For those who watched Pope Leo XIV's first Easter Sunday Mass, you might have seen a unique "rite" that is not found at your local parish. It calls to mind the role of the pope as the Successor of the Apostle Peter, one of the first to witness the Resurrection.
The Vatican calls it the Rite of the "Resurrexit," and it features a large icon of the Most Holy Savior. The icon itself has two doors, which are at first closed.
Before Mass begins, two deacons open the doors of the icon and another deacon sings, "The Lord has risen from the tomb, who for us hung upon the tree."
The choir and the people then respond with a triple "Alleluia."
The deacon then turns to the pope and sings, "Yes, it is true. The Lord has risen and had appeared to Simon." Another set of "Alleluias" are sung and the pope venerates the icon, incensing it.
This "rite" is unique, but it has been part of the papal liturgy for Easter Sunday since St. John Paul II revived the liturgical sequence.
Papal Easter tradition
According to a scholarly article by Karol Litawa, this rite was reintroduced by St. John Paul II, but was a tradition that popes were familiar with since the Middle Ages:
From the year of Great Jubilee 2000 among the papal celebrations we can find the Rite of Resurrexit, celebrated on Easter Sunday. The historical analysis based on the liturgical sources shows that the special rites in front of the Acheropìta icon had an important meaning already in the Middle Ages. It was a rite celebrated by [the] Pope in his private chapel in Lateran Palace called Sancta Sanctorum. During the pontificate of John Paul II the rite has been rediscovered and until today, as in the past, this rite makes unusual preparation for the Eucharistic celebration on the Easter Sunday.
Furthermore, the current icon that is used was originally commissioned by Archbishop Piero Marini in 2007 and has been present at the papal Mass on Easter Sunday ever since.
It represents another blending of East and West at the Easter Sunday Mass, as the Gospels are typically chanted in both Latin and Greek. The presence of an Eastern icon at a Western liturgy is a hopeful sign that one day the Church can truly breath with "both lungs," as St. John Paul II would often say.
