At noon today in Rome, the Holy Father, Pope Francis appeared at the window of his study in the Vatican Apostolic Palace to recite the Angelus with the faithful and with pilgrims who had gathered in Saint Peter's Square.
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning and happy feast day!
In today's celebration, the Feast of All the Saints, we feel in a particular way the reality of the communion of the saints, our great family, made up of all the members of the Church, those who are still pilgrims on the earth and those - many more of them - who have already left the earth and have gone to heaven. We are all united, and this is called the communion of the saints, the community of all the baptized.
In the liturgy, the Book of Revelation recalls an essential characteristic of the saints and says this: they are people who totally belong to God. They appear like an immense multitude of the elect, dressed in white and marked with the seal of God (cf Rev 7:2-4, 9-14). Through this last detail, with allegorical language, the writer points out that the saints belong to God in a full and exclusive way, they are his property. What does it mean to wear the seal of God in our lives and on our bodies? The apostle John says: it means that in Jesus Christ, we have truly become children of God (cf 1 Jn 3:1-3).
Are we aware of this great gift? We are all children of God! Do we remember that in Baptism, we received the seal of our heavenly Father and we became his children? In simpler words, we can say: we bear the family name of God, our family name is God, because we are children of God. This is the root of our vocation to holiness! The saints who are remembered today are those who have lived by the grace of their Baptism, who have kept the seal intact by living as children of God, seeking to imitate Jesus; and now, they have reached their goal, for finally, they see God as he truly is.
A second characteristic of the saints is that they are examples for us to imitate. Pay attention: not only those who have been canonized, but all the saints, that is to say, the ones next door who, by the grace of God strove to live the gospel in the ordinary-ness of their lives. We may even have encountered such saints; perhaps we even have some of them in our families, or among our friends and acquaintances. We should be grateful to them, and above all we should be grateful to God who has given them to us, who has drawn them close to us, as examples of how to live and infecting us with the desire to live and to die in faithfulness to the Lord Jesus and to his gospel. How many good people have we known and do we know, and we say: But this person is a saint!, we say it, it comes out spontaneously. These are the next door saints, those who have not been canonized but who live among us.
To imitate their acts of love and mercy is a little like continuing their presence in this world. In fact it is these evangelical gestures that help us to resist the destruction of death: an act of tenderness, a generous act of assistance, some time spent listening to someone else, a visit, a good word, a smile ... To our eyes, these gestures can seem insignificant, but in the eyes of God they are eternal, for love and compassion are stronger than death.
May the Virgin Mary, Queen of All the Saints, help us to entrust ourselves more and more to the grace of God, in order that we might walk with increasing momentum along the path of holiness. Let us entrust to our Mother our daily commitment and let us pray for our deceased loved ones, in the loving hope of finding ourselves one day, all together in the glorious heavenly communion.
Following the recitation of the Angelus, the Holy Father continued:
Dear brothers and sisters,
The painful episodes which in recent days have tightened the delicate situation in the Central African Republic, have caused great concern and preoccupation in my soul. I call upon all those involved to put an end to this cycle of violence. I am spiritually close to the Comboni Fathers in the parish of Our Lady of Fatima in Bangui, who are welcoming many refugees. I express my solidarity with the Church, with other religious confessions and with the entire Central African nation, who are suffering while attempting to overcome their divisions and to continue along the path of peace. To demonstrate the prayerful closeness of the entire church to this nation which is so afflicted and tormented, I urge all Central Africans to be ever greater witnesses of mercy and reconciliation. On Sunday, November 29, I intend to open the Holy Door at the Cathedral in Bangui, during the Apostolic Voyage that I hope to accomplish in that country.
Yesterday, in Frascati, Mother Teresa Casini, foundress of the Oblate Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus was proclaimed Blessed. A contemplative and missionary woman, she made of her life an oblation of prayer and concrete charity in support of the priests. Let us thank the Lord for her witness.
I greet all of you who are pilgrims, from Italy and from many other countries; in particular, those from Malesia and from Valencia (Spain).
I greet the participants in the Corsa dei Santi (Saints' Race) and the Marcia dei Santi (Saints' March), organized respectively by the Don Bosco nel mondo Foundation and the Famiglia Picola Chiesa Foundation. I appreciate these demonstrations which offer a dimension of festivity for the celebration of All Saints day. I also greet the San Cataldo choir, the youth from Ruvo in Puglia and those from Papanice.
This afternoon I will go to the cemetery at Verano to celebrate Mass for all those who have died. By visiting the main cemetery of Rome, I spiritually unite myself to all those who during these days will go to pray near the tombs of your loved ones, in every part of the world.
