Pope Francis Honors the Mother of Jesus during Traditional Prayer at the Famous Statue of Our Lady in Rome - FULL TEXT + Video
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Pope Francis renews the traditional act of prayer to Our Blessed Mother before the statue of the Virgin in the center of Rome for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. Looking ahead to the Holy Year, the Pontiff speaks of Rome as a city that wants to be welcoming, then recommends not suffocating the "Jubilee grace" with "things to do" and asks for prayers for Mayor Gualtieri "who has so much work".
Like other Pontiffs in the past from John XXIII onwards, Pope Francis has never failed to pay homage to the mother of Jesus. Not even during the restrictions of the Covid-19 pandemic, when he went at dawn to the central Roman square, to avoid crowds.
This year, the pope was surrounded by a crowd of sick people, in the front row with blankets and throws, by the faithful and passers-by, all under umbrellas or with capes. (Continues below the video)
The Pope was welcomed by the mayor of Rome Roberto Gualtieri, who arrived an hour earlier, and by the vicar Baldo Reina, created cardinal in yesterday's Consistory in St. Peter's. Pope Francis today brought a floral tribute to the Marian monument created by the architect Luigi Poletti and the sculptor Giuseppe Obici, in honor of the dogma proclaimed by Pius IX. A large bouquet of white roses, which the Pope, with the help of two attendants, placed at the foot of the column, next to the wreaths of Acli, Unitalsi and other associations already placed throughout the day. During the day, rain fell lightly on the square. In addition to the mayor and the vicar, there were Cardinals Luis Antonio Tagle and Angelo Comastri, the substitute Edgar Peña Parra, the ambassador of Spain to the Holy See, María Isabel Celaá Diéguez, to whom the Pope addresses a greeting, then volunteers, law enforcement, families, and the elderly.
Before the act of devotion in Piazza di Spagna, as he did last year, the Pope made a brief stop in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore to pay homage to the Salus Populi Romani, the effigy he has visited more than 120 times over the years, entrusting her with international travel and medical operations. Before the protector of the Roman people, Pope Francis stopped to pray for a few moments, alone, in silence. (Source: Vatican News and Vatican.va)
FULL TEXT on the SOLEMNITY OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
ACT OF VENERATION TO THE IMMACULATE IN THE SPANISH STEPS
PRAYER OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS
TO THE IMMACULATE MARY
Spanish Steps
Sunday, December 8, 2024
_____________________________________
Immaculate Virgin, Mother, Immaculate Mother, today is your feast day and we gather around you. The flowers we offer you want to express our love and our gratitude; but you see and appreciate above all those hidden flowers which are the prayers, the sighs, even the tears, especially the tears of the little ones and the poor. Look at them, Mother, look at them. Our Mother, Rome is preparing for a new Jubilee, which will be a message of hope for humanity tried by crises and wars. For this reason, there are construction sites everywhere in the city: this – you know – causes quite a few inconveniences, and yet it is a sign that Rome is alive, that Rome is renewing itself, that Rome is trying to adapt to needs, to be more welcoming and more functional. But your gaze as a Mother sees beyond. And I seem to hear your voice that wisely tells us: “My children, these works are good, but be careful: do not forget the construction sites of the soul! The true Jubilee is within: inside, inside your hearts - you say -, inside family and social relationships. It is within that we must work to prepare the way for the Lord who comes”. And it is a good opportunity to make a good Confession and ask for forgiveness for all sins. God forgives everything, God always forgives, always. Immaculate Mother, we thank you! This recommendation of yours is good for us, we need it so much, because, without wanting to, we risk being totally taken up by the organization, by the things to do, and then the grace of the Holy Year, which is a time of spiritual rebirth, which is a time of forgiveness and social liberation, this jubilee grace may not come well, be a little suffocated. But here the Mayor prepares all things so that in this commemoration, in this Holy Year, they are good. Let us pray for the Mayor who has so much work. Surely, Mary, you were present in the synagogue of Nazareth, that day when Jesus for the first time preached to the people of his country. He read from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah: «The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; for this reason he has anointed me and sent me to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind; to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Lk 4:18-19). Then he sat down and said: “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (v. 21). And You, Mother, You were there, among the astonished people. You were proud of Him, of your Son, and at the same time you foresaw the drama of closure and envy, which generates violence. You have lived through this drama and you always live through it, with your immaculate heart filled with the love of the Heart of Jesus. Mother, free us from envy: that we are all brothers, that we love each other. No envy. Envy, that yellow, ugly vice, that ruins from within. And even today, Mother, you repeat to us: “Listen to Jesus, listen to Him! Listen to Him, and do what He tells you” (cf. Jn 2:5). Thank you, Holy Mother! Thank you because again, in this time poor in hope, you give us Jesus, our Hope. Thank you Mother.
