At noon today, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 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 gathered in Saint Peter's Square.
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning and happy feast day!
Today, we contemplate the beauty of Mary Immaculate. Today's gospel, which tells the story of the Annuncation, helps us to understand what we are celebrating, above all through the greeting of the angel. He speaks to Mary using a word which is not easy to translate, one that means filled with grace, created from grace, full of grace (Lk 1:28). Before calling her Mary, he refers to her as full of grace and in this way he reveals the new name that God has given to her, a name that suits her more than the name that was given to her by her parents. We too refer to her in this way, every time we pray the Hail Mary.
What does full of grace mean? That mary is filled with the presence of God. And if she is entirely inhabited by God, there is no room in her for sin. This is an extraordinary thing, because everyone in the world, unfortunately, is contaminated by evil. Every one of us, if we look within ourselves, will see a dark side. Even the greatest of saints was a sinner and all realities, even the most beautiful ones, are tainted by sin: everyone except for Mary. She is the only ever green oasis in all of humanity, the only uncontaminated person, created immaculate in order to fully welcome - through her yes - God who would come into the world and begin a new story.
Every time that we recognize Mary as full of grace, we pay her the greatest of compliments, and we pay the greatest of compliments to God. A nice compliment that we can offer to a lady is to say to her, gracefully, that she looks young. When we tell Mary that she is full of grace, in a certain sense, we are also paying her a similar compliment, but at the highest level. In fact, we always see Mary as young, for sin never makes her grow old. There is only one thing that truly makes us age, interiorly: it is not age, but sin. Sin makes us old, because it hardens our hearts. Sin closes our hearts, kills them, makes them fade. But the fullness of grace is empty of sin, so it is eternally young; it is younger than sin, it is the youngest of all humanity (G. Bernanos, Diary of a country priest, II, 1988, p. 175).
Today, the Church congratulates Mary by calling her all beautiful, tota pulchra. Just as her youth is not a matter of age, so her beauty does not consist in something esoteric. As today's gospel demonstrates, Mary does not excel in appearance: she is from a simple family, she lived humbly in Nazareth, an almost unknown village. She wasn't famous: even when the angel had visited her, no one knew about it, there were no reporters present that day in her home. Our Lady did not even have a comfortable life, she was filled with worry and fear: she was very much disturbed (Lk 1:29), says the gospel, and when the angel had left her (Lk 1:38), the problems only got worse.
However, she who was full of grace lived a good life. What was her secret? We can get a better understanding by looking afresh at the scene of the Annunciation. In many paintings, Mary is depicted sitting in front of the angel with a little book in her hand. This book is the scripture. We can infer that Mary used to spend time alone, listening to God, in conversation with Him. The Word of God was her secret: close to her heart, it then took flesh in her womb. Remaining with God, close to him in every circumstance, Mary made her life beautiful. Not her external appearance, not the part of her that passes, but her heart which was pointed toward God made her life beautiful. Today, let us look with joy toward the fullness of grace. Let us ask her to help us to remain young, to say no to sin, and to live a beautiful life, saying yes to God.
Following the recitation of the Angelus, the Holy Father continued:
I greet you all with affection, pilgrims who are present today, especially families and parish groups. I greet the confraternity and the athletes from Rocca di Papa, and the students from the Salesian school in Milan.
During this Feast of the Immaculate Conception, members of Action Catholic Italy are renewing their promises of membership. I turn my thoughts to their diocesan and parish groups, encouraging them to strengthen their commitment to formation so that they may be credible witnesses of the gospel. May the Virgin bless Catholic Action and make their plans to serve the evangelizing mission of the Church fruitful.
This afternoon, I will visit the Piazza di Spangna in order to renew the traditional act of homage and to pray at the feet of the monument to the Immaculate Conception. I ask you to be spiritually united with me in this gesture which expresses our filial devotion to our heavenly Mother. All together, with the spirit, before Our Lady.
I wish you all a good feast day and a fruitful Advent. 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!
