up to St Peter's basilica were decorated with tens of thousands of flowers from the Netherlands - an annual tradition which began in 1985.

The Pope did not deliver a homily at the morning Mass, since he had already delivered his reflections the night before at the Easter Vigil Mass. That night he reflected on the surprise and joy of the women who visited the tomb where Jesus had been laid.

Instead of Jesus' lifeless body, the women found an empty tomb and an angel who told them that He had been raised from the dead.

As the Pope noted, the women "went away quickly from the tomb, fearful yet overjoyed, and ran to announce this to His disciples."

In the same way, he added, Easter should motivate all Christians to "leave behind our sense of defeat, to roll away the stone of the tombs in which we often imprison our hope, and to look with confidence to the future, for Christ is risen and has changed the direction of history."

In spite of our dreary routine, said Pope Francis, we must harness the power of Easter to revive the "beauty of that moment we realized that He is alive and we made Him the Lord of our lives."

The Pope's Mass on Sunday morning wrapped up a whirlwind Paschal Triduum. Despite spending three nights in hospital being treated for bronchitis and being discharged only on 1 April, Pope Francis has presided over nearly every public engagement on his schedule.

The only event he followed from his home in Casa Santa Marta was the Way of the Cross at Rome's Colosseum on Good Friday. The Holy See Press Office said the Pope missed that because the weather was so cold.

After the Mass Pope Francis gave his Urbi et Orbi Message. See: www.indcatholicnews.com/news/46931

Watch the Mass and Urbi et Orbi Message on the Vatican Youtube channel: www.youtube.com/watch?v=enlfzVCraH0