#PopeFrancis to #SwissGuards "“Dear Guardsmen, my hope for you is that you shall live your days of service strong in the Faith...' Video - Text

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis received officers and enlisted soldiers of the Pontifical Swiss Guard on Saturday, one day after new members of the corps took their oath of allegiance and were sworn into active service.

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The Swiss Guards hold their swearing-in ceremony each year on May 6th, to mark the day in 1527 when 147 members of their corps gave their lives in a desperate rear-guard action that allowed Pope Clement VII to reach the safety of Castel Sant’Angelo while the soldiers of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V sacked the eternal city.

Pope Francis recalled the spirit of faithful service that animates the great legacy of sacrifice and heroism in his remarks to new recruits and their families on Saturday, saying, “Dear Guardsmen, my hope for you is that you shall live your days of service strong in the Faith and generous in charity toward the people you shall meet: may Mary, our mother, whom we honor especially in this month of May, help you to be ever more sensible each day that profound communion with God, which for us believers begins here on Earth and shall be complete in Heaven.”