Pope Francis Prays for Peace saying "there is no peace without forgiveness" - “The world changes if hearts change" and Entrusts the Suffering World to Our Lady
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Pope Francis traveled to Piazza di Spagna and placed a wreath of roses at the foot of the 39-foot-high column bearing a statue of the Virgin Mary, he said a prayer invoking the gift of peace in the world. The Pope began the prayer by thanking the Virgin for her “discreet and constant presence, which gives us comfort and hope.”
“Your person,” he said, “the very fact that you exist reminds us that evil has neither the first nor the last word; that our destiny is not death but life, it is not hatred but brotherhood, it is not conflict but harmony, it is not war but peace”.
He entrusted to Mary the peoples of Ukraine, Palestine and Israel
He then entrusted to her mercy “all peoples oppressed by injustice and poverty, and suffering war”, referring in particular to the “tormented Ukrainian people” and the Palestinian and Israeli peoples who have “plunged back into a spiral of violence.”
The Pope also turned his thoughts to the many mothers who, as Mary did, are grieving for the loss of their children killed by war and terrorism, or who see them leave for desperate journeys of hope.
Finally, Pope Francis entrusted to Mary’s protection all the women victims of violence: Dry, please, their tears and those of their loved ones,” he prayed.
Concluding, Pope Francis implored the Blessed Virgin to show the “the way of conversion, because, he said there is no peace without forgiveness and there is no forgiveness without repentance.”
“The world changes if hearts change; and everyone must say: starting with mine. But only God can change the human heart with his grace: the one in which you, Mary, you are immersed from the first moment. The grace of Jesus Christ, our Lord, that you generated in the flesh, who died and rose again for us, and who you always point out to us. He is salvation, for every man and for the world. Come, Lord Jesus! May your kingdom of love, justice and peace come! Amen.”
SOLEMNITY OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
ACT OF VENERATION OF THE IMMACULATE IN PIAZZA DI SPAGNA
FULL TEXT PRAYER OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS TO MARY IMMACULATE
Piazza di Spagna on Friday, December 8, 2023
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Piazza di Spagna on Friday, December 8, 2023
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Immaculate Virgin!
We come to you with our hearts divided between hope and anguish.
We need you, our Mother!
But first of all we want to thank you,
because in silence, as is your style, you watch over this city,
who today wraps you in flowers to tell you her love for her.
In silence, day and night, watch over us:
on families, with joys and worries - you know this well -;
in places of study and work; on public institutions and offices;
on hospitals and nursing homes; on prisons; on those who live on the streets;
on the parishes and all communities of the Church of Rome.
Thank you for your discreet and constant presence,
which gives us comfort and hope.
You know, we need you, Mother, because you are the Immaculate Conception. Your person, the very fact that you exist reminds us that evil has neither the first nor the last word; that our destiny is not death but life, it is not hatred but brotherhood, it is not conflict but harmony, it is not war but peace. Looking at you, we feel confirmed in this faith that events sometimes put to the test. And you, Mother, turn your eyes of mercy on all peoples oppressed by injustice and poverty, tried by the war: Mother, look at the tormented Ukrainian people, to the Palestinian people and the Israeli people, plunged back into the spiral of violence.
Today, Holy Mother, we bring here, under your gaze, many mothers who, as happened to you, are grieving. Mothers who mourn their children killed by war and terrorism. The mothers who see them leave on journeys of desperate hope. And also the mothers who try to free them from the bonds of addiction, and those who watch over them in a long and hard illness.
Today, Maria, we need you as a woman, to entrust to you all the women who have suffered violence and those who are still victims of it, in this city, in Italy and in every part of the world. You know them one by one, you know their faces. Dry, please, their tears and those of their loved ones. And help us on a journey of education and purification, recognizing and countering nested violence in our hearts and minds and asking God to deliver us from it.
Show us again, oh Mother, the way of conversion, because there is no peace without forgiveness and there is no forgiveness without repentance. The world changes if hearts change; and everyone must say: starting with mine. But only God can change the human heart with his grace: the one in which you, Mary, you are immersed from the first moment. The grace of Jesus Christ, our Lord, that you generated in the flesh, who died and rose again for us, and who you always point out to us. He is salvation, for every man and for the world. Come, Lord Jesus! May your kingdom of love, justice and peace come! Amen.
You know, we need you, Mother, because you are the Immaculate Conception. Your person, the very fact that you exist reminds us that evil has neither the first nor the last word; that our destiny is not death but life, it is not hatred but brotherhood, it is not conflict but harmony, it is not war but peace. Looking at you, we feel confirmed in this faith that events sometimes put to the test. And you, Mother, turn your eyes of mercy on all peoples oppressed by injustice and poverty, tried by the war: Mother, look at the tormented Ukrainian people, to the Palestinian people and the Israeli people, plunged back into the spiral of violence.
Today, Holy Mother, we bring here, under your gaze, many mothers who, as happened to you, are grieving. Mothers who mourn their children killed by war and terrorism. The mothers who see them leave on journeys of desperate hope. And also the mothers who try to free them from the bonds of addiction, and those who watch over them in a long and hard illness.
Today, Maria, we need you as a woman, to entrust to you all the women who have suffered violence and those who are still victims of it, in this city, in Italy and in every part of the world. You know them one by one, you know their faces. Dry, please, their tears and those of their loved ones. And help us on a journey of education and purification, recognizing and countering nested violence in our hearts and minds and asking God to deliver us from it.
Show us again, oh Mother, the way of conversion, because there is no peace without forgiveness and there is no forgiveness without repentance. The world changes if hearts change; and everyone must say: starting with mine. But only God can change the human heart with his grace: the one in which you, Mary, you are immersed from the first moment. The grace of Jesus Christ, our Lord, that you generated in the flesh, who died and rose again for us, and who you always point out to us. He is salvation, for every man and for the world. Come, Lord Jesus! May your kingdom of love, justice and peace come! Amen.
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