Today, we contemplate the beauty of Mary Immaculate. Today's gospel, which tells the story of the Annuncation, helps us to understand what we are celebrating, above all through the greeting of the angel. He speaks to Mary using a word which is not easy to translate, one that means filled with grace, created from grace, full of grace (Lk 1:28). Before calling her Mary, he refers to her as full of grace and in this way he reveals the new name that God has given to her, a name that suits her more than the name that was given to her by her parents. We too refer to her in this way, every time we pray the Hail Mary.
What does full of grace mean? That mary is filled with the presence of God. And if she is entirely inhabited by God, there is no room in her for sin. This is an extraordinary thing, because everyone in the world, unfortunately, is contaminated by evil. Every one of us, if we look within ourselves, will see a dark side. Even the greatest of saints was a sinner and all realities, even the most beautiful ones, are tainted by sin: everyone except for Mary. She is the only ever green oasis in all of humanity, the only uncontaminated person, created immaculate in order to fully welcome - through her yes - God who would come into the world and begin a new story.
Every time that we recognize Mary as full of grace, we pay her the greatest of compliments, and we pay the greatest of compliments to God. A nice compliment that we can offer to a lady is to say to her, gracefully, that she looks young. When we tell Mary that she is full of grace, in a certain sense, we are also paying her a similar compliment, but at the highest level. In fact, we always see Mary as young, for sin never makes her grow old. There is only one thing that truly makes us age, interiorly: it is not age, but sin. Sin makes us old, because it hardens our hearts. Sin closes our hearts, kills them, makes them fade. But the fullness of grace is empty of sin, so it is eternally young; it is younger than sin, it is the youngest of all humanity (G. Bernanos, Diary of a country priest, II, 1988, p. 175).
Today, the Church congratulates Mary by calling her all beautiful, tota pulchra. Just as her youth is not a matter of age, so her beauty does not consist in something esoteric. As today's gospel demonstrates, Mary does not excel in appearance: she is from a simple family, she lived humbly in Nazareth, an almost unknown village. She wasn't famous: even when the angel had visited her, no one knew about it, there were no reporters present that day in her home. Our Lady did not even have a comfortable life, she was filled with worry and fear: she was very much disturbed (Lk 1:29), says the gospel, and when the angel had left her (Lk 1:38), the problems only got worse.
However, she who was full of grace lived a good life. What was her secret? We can get a better understanding by looking afresh at the scene of the Annunciation. In many paintings, Mary is depicted sitting in front of the angel with a little book in her hand. This book is the scripture. We can infer that Mary used to spend time alone, listening to God, in conversation with Him. The Word of God was her secret: close to her heart, it then took flesh in her womb. Remaining with God, close to him in every circumstance, Mary made her life beautiful. Not her external appearance, not the part of her that passes, but her heart which was pointed toward God made her life beautiful. Today, let us look with joy toward the fullness of grace. Let us ask her to help us to remain young, to say no to sin, and to live a beautiful life, saying yes to God.
Following the recitation of the Angelus, the Holy Father continued:
I greet you all with affection, pilgrims who are present today, especially families and parish groups. I greet the confraternity and the athletes from Rocca di Papa, and the students from the Salesian school in Milan.
During this Feast of the Immaculate Conception, members of Action Catholic Italy are renewing their promises of membership. I turn my thoughts to their diocesan and parish groups, encouraging them to strengthen their commitment to formation so that they may be credible witnesses of the gospel. May the Virgin bless Catholic Action and make their plans to serve the evangelizing mission of the Church fruitful.
This afternoon, I will visit the Piazza di Spangna in order to renew the traditional act of homage and to pray at the feet of the monument to the Immaculate Conception. I ask you to be spiritually united with me in this gesture which expresses our filial devotion to our heavenly Mother. All together, with the spirit, before Our Lady.
I wish you all a good feast day and a fruitful Advent. Please, don't forget to pray for me. Enjoy your lunch and good bye!
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