May

19

On Mary’s Intercession

May 19, 2008 |

Here is a translation of the greeting Benedict XVI gave yesterday before praying the Angelus in Piazza Matteotti during his pastoral visit to Genoa.

* * *

Dear Brothers and Sisters!

At the heart of my pastoral visit to Genoa, we have arrived at the customary moment for the Sunday Angelus and my thoughts naturally return to the Sanctuary of Nostra Signora della Guardia, where I stopped to pray this morning. Many times Pope Benedict XV, your illustrious fellow citizen, went as a pilgrim to that mountain oasis, and in the Vatican Gardens he had a reproduction made of that dear image of the Madonna della Guardia. And just as my venerable predecessor, John Paul II did, in his first apostolic pilgrimage to Genoa, I too wanted to begin my pastoral visit by offering homage to the heavenly Mother of God, who from the height of Mount Figogna watches over the city and all its inhabitants.

Tradition tells of how the Madonna, in her first appearance to Benedetto Pareto — who was worried about how he would go about building a church in that place so far from the city — said: “Trust in me! You will not lack the means. With my help everything will be easy. Only be firm in your will.” “Trust in me!” Mary repeats this again to us today. An ancient prayer, very dear to popular tradition, has us address these words to her, that today we make our own: “Remember, O, most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help or sought thy intercession was left unaided.”

It is with this certainty that we invoke the maternal assistance of the Madonna della Guardia for your diocesan community, your pastors, consecrated persons, faithful laypeople, young people, families, old people. We ask her especially to watch over the sick and the suffering, and to make fruitful the missionary initiatives that are under way to bring the proclamation of the Gospel to all. Together we entrust to Mary the whole city, with its diverse population, its cultural, social and economic activities, the problems and the challenges of our times, and the commitment of those who work together for the common good.

My gaze now turns to all of Liguria, spangled with churches and Marian shrines, placed like a crown between the sea and the mountains. With you I thank God for the robust and tenacious faith of past generations that, in the course of centuries, authored memorable passages of sanctity and human civilization. Liguria, and Genoa in particular, has always been a land open to the Mediterranean and the whole world: How many missionaries have set out from this port for the Americas and other distant lands! How many people have immigrated from here to other countries, poor perhaps in material resources, but rich in faith and human and spiritual values, which they transplanted in the places where they settled! Mary, Star of the Sea, continue to shine on Genoa! Mary, Star of Hope, continue to guide the journey of the Genovese, especially the new generations, that they find the right way in the often tempestuous sea of life!

[Following the Angelus, the Holy Father said the following:]

I would now like to call our attention to an important event that will take place tomorrow in Dublin, Ireland: the diplomatic conference on cluster munitions, which has been called with the purpose of producing a treaty that will prohibit this lethal ordinance. I hope that, through the responsibility of all the participants, a strong and credible international instrument will be created: in fact it is necessary to remedy the errors of the past and to avoid their repetition in the future. I accompany the victims of cluster munitions and their families with my prayers as well as the participants in the conference, offering my best wishes of success.

Again, I greet the young people and all present. Thank you! Have a good Sunday! 

Courtesy Zenit.org


Comments

1 Comment so far

  1. Patricia Johnson on May 20, 2008 6:44 pm

    Dear Brother Hermit,

    I stumbled across your website yesterday after a particularly heart wrenching day. Father’s homily was all about Faith, and mine had been floundering quite a bit as I have been trying to figure out how I can possibly meet the expectations of the Church as I seek both to establish myself in a sustainable way, and also address those things which are necessary to be consecrated under Canon 603. Anyhow, I don’t have my hermitage yet and was all concerned about the financing of my life and all these details the Church wants to know, when I found our Lady’s comfort through the words of our Holy Father. “Trust in me! You will not lack the means. With my help everything will be easy. Only be firm in your will.” So I wish to thank you for this post and for your fidelity to the Church; and also for living out your hidden witness in a beautiful way.

    Blessings and Peace in Christ,

    Your hermit,
    Patricia

    (a.k.a. Sr. Mary of the Trinity)

Name (required)

Email (required)

Website

Speak your mind