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To the Pontifical Academies:
Follow Mary's 'way of beauty'
Translated from the 12/17/10 issue of
On the occasion of the 15th public session of the Pontifical Academies, Benedict XVI sent a message to Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Ponitifical Council for culture and the Coordinating Council for the Pontifical Academies.
The Pope's message was read by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Secretary of state, at a meeting on Thursday afternoon, Dec. 16, in the Aula Magna of the Palazzo San Pio X on the Via della Conciliazione.
The session chaired by Cardinal Ravasi also heard from Mons. Bruno Forte, Archbishop of Chieti-Vasto, who delivered a lecture on "Totapulchra (The All-Beautiful): The way of beauty and the light of Mary assumed into heaven".
Here is the Pope's message:
To my Venerated Brother
Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi
President, Pontifical Council for culture
On the occasion of the XV Public Session of the Pontifical Academies, I am happy to extend to you my heartfelt greeting that I extend to all the Presidents and to the academicians, particularly to you, Venerated Brother, who preside over the Coordinating Council.
I also address my greetings to the cardinals, bishops, priests, and religious, to the ambassadors and all the participants in this annual event.
Fifteen years ago, the Venerable John Paul II instituted the Coordinating Council as well as the Prize of the Pontifical Academies as a significant encouragement and consistent impulse for the development of their activities.
Now, after evaluating attentively what has been done, we must also ask for a path of renewal for each and everyone of the Pontifical Academies so tha,t in an increasingly effective way, they may offer their contribution to the Holy See and to the entire Church.
I therefore ask you, Venerated Brother, to follow with special concern the course of each institution while promoting a process of reciprocal support and growing collaboration among them.
The XV Public Session was prepared by the Pontifical International Marian Academy and the Pontifical Academy of the Immaculate Mother, who have very opportunely wanted that this solemn assembly should honor the 60th anniversary of the proclamation of the dogma of the Assumption, with the theme, "The Assumption of Mary: Sign of comfort and certain hope".
Indeed, on November 1, 1950, during a memorable Jubilee year (the Church marks a Holy Year every 50 years], the Venerable Pius XII, with the Apostolic Constitution Munificentissimus Deus, solemnly proclaimed this dogma in St. Peter's Square.
A few years earlier, in 1946. Fr. Carlo Balic, OFM, founded the International Marian Academy to sustain and coordinate the Assumptionist movement.
In the difficult and delicate historical moment that followed the end of the Second World War, Pius XII, with this solemn gesture, wished to indicate not only to Catholics but to all men and women of good will the singular figure of Mary as a model and paradigm of the new mankind redeemed by Christ.
"It is to be hoped," he affirmed, "that all those who meditate the glorious examples provided by Mary will be able to believe even more in the value of human life... and that the exalted end for which all souls and bodies are destined may be made clear before the eyes of everyone in the most luminous way. And finally, that faith in the bodily Assumption of Mary into heaven may make our faith in our own resurrection more firm and more active" (Munificentissimus Deus: AAS 42, 1950, 753-771).
I believe that these wishes are even more relevant now, and I too invite all of you to let yourselves be led by Mary to be announcers and witnesses to the hope that comes from contemplating the mysteries of Christ, who died and rose again for our salvation.
In fact, Mary, as the Second Vatican Council teaches in the Dogmatic Constitution Lumen gentium, is the sign of certain hope and comfort for the People of God who are pilgrims through history: "The Mother of Jesus, just as she has been glorified in body and soul in heaven, so she shines on earth as a sign of certain hope and comfort for the People of God on pilgrimage, until the day of the Lord comes" (cfr. 2 Pt 3, 10)" (n. 68).
In the encyclical Spe salvi, dedicated to Christian hope, I could not miss citing Mary's special role in sustaining and guiding the journey of believers towards the heavenly homeland. I turned to her, invoking her as the Star of Hope for the Church and for all mankind (cfr No. 49).
Mary is the shining star of light and beauty, which announces and anticipates our future, the final condition to which God, our Father rich in mercy, calls us.
