![\"\"](\"https:\/\/kathyschiffer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/lamb.jpg\")
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/kathyschiffer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Pallium-special2.jpg\")
Little Lamb, who made thee?
\nDost thou know who made thee?
\nGave thee life, and bid thee feed,
\nBy the stream and o\u2019er the mead;
\nGave thee clothing of delight,
\nSoftest clothing, woolly, bright;
\nGave thee such a tender voice,
\nMaking all the vales rejoice?
\nLittle Lamb, who made thee?
\nDost thou know who made thee?<\/p>\n
Little Lamb, I\u2019ll tell thee,
\nLittle Lamb, I\u2019ll tell thee.
\nHe is called by thy name,
\nFor He calls Himself a Lamb.
\nHe is meek, and He is mild;
\nHe became a little child.
\nI a child, and thou a lamb,
\nWe are called by His name.
\nLittle Lamb, God bless thee!
\nLittle Lamb, God bless thee!<\/p>\n
\u2013William Blake, \u201cThe Lamb\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cWhat the Pallium indicates first and foremost is that we are all carried by Christ.\u00a0 But at the same time it invites us to carry one another.\u00a0 Hence the Pallium becomes a symbol of the shepherd\u2019s mission\u2026\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 \u2014Pope Benedict XVI<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *<\/p>\n On January 21, the Feast of St. Agnes, Pope Benedict continued a 130-year-old tradition\u2014the Blessing of the Lambs.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0In a ceremony guaranteed to evoke a smile, each year on the feast two young lambs are brought to the Holy Father to be blessed.\u00a0 Covered in blankets, one white (to signify St. Agnes\u2019 purity) and one red (representing her martyrdom), each lamb wears a crown of red and white flowers.\u00a0 The photo above (from CNS\/L\u2019Osservatore Romano) shows the lamb that was blessed three years ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0We\u2019ll hear of the lambs again on June 29, the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul.\u00a0 On that day, we commemorate the martyrdom of these two great pillars of the Church.\u00a0 The Pope, in a special ceremony, places a \u201cpallium\u201d over the shoulders of the newest archbishops from around the world.\u00a0 And that\u2019s where those little lambs come in:\u00a0 The pallium, a circular stole, is woven from the lambs\u2019 fleece.\u00a0 It reminds us how our archbishop, like the Good Shepherd, cares for his flock.<\/p>\n