Pope

Pope Leo prays the Spirit may help build a fraternal world where peace reigns

At the Regina Caeli, the Pope urged everyone to invoke the Holy Spirit, who opens the doors to faith and encourages the Church to be “welcoming and hospitable to all.” And may the Holy Spirit help us overcome “resistance, selfishness, mistrust, and prejudice,” allowing fraternity to flourish.

By Benedetta Capelli

“What doors does the Spirit open?” is the question posed by Pope Leo XIV in today’s catechesis for the Regina Caeli on May 24, in his final Regina Caeli of 2026. In a warm and bright Saint Peter's Square, the Pope invited the faithful to contemplate “the gift of the Holy Spirit, which was poured out in abundance upon the early Church and is bestowed anew upon its members today, granting us light and strength throughout our everyday circumstances.” He urged everyone to invoke the Holy Spirit and “ask him to open all the doors that are still closed.”

“We need to rediscover God as the Father who loves us, so that we can form a Church where everyone feels at home, and build a fraternal world where peace reigns among all peoples.”

Encounter with true faith

The Pope pointed to three “doors” that must be opened, recalling the account in the Acts of the Apostles that describes the Spirit as a “mighty wind” that opened every door and impelled “the disciples to go out and proclaim the Good News of the risen Christ.” The first door to be opened, Pope Leo XIV said, is that of God Himself, who grants “true faith, helps us understand the meaning of Scripture, reveals himself as our neighbor and allows us to share in his very life.”

“The Holy Spirit helps us to have a personal experience of God, to encounter him in Jesus and not merely in the observance of a law, to recognize him within us, and to discover the signs of his presence in daily life.”

A Church that welcomes

“The second door,” the Pope emphasized, “is that of the Upper Room, that is, of the Church.” The wind of the Spirit sweeps away fears and anxieties “in the face of the world’s challenges,” as well as the inability to engage “with changing times,” so that the Church may become, as Pope Francis often said, a Church with open doors.

“The Spirit opens the doors of the Church so that it can be welcoming and hospitable to all, even to those who have closed their doors on God and neighbour, on hope and the joy of living.”

The language of love

The final door indicated by the Pope is that of the human heart, which must be opened in order for fraternity among peoples to be born.

“The Holy Spirit opens the door of our heart, helping us to overcome resistance, selfishness, mistrust and prejudice, while enabling us to live as children of God and brothers and sisters to one another. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, fraternity is born among individuals, groups and peoples of the Earth, and all speak the same language of love, which unites and brings harmony despite our differences.”

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24 May 2026, 12:37

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 Caeli

Regina caeli, 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.