ANGELUS TODAY
The Holy Father's message today for English-speaking pilgrims at the Angelus:
Today the Church joyfully celebrates the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. By her prayers, may our hearts and minds be kept free from sin, so that like Mary we may be spiritually prepared to welcome Christ.
Let us turn to her, the Immaculate, who brought Christ to us, and ask her now to bring us to Him. Upon each of you and your loved ones at home, I invoke God’s abundant blessings!
The Pope at the Angelus:
'Mary continues to be
our source of hope and comfort'
Pope Benedict XVI led Angelus prayers in St. Peter's Square at noon today on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Here is a full translation of his words before and after the prayers:
Today our appointment to pray the Angelus together acquires a special light on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of Mary.
In the liturgy today, the Gospel of the Annunciation is proclaimed (Lk 1,26-38) which contains the dialog between the angel Gabriel and the Virgin.
"Rejoice, you who are full of grace, teh Lord is with you", says the messenger of God, and in this way, he reveals the most profound identity of Mary, the 'name', so to speak, by which God knows her, 'full of grace'.
This expression which is so familiar to us since we were children since we say it every time we say the Hail Mary, offers us the explanation for teh mystery we celebrate today.
In fact, Mary, from the moment she was conceived by her parents, was the object of singular favor on the part of God, who in his eternal plan, had pre-selected her to be the mother of his Son-become-man, and consequently, preserved from original sin.
That is why the angel addresses her with the 'name', which implicitly means "one filled since always with God's love", with his grace.
The mystery of the Immaculate Conception is a source of interior light, of hope and of comfort. Amidst the trials of life and especially of teh contradictions that man experiences within him adn around him, Mary, mother of Christ, tells us that grace is greater than sin, that God's mercy is more powerful than evil and can transform it into good.
Unfortunately, we experience evil every day, which manifests itself in many ways in our relationships and in events, but which has its root in the heart of man, a heart that is wounded, sick, and incapable of healing itself.
Sacred Scripture reveals to us that the origin of every evil is disobedience to the will of God, and that death has acquired dominion because human freedom has yielded to the temptation of Evil.
But God is not stepping back from his plan of love and life: through a long and patient journey of reconciliation, he prepared the new and eternal covenant, sealed by the blood of his Son, who, in order to offer himself in expiation, was 'born of woman' (Gal 4,4).
This woman, the Virgin Mary, benefited in advance of her Son's redemptive death, and from her conception was preserved from the contagion of sin. That is why, with her immaculate heart, she tells us: Entrust yourself to Jesus - he will save you.
Dear friends, this afternoon, I will renew teh traditional homage to the Immaculate Virgin at the monument dedicated to her in Piazza di Spagna. With this act of devotion, I make myself the bearer of the love of the faithful of Rome and of the entire world for the Mother that Christ gave us.
To her intercession, I entrust the most urgent needs of teh Church and of the world. May she help us above all to have faith in God, to believe in his Word, to reject evil always, and to choose the good.
After the Angelus prayers, he said:
On the occasion of today's observance, I have the joy of greeting the Pontifical Academy of teh Immaculate. Dear friends, I invoke on each of you the maternal protection of teh Virgin Mary and I entrust your activities to her maternal protection. I thank you for your generous work.
I also address a special greeting to Azione Cattolica Italiana which in many parishes renews its commitment to the Church today. Remembering the great celebration that I shared here in St. Peter's Square last October with the children and youth of Catholic Action, I express to all your members my affection and nearness.
I encourage you to walk along the path of holiness, bringing the light of the Gospel in the places of our daily life.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 08/12/2010 21:08]