I wish you all peace and serenity in the spiritual company of the Saints. Have a good Sunday and please, don't forget to pray for me. Enjoy your lunch and good bye!
Greetings of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
prior to the recitation of the Angelus
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning and happy feast day!
In today's celebration, the Feast of All the Saints, we feel in a particular way the reality of the communion of the saints, our great family, made up of all the members of the Church, those who are still pilgrims on the earth and those - many more of them - who have already left the earth and have gone to heaven. We are all united, and this is called the communion of the saints, the community of all the baptized.
In the liturgy, the Book of Revelation recalls an essential characteristic of the saints and says this: they are people who totally belong to God. They appear like an immense multitude of the elect, dressed in white and marked with the seal of God (cf Rev 7:2-4, 9-14). Through this last detail, with allegorical language, the writer points out that the saints belong to God in a full and exclusive way, they are his property. What does it mean to wear the seal of God in our lives and on our bodies? The apostle John says: it means that in Jesus Christ, we have truly become children of God (cf 1 Jn 3:1-3).
Are we aware of this great gift? We are all children of God! Do we remember that in Baptism, we received the seal of our heavenly Father and we became his children? In simpler words, we can say: we bear the family name of God, our family name is God, because we are children of God. This is the root of our vocation to holiness! The saints who are remembered today are those who have lived by the grace of their Baptism, who have kept the seal intact by living as children of God, seeking to imitate Jesus; and now, they have reached their goal, for finally, they see God as he truly is.
A second characteristic of the saints is that they are examples for us to imitate. Pay attention: not only those who have been canonized, but all the saints, that is to say, the ones next door who, by the grace of God strove to live the gospel in the ordinary-ness of their lives. We may even have encountered such saints; perhaps we even have some of them in our families, or among our friends and acquaintances. We should be grateful to them, and above all we should be grateful to God who has given them to us, who has drawn them close to us, as examples of how to live and infecting us with the desire to live and to die in faithfulness to the Lord Jesus and to his gospel. How many good people have we known and do we know, and we say: But this person is a saint!, we say it, it comes out spontaneously. These are the next door saints, those who have not been canonized but who live among us.
To imitate their acts of love and mercy is a little like continuing their presence in this world. In fact it is these evangelical gestures that help us to resist the destruction of death: an act of tenderness, a generous act of assistance, some time spent listening to someone else, a visit, a good word, a smile ... To our eyes, these gestures can seem insignificant, but in the eyes of God they are eternal, for love and compassion are stronger than death.
May the Virgin Mary, Queen of All the Saints, help us to entrust ourselves more and more to the grace of God, in order that we might walk with increasing momentum along the path of holiness. Let us entrust to our Mother our daily commitment and let us pray for our deceased loved ones, in the loving hope of finding ourselves one day, all together in the glorious heavenly communion.
Following the recitation of the Angelus, the Holy Father continued:
Dear brothers and sisters,
The painful episodes which in recent days have tightened the delicate situation in the Central African Republic, have caused great concern and preoccupation in my soul. I call upon all those involved to put an end to this cycle of violence. I am spiritually close to the Comboni Fathers in the parish of Our Lady of Fatima in Bangui, who are welcoming many refugees. I express my solidarity with the Church, with other religious confessions and with the entire Central African nation, who are suffering while attempting to overcome their divisions and to continue along the path of peace. To demonstrate the prayerful closeness of the entire church to this nation which is so afflicted and tormented, I urge all Central Africans to be ever greater witnesses of mercy and reconciliation. On Sunday, November 29, I intend to open the Holy Door at the Cathedral in Bangui, during the Apostolic Voyage that I hope to accomplish in that country.
Yesterday, in Frascati, Mother Teresa Casini, foundress of the Oblate Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus was proclaimed Blessed. A contemplative and missionary woman, she made of her life an oblation of prayer and concrete charity in support of the priests. Let us thank the Lord for her witness.
I greet all of you who are pilgrims, from Italy and from many other countries; in particular, those from Malesia and from Valencia (Spain).
I greet the participants in the Corsa dei Santi (Saints' Race) and the Marcia dei Santi (Saints' March), organized respectively by the Don Bosco nel mondo Foundation and the Famiglia Picola Chiesa Foundation. I appreciate these demonstrations which offer a dimension of festivity for the celebration of All Saints day. I also greet the San Cataldo choir, the youth from Ruvo in Puglia and those from Papanice.
This afternoon I will go to the cemetery at Verano to celebrate Mass for all those who have died. By visiting the main cemetery of Rome, I spiritually unite myself to all those who during these days will go to pray near the tombs of your loved ones, in every part of the world.
I wish you all peace and serenity in the spiritual company of the Saints. Have a good Sunday and please, don't forget to pray for me. Enjoy your lunch and good bye!
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