Pope Francis says Pray for Holiness and "Let us not forget: the Eucharist is the greatest and most effective prayer for the souls..." on All Saints' Day - FULL TEXT


 
SOLEMNITY OF ALL SAINTS
POPE FRANCIS at the ANGELUS
in the Vatican's Saint Peter's Square
Friday, 1 November 2024
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Dear brothers and sisters, good morning and happy feast day!
Today, the Solemnity of All Saints, in the Gospel (see Mt 5:1-12) Jesus proclaims the Christian's identity card. And what is the Christian's identity card? The Beatitudes. It is our identity card, and also the path to holiness (see Apostolic Exhortation Gaudete et exsultate, 63). Jesus shows us a path, that of love, which He himself first traveled by becoming man, and which for us is both a gift from God and our response. Gift and response.
It is a gift from God, because, as Saint Paul says, it is He who sanctifies (see 1 Cor 6:11). And for this reason, it is first of all the Lord that we ask to make us saints, to make our hearts similar to his (cf. Encyclical Letter Dilexit nos, 168). With his grace he heals us and frees us from everything that prevents us from loving as he loves us (cf. Jn 13:34), so that in us, as Blessed Carlo Acutis said, there is always “less of me to leave room for God”.

And this brings us to the second point: our response. The Father in heaven, in fact, offers us his holiness, but does not impose it on us. He sows it in us, makes us taste it and see its beauty, but then waits for our response. He leaves us the freedom to follow his good inspirations, to let ourselves be involved in his plans, to make his feelings our own (cf. Dilexit nos, 179), placing ourselves, as he taught us, at the service of others, with an ever more universal charity, open and addressed to everyone, to the entire world.
We see all this in the lives of the saints, even in our time. Let us think, for example, of Saint Maximilian Kolbe, who in Auschwitz asked to take the place of a father condemned to death; or of Saint Teresa of Calcutta, who spent her life serving the poorest of the poor; or of Bishop Saint Oscar Romero, assassinated on the altar for having defended the rights of the least against the abuses of bullies. And so we can make a list of many, many saints: those we venerate on the altars and others, whom I like to call the saints “next door”, those of every day, hidden, who carry out their daily Christian life. Brothers and sisters, how much hidden holiness there is in the Church! Let us recognize so many brothers and sisters shaped by the Beatitudes: poor, meek, merciful, hungry and thirsty for justice, peacemakers. They are people “full of God”, incapable of remaining indifferent to the needs of others; are witnesses of luminous paths, also possible for us.
Let us ask ourselves now: do I ask God, in prayer, for the gift of a holy life? Do I let myself be guided by the good impulses that his Spirit inspires in me? And do I personally commit to practicing the Beatitudes of the Gospel, in the environments in which I live?
May Mary, Queen of all Saints, help us to make our life a path of holiness.
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After the Angelus
Dear brothers and sisters!
I express my closeness to the people of Chad, in particular to the families of the victims of the serious terrorist attack a few days ago, as well as to those affected by the floods. And in relation to these environmental catastrophes, let us pray for the people of the Iberian Peninsula, especially the Valencian community, overwhelmed by the storm “DANA”: for the deceased and their loved ones, and for all the families affected. May the Lord sustain those who suffer and those who bring relief. Our closeness to the people of Valencia.
I greet you all with affection, pilgrims from various countries, families, parish groups, associations and school groups. In particular the faithful from Rignac (France).
And I greet the participants in the “Race of the Saints”, organized by the Don Bosco Missions Foundation. Dear friends, this year too you remind us that Christian life is a race, but not like the world runs, no! It is the race of a heart that loves! And thank you for your support in the construction of a sports center in Ukraine.
Let us pray for the tormented Ukraine, let us pray for Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, Myanmar, Sudan, and for all the peoples who suffer because of wars. Brothers and sisters, war is always a defeat, always! And it is ignoble, because it is the triumph of lies, of falsehood: one seeks the greatest interest for oneself and the greatest damage for the adversary, trampling on human lives, the environment, infrastructures, everything; and everything is masked with lies. And the innocent suffer! I think of the 153 women and children massacred in recent days in Gaza.
Tomorrow will be the annual Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed. Those who can, these days, go to pray at the tomb of their loved ones. Tomorrow morning I too will go to celebrate Mass in the Laurentino Cemetery in Rome. Let us not forget: the Eucharist is the greatest and most effective prayer for the souls of the deceased.
I wish everyone a happy feast in the company of the Saints. I greet all of you, I greet the boys of the Immaculate who are good! And please, do not forget to pray for me. Happy feast! Enjoy your lunch and goodbye.

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