The Pope was welcomed by the mayor of Rome Roberto Gualtieri, who arrived an hour earlier, and by the vicar Baldo Reina, created cardinal in yesterday's Consistory in St. Peter's. Pope Francis today brought a floral tribute to the Marian monument created by the architect Luigi Poletti and the sculptor Giuseppe Obici, in honor of the dogma proclaimed by Pius IX. A large bouquet of white roses, which the Pope, with the help of two attendants, placed at the foot of the column, next to the wreaths of Acli, Unitalsi and other associations already placed throughout the day. During the day, rain fell lightly on the square. In addition to the mayor and the vicar, there were Cardinals Luis Antonio Tagle and Angelo Comastri, the substitute Edgar Peña Parra, the ambassador of Spain to the Holy See, María Isabel Celaá Diéguez, to whom the Pope addresses a greeting, then volunteers, law enforcement, families, and the elderly.
Before the act of devotion in Piazza di Spagna, as he did last year, the Pope made a brief stop in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore to pay homage to the Salus Populi Romani, the effigy he has visited more than 120 times over the years, entrusting her with international travel and medical operations. Before the protector of the Roman people, Pope Francis stopped to pray for a few moments, alone, in silence. (Source: Vatican News and Vatican.va)
FULL TEXT on the SOLEMNITY OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
ACT OF VENERATION TO THE IMMACULATE IN THE SPANISH STEPS
PRAYER OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS
TO THE IMMACULATE MARY
Spanish Steps
Sunday, December 8, 2024
_____________________________________
Immaculate Virgin, Mother, Immaculate Mother, today is your feast day and we gather around you. The flowers we offer you want to express our love and our gratitude; but you see and appreciate above all those hidden flowers which are the prayers, the sighs, even the tears, especially the tears of the little ones and the poor. Look at them, Mother, look at them. Our Mother, Rome is preparing for a new Jubilee, which will be a message of hope for humanity tried by crises and wars. For this reason, there are construction sites everywhere in the city: this – you know – causes quite a few inconveniences, and yet it is a sign that Rome is alive, that Rome is renewing itself, that Rome is trying to adapt to needs, to be more welcoming and more functional. But your gaze as a Mother sees beyond. And I seem to hear your voice that wisely tells us: “My children, these works are good, but be careful: do not forget the construction sites of the soul! The true Jubilee is within: inside, inside your hearts - you say -, inside family and social relationships. It is within that we must work to prepare the way for the Lord who comes”. And it is a good opportunity to make a good Confession and ask for forgiveness for all sins. God forgives everything, God always forgives, always. Immaculate Mother, we thank you! This recommendation of yours is good for us, we need it so much, because, without wanting to, we risk being totally taken up by the organization, by the things to do, and then the grace of the Holy Year, which is a time of spiritual rebirth, which is a time of forgiveness and social liberation, this jubilee grace may not come well, be a little suffocated. But here the Mayor prepares all things so that in this commemoration, in this Holy Year, they are good. Let us pray for the Mayor who has so much work. Surely, Mary, you were present in the synagogue of Nazareth, that day when Jesus for the first time preached to the people of his country. He read from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah: «The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; for this reason he has anointed me and sent me to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind; to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Lk 4:18-19). Then he sat down and said: “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (v. 21). And You, Mother, You were there, among the astonished people. You were proud of Him, of your Son, and at the same time you foresaw the drama of closure and envy, which generates violence. You have lived through this drama and you always live through it, with your immaculate heart filled with the love of the Heart of Jesus. Mother, free us from envy: that we are all brothers, that we love each other. No envy. Envy, that yellow, ugly vice, that ruins from within. And even today, Mother, you repeat to us: “Listen to Jesus, listen to Him! Listen to Him, and do what He tells you” (cf. Jn 2:5). Thank you, Holy Mother! Thank you because again, in this time poor in hope, you give us Jesus, our Hope. Thank you Mother.
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