The Fathers and Doctors of the Church, echoing the common sentiment of the faithful and reflecting what the liturgy celebrated, had proclaimed the singular privilege of Mary and illustrated her luminous beauty which sustains and nourishes our hope.
St. John Damascene, who dedicated three magnificent sermons to the Assumption of Mary, which he gave in Jerusalem around 740 at the place which Tradition has considered as Mary's Tomb, said this: "In fact, your soul did not descend to hell, your flesh was not corrupted. Your immaculate and totally beautiful body did not remain on earth, but on the contrary, you now sit on a throne in the celestial kingdom as Queen, Mistress, Dominatrix, Mother of God, the true Mother of God who has been assumed into heaven" (Omelia I sulla Dormizione: PG 96, 719).
Echoing this voice from the Oriental church, from among the many who did so in the Latin Church, was that singer of Mary, St. Bernard Clairvaux, who evoked the Assumption in these words: "Our Queen has gone before us. She has preceded us and has been received so festively that her servants can follow their Lady with confidence, saying, 'Take us with you, we shall follow behind the odor of your perfume'(Ct 1, 3). Mankind on pilgrimage has sent its advocate ahead, who, being the Mother of the Judge, and the Mother of mercy, shall attend with devotion and efficacy to the cause of our salvation. Our earth has sent to heaven a previous gift so that, giving and receiving, the human joins the divine, the earthy joins the heavenly, the infinitesimal joins the supreme, in a happy interchange of friendship...She is the Queen of heaven, she is merciful, the Mother of the only-begotten Son of God" (In assumptione B.M.V, Sermo i: PL 183, 415).
Thus, in going through that via pulchritudinis (way of beauty) that the Servant of God Paul VI had indicated as a fruitful itinerary for theological and Mariological research, I wish to point out the profound harmony between theological and mystical thought, liturgy, Marian devotion and works of art, which with the splendor of colors and forms, sing the mystery of the Assumption of Mary and her celestial glory alongside her Son.
Among these works of art, I invite you to admire two which are particularly significant for Rome: the absidal mosaics in the Marian basilicas of Santa Maria Maggiore and Santa Maria in Trastevere.
Theological and spiritual reflection, liturgy, Marian devotion, and artistic representation truly are just one - a complete and effective message that is capable of inspiring wonder in our eyes, of touching the heart and provoking the mind to an even more profound understanding of the mystery of Mary, in which we clearly see our destiny and our hope reflected and announced.
I therefore take this occasion to invite scholars in theology and Mariology to take the via pulchritudinis, and I wish that even in our day, thanks to better collaboration among theologians, liturgists and artists, we shall be able to offer incisive and effective messages for the admiration and contemplation of everyone.
To encourage those who wish to offer their own contribution to the promotion and realization of a new Christian humanism, and welcoming the proposal formulated by the Coordinating Council, I am glad to award ex aequo the Price of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academies to the Marian Academy of India, a young and active Mariological- Marian society based in Bangalore, represented by their President,
Rev. Kulandaisamy Rayar; and to Prof. Luís Alberto Esteves dos Santos Casimiro, for his powerful doctoral dissertation entitled "A Anunciação do Senhor na pintura quinhentista portuguesa: Análise geométrica, iconográfica e significado iconológico" [The Annunciation of the Lord in 15th-century Portuguese painting: Geometric and iconographic analysis, and iconologic significance] (1500-1550).
Moreover, I would like to offer, as a sign of appreciation and encouragement, the Medal of the Pontificate to the Group 'Gen Verde' of the Focolari Movement, for its artistic commitment that is strongly permeated with evangelical values and open to the dialog among peoples and cultures.
Finally, in wishing you an ever more passionate commitment in your respective fields of activity, I entrust each of you and your work to the maternal protection of the Virgin Mary, the Tota Pulchra (All-Beautiful), Star of Hope, and from the heart, I impart on you, dear Cardinal, and to all present a special Apostolic Blessing.
From the Vatican
15 December 2010
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 17/12/2010 18:04] |