VENERATION OF THE 'IMMACOLATA'
Pope Benedict XVI travelled in the Popemobile to the center of Tome this afternoon for the traditional annual homage rendered by the Popes since Pius XII to the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception whose image tops an 11-meter pillar in front of the world-famous Spanish Steps.
It is one of two occasions during the year when residents and pilgrims alike have a chance to see the Pontiff up close along the streets of Rome. The other is the annual Corpus Domini procession.
Pope leads traditional homage
to the Virgin in Piazza Spagna
Adapted from
8 DEC 2010 (RV) - Pope Benedict led the annual Act of Veneration at the statue of Mary, the Immaculate Conception, in Rome’s Piazza di Spagna this afternoon.
The statue stands on a ancient roman column nearly 12 meters high. The Holy Father told the crowds gathered in the Piazza that Mary brings a message – and that message is Jesus Christ.
Speaking about the unique circumstance of Mary's Immaculate Conception, he said it is because she was to bear the Son of God that Mary gained that favour - since the Son of God became man for us, Mary was preserved from original sin as a foretaste of God's salvation.
Piazza di Spagna is in the middle of Rome’s most prestigious shopping districts, which is busiest in December. Many tourists present in the area around the time of the event were surprised in the midst of their holiday shopping.
The Holy Father said this message of Mary is for everyone, even those not aware of the feast day, and especially for those who feel alone and abandoned.
Dear brothers and sisters:
Once again this year, we are here in Piazza di Spagna to render homage to the Immaculate Virgin on the occasion of her solemn feast.
To all of you, who have come here in such numbers, and those who are taking part through radio and television, my heartfelt greeting.
We are gathered around this historic monument which today is surrounded by flowers, a sign of the love and devotion of the Roman people for the Mother of Jesus.
And the most beautiful gift that we can offer, the one most pleasing to her, is our prayer, that which we carry in our heart and which we entrust to her intercession.
They are invocations of gratitude and of supplication - gratitude for the gift of faith and for all the good that we receive from God every day; and supplication for our various needs, for the family, for health, for work, for every difficulty that life makes us encounter.
But when we come here, especially on this feast of December 8, what we receive from Marys is much more important compared to what we offer her.
She, in fact, gives us a message destined for each of us, for the city of Rome, and for the whole world. I, too, as the Bishop of this city, come here to listen to her, not only for myself, but for everyone.
And what does Mary tell us? She speaks to us with the Word of God, who became flesh in her womb. Her 'message' is none other than Jesus, he who was her whole life. It is thanks to him and for him that she is the Immaculate.
Just as the Son of God became man for us, she, too, the Mother, was preserved from sin for us, for everyone, as an earnest of God's salvation for every man.
Thus Mary tells us that we are called to open ourselves to the action of the Holy Spirit in order to be able to arrive, in our final destination, at being immaculate, fully and definitively free from evil.
She tells us by her own holiness, her look full of hope and compassion, that evokes words like these: "Do not fear, son. God wishes you well; he loves you personally; he thought about you before you came to the world and he called you to existence to fill you with love and life; and because of this, he came to you, he made himself like you, he became Jesus, God-man, similar to you in everything but without sin; he gave himself for you, up to dying on the Cross, and so, he has given you a new life, free, holy and immaculate" [NB: The citation given is Eph 1,3-5, but I cannot find it anywhere in Ephesians, so the translation is mine.]
This is the message Mary gives us, and when I come here, on this feast day, it strikes me, because I feel it is addressed to the whole city, to all men and women who live in Rome - even to those who do not think about it, those who do not even remember that today is the Feast of the Immacolata; and to those who feel alone and abandoned.
The look of Mary is the look of God on every man. She looks at us with the love of the Father himself, and she blesses us. She acts as our 'advocate' - just as we invoke her in the Salve Regina (Hail Holy Queen) - our Advocate.
Even if everyone speaks bad of us, she, the Mother, will speak well. because her immaculate heart is in tune with the mercy of God. And so she sees the city not as an anonymous agglomeration, but as a constellation in which God knows everyone by name, one by one, and calls us to shine in his light. And those who in the eyes of the world are first, will be the last for God; and those who are small are great in God's eyes.
The Mother looks at us as God looked at her, the humble girl of Nazareth, insignificant in the eyes of the world, but chosen and precious to God. She recognizes in each of us our similarity with her son Jesus, even if we are so different! But who more than she knows the power of divine grace? Who better than she knows that nothing is impossible to God, who is in fact able to draw good from evil?
This, dear brothers and sisters, is the message that we receive here at the feet of Mary Immaculate. It is a message of trust for every person in this city and the entire world.
It is a message of hope not made of words but of her own story: she, a woman of our kind, gave birth to the Son of God and shared all of her existence with him. And today she tells us: this, too, is your destiny, the destiny of everyone: to be holy like our Father, to be immaculate like our Brother Jesus; to be beloved children, everyone adopted into a great family, without regard to nationality, color, language, because there is only one God, the Father of every man.
Thank you, Mother Immaculate, for being with us always! Always watch over our city - comfort the sick, encourage the young people, sustain the families.
Instill in us the strength to reject evil in every form, and to choose the good, even when it costs us and it means going against the current.
Give us the joy of feeling ourselves children of God, blessed by him, predestined to be his children.
Immaculate Virgin, our sweetest mother, pray for us![/DIM]
Pope inaugurates Christmas season
in Rome with traditional
prayer at Spanish Steps
ROME, Dec. 8 (AP) - Pope Benedict XVI has inaugurated the Christmas season in Rome with his traditional visit to the posh Spanish Steps neighbourhood to pray before a statue of Mary.
Throngs of shoppers, tourists and Romans alike jammed the rain-slicked cobblestones around the piazza to catch a glimpse of Benedict as he marked the Catholic Church's feast of the Immaculate Conception.
Wearing an ermine-trimmed crimson capelet, Benedict urged the faithful to reject evil and choose good "even when it's costly and when it requires going against the current."
The Pope's Wednesday outing kicked off his busy Christmas season, which includes Christmas Eve Mass, a Christmas Day speech, vespers on New Year's Eve and Masses on Jan. 1 and 6.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 09/12/2010 03:28]