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Pope at Regina Caeli: Sunday Eucharist “indispensable” for Christian life

On Divine Mercy Sunday, Pope Leo XIV highlights the Eucharist as essential for sustaining faith.

By Vatican News

On Sunday 12 April, Pope Leo XIV addressed the faithful gathered in Saint Peter’s Square for the Regina Caeli. This week, Pope Leo reflected on the Gospel of the Second Sunday of Easter, Divine Mercy Sunday, which emphasises the central role of the Eucharist in sustaining faith.

He recounted the Gospel account of the Apostle Thomas, who encounters the risen Christ eight days after Easter and noted that this meeting takes place within the community, highlighting where believers are called to seek Christ today.

"This scene invites us to reflect on our own encounter with the risen Jesus", the Pope said. He invited the faithful to ask themselves "Where can we find him? How can we recognise him? How can we believe?" Pope Leo XIV explained that faith is not always immediate or easy. "It was not easy for Thomas, and it is not easy for us either", he said, adding that "faith needs to be nourished and sustained".

For this reason, he continued, the Church invites the faithful to gather every Sunday, the "eighth day", to celebrate the Eucharist. "During Mass, we listen to the words of Jesus, we pray, we profess our faith… His Body and Blood nourish us, so that we too may become witnesses of his Resurrection".

The Pope then went on to emphasise that participation in Sunday Mass is essential, as "the Sunday Eucharist is indispensable to the Christian life".

Turning then to the witness of the early Church, Pope Leo pointed to the Martyrs of Abitene, who chose death rather than abandon the celebration of the Eucharist. "They replied that they could not live without celebrating the Lord’s Day", he said.

The Pope explained that it is in the Eucharist that faith grows and is strengthened, and where believers are united as members of one body. “It is there that our efforts, though limited, are united by God’s grace… for the accomplishment of a single great plan of salvation that embraces all humanity".

He also stressed the missionary dimension of Mass, noting that the term itself signifies "sending forth". Christians, he said, are called to bring what they receive into their daily lives, becoming "witnesses of charity and messengers of reconciliation".

Bringing his address to a close, Pope Leo stressed that "In a world that is in such great need of peace this calls on us more than ever to be steadfast and faithful in our Eucharistic encounter with the risen Lord".

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12 April 2026, 12:10

What is the Regina Caeli?

The antiphon Regina Caeli (“Queen of Heaven”) is one of four traditional Marian antiphons, the others being Alma Redemptoris Mater, Ave Regina Caelorum, and Salve Regina.

It was Pope Benedict XIV who, in 1742, enjoined the recitation of the Regina Caeli in place of the Angelus during Eastertide, that is, from Easter Sunday to the end of Pentecost. It is recited standing as a sign of Christ’s victory over death.

Like the Angelus, the Regina Caeli is said three times a day, at dawn, at noon, and at dusk, in order to consecrate the day to God and the Virgin Mary.

This ancient antiphon arose, according to a pious tradition, in the 6th century; it is attested in documentary sources from the first half of the 13th century, when it was inserted in the Franciscan breviary. It is composed of four short verses, each ending with an “alleluia.” With the Regina Caeli, the faithful turn to Mary, the Queen of Heaven, to rejoice with her at the Resurrection of Christ.

At the Regina Caeli on Easter Monday of 2015, Pope Francis spoke about the spiritual dispositions that should animate the faithful as they recite this Marian prayer:

“In this prayer, expressed by the Alleluia, we turn to Mary inviting her to rejoice, because the One whom she carried in her womb is Risen as He promised, and we entrust ourselves to her intercession. In fact, our joy is a reflection of Mary’s joy, for it is she who guarded and guards with faith the events of Jesus. Let us therefore recite this prayer with the emotion of children who are happy because their mother is happy.”

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Pray with the Pope

Regina Coeli

Regina coeli, laetare, alleluia.
Quia quem meruisti portare, alleluia.
Resurrexit, sicut dixit, alleluia.
Ora pro nobis Deum, alleluia.

V. Gaude et laetare, Virgo Maria, alleluia.
R. Quia surrexit Dominus vere, alleluia.

Oremus:

Deus, qui per resurrectionem Filii tui Domini nostri Iesu Christi mundum laetificare dignatus es, praesta, quaesumus, ut per eius Genetricem Virginem Mariam perpetuae capiamus gaudia vitae.
Per eundem Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.

Regina Caeli 

Queen of heaven, rejoice, alleluia.

The Son whom you merited to bear, alleluia,
has risen as he said, alleluia.
Rejoice and be glad, O Virgin Mary, alleluia!
For the Lord has truly risen, alleluia.

Let us pray

O God, who through the resurrection of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, did vouchsafe to give joy to the world; grant, we beseech you, that through his Mother, the Virgin Mary, we may obtain the joys of everlasting life. Through the same Christ our Lord.

Amen.