Pope Leo XIV presided over First Vespers on Monday evening in honour of the patronal feast of Our Lady of the Rosary of Pompeii at the Church of Santa Maria del Rosario, adjacent to the Domus Australia in Rome.
The liturgy brought together members of the Australian community, residents of the Domus and numerous pilgrims for a moment of prayer and devotion led by the Holy Father, who wore a newly commissioned cream and blue cope for the occasion.
The celebration marked the blessing of the restored effigy of the Virgin Mary, a venerated image originally gifted to the church in 1883 by Blessed Bartolo Longo, founder of the Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii and tireless promoter of the Rosary.
