A rosary to end the month of Mary

Last evening at 8:00pm local time in Rome, at the conclusion of the Marian month, Cardinal Angelo Comastri, the Vicar General of His Holiness for Vatican City and Archpriest of the Basilica of Saint Peter presided at the recitation of the rosary last night in Saint Peter’s Square.

The Holy Father, Pope Francis was present for the Marian celebration.  At the conclusion of the gathering, after the singing of the Litanies and before imparting his blessing to the numerous faithful who were present, the Pope shared a mediation with those who were present.

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Meditation of His Holiness, Pope Francis

prepared for the gathering in Saint Peter's Square

for the recitation of the Rosary

 Dear brothers and sisters,

Tonight we have prayed together the Holy Rosary; together, we have retraced some of the key events in the journey of Jesus, of our salvation … and we did it with the One who is our Mother, Mary, the One who guides us with her firm hand toward her Son Jesus.  Always, Mary guides us to Jesus.

Today, we celebrate the Feast of the Visitation of the blessed Virgin Mary to her relative Elizabeth.  I would like to meditate with you on this mystery, demonstrating how Mary deals with the journey of her life, with great realism,  humanity and concretely.

Three words sum up Mary’s attitude: listen, decision, action; listen, decision, action.  These are words that indicate a way for us too to understand that which the Lord asks of us in life.  Listen, decision, action.

Listen.  Where does the gesture of Mary to visit her relative Elizabeth come from?  From a word spoken by the Angel of God: Elizabeth your kinswoman, in her old age has also conceived and will bear a son … (Lk 1:36).  Mary knows how to listen to God.  Be careful: this is not a simple hearing, a superficial hearing, but listening done with attention, with welcome, with openness to God.  It is not done in a distracted fashion, like we might be tempted to do at times when we listen to the Lord or to others: we hear the words, but we don’t really listen.  Mary is attentive to God, she listens to God.

But Mary also listens to the facts, she interprets the events of her life, she is attentive to concrete realities and doesn’t merely consider superficial understandings, she goes into the deep, in order to discover the true significance.  Her relative Elizabeth, who is already elderly, is expecting a son: this is a fact.  But Mary is attentive to the significance of this fact, she knows how to welcome it:  Nothing is impossible for God (Lk 1:37).

This is true also in our life:  we listen to God who speaks, and we also listen to the daily realities, paying attention to people, to the facts because the Lord stands at the door of our lives and knocks in many different ways.  He places signs along our path, and gives us the ability to see them.  Mary is the mother of listening, attentive listening to God and also attentive listening to the events of our lives.

The second word: decision.  Mary doesn’t live life hurriedly, with difficulty, but as Saint Luke points out, she pondered all these things in her heart (Lk 2:19, 51).  Also at the decisive moment of the Annunciation by the Angel, she asked How is this possible? (Lk 1:34).  But she doesn’t stop, even at the moment of reflection, she goes a step further: she decides.  She doesn’t live life hurriedly – only when it is necessary to do things quickly.  Mary doesn’t allow herself to be carried away by the events of her life, she doesn’t avoid the burden of decision.  And this is true also in the fundamental choice that will change her life: Behold the handmaiden of the Lord … (cf. Lk 1:38), true in the context of daily choices, but also rich in meaning.  I am reminded of the story of the wedding at Cana (cf. Jn 2:1-11): there too, we see the reality, humanity and concreteness of Mary, who is attentive to the facts, to the problems; she sees and understands the difficulty faced by the two young newlyweds who discover that there is no more wine for the feast, she reflects and knows that Jesus can do something, and she decides to ask her Son to intervene: They have no more wine (cf. v. 3).  Decide.

Sometimes in life it is difficult to make decisions, we have a tendency to postpone them, to let others decide for us, we often prefer to get carried away by events, following the popular decision of the moment: sometimes we know what we should do, but we don’t have the courage or we find it to difficult because it means going against the current.  Mary, at the moment of the Annunciation, in the Visitation, at the wedding of Cana, goes against the current.  Mary goes against the current; she chooses to listen to God, to reflect and to seek to understand the reality, and she decides to entrust herself entirely to God.  Despite her pregnancy, she decides to visit her elderly relative, she decides to rely on the Son, insisting on that which is necessary to restore the joy of the wedding.

The third word: action.  Mary Mary set out on the road and went with haste … (cf. Lk 1:39). Last Sunday, I pointed out this characteristic of Mary: despite the difficulties, the criticism she had received for her decision to leave, she did not stop at anything.  At this point, she goes in haste.   In prayer, before God who speaks, reflecting and meditating on the events of her life, Mary is not in a hurry, she does not let herself get carried away by the heat of the moment, she does not get carried away by certain events. But when she clearly understands what God wants, knows what to do, she does not hesitate, does not delay, but goes with haste.  St. Ambrose says: the grace of the Holy Spirit will not delay (Expos. Evang. Century. Lucam, II, 19: PL 15.1560). Mary’s action is a consequence of her obedience to the angel, but united in charity she goes to Elizabeth to assist her, and in this journey outside of his home, by herself, motivated by love, she brings what is most precious : Jesus, she brings the Son.

Sometimes, even we stop listening and reflecting on what we should do, perhaps we also clearly understand that we must make a decision, but we do not make the transition to action. And above all, we do not put ourselves in the game by going quickly toward others to bring them our help, our understanding, our charity, to bring for us too, like Mary did, that which is most precious and that which we have received: Jesus and his Gospel, made known in words and especially in the concrete witness of our actions.

Mary, the woman of hearing, decision and action.

Mary, the woman who listens, open our ears; so that we might hear the word of your Son Jesus among the thousands of words of this world and so that we might listen to the reality in which we live, every person we meet, especially those who are poor, needy, distressed.

Mary, woman of decision, enlighten our minds and our hearts, because we obey the Word of Your Son Jesus, without hesitation, give us the courage to decide not to get carried away and let others control our lives.

Mary, woman of action, help our hands and our feet to move quickly to others, to bring them the charity and the love of your Son, Jesus, to take the light of the Gospel into the world like you do.  Amen.

At the conclusion of the celebration, the Holy Father greeted the faithful in the following words:
Thank you for praying this Rosary together, for this communion around the Mother. May she bless us all, make us more like brothers. Good night and rest well!