At the conclusion of the Mass celebrated inside the Vatican Basilica this morning for the Solemnity of Holy Mary, Mother of God and marking the occasion of the 53rd World Day of Peace, 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 New Year!
Last night we ended the year 2019 by thanking God for the gift of time and all its benefits. Today we start 2020 with the same attitude of gratitude and praise. It is not obvious that our planet has started a new tour around the sun and that we human beings continue to live there. It is not obvious, indeed, it is always a miracle by which we are surprised and for which we are thankful.
On the first day of the year the Liturgy celebrates the Holy Mother of God, Mary, the Virgin of Nazareth who gave birth to Jesus, the Saviour. That Child is the Blessing of God for every man and woman, for the great human family and for the whole world. Jesus did not remove evil from the world but defeated it at the root. The world's salvation is not magical, but it is a patient salvation, that is, it involves the patience of love, which takes charge of iniquity and takes away its power. The patience of love: love makes us patient. Many times we lose patience; me too, and I apologize for yesterday's bad example (probably refers to the reaction towards a person who had yanked him in the square). For this reason, contemplating the Nativity scene, we see, with the eyes of faith, the renewed world, freed from the dominion of evil and placed under the royal lordship of Christ, the Child who lies in the manger.
This is why today the Mother of God blesses us. And how does Our Lady bless us? Showing us her Son. She takes him in her arms and shows him to us, and so she blesses us. She blesses the whole Church, blesses the whole world. Jesus, as the Angels sang in Bethlehem, is joy for all the people; he is the glory of God and peace for men (cf Lk 2:14). And this is the reason why the Holy Pope Paul VI wanted to dedicate the first day of the year to peace - it is the Day of Peace - dedicated to prayer, awareness and responsibility for peace. For this year 2020, the Message is like this: peace is a path of hope, a path in which we advance through dialogue, reconciliation and ecological conversion.
Therefore, let us fix our gaze on our Mother and the Son that she shows us. At the beginning of the year, let her bless you! Let us allow ourselves to be blessed by Our Lady with her Son.
Jesus is the blessing for those who are oppressed by the yoke of slavery, moral slavery and material slavery. He frees us with love. To those who have lost their self-esteem by remaining prisoners of vicious turns, Jesus says: the Father loves you; he does not abandon you, he awaits your return with unwavering patience (cf Lk 15:20). To those who are victims of injustice and exploitation, those who do not see the way out, Jesus opens the door of fraternity, where we can find welcoming faces, hearts and hands, where we can share bitterness and despair, and recover some dignity. To those who are seriously ill and feel abandoned and discouraged, Jesus comes close, touches our wounds with tenderness, pours the oil of consolation and transforms weakness into the strength of good to undo the most tangled knots. To those in prison and tempted to close in on themselves, Jesus reopens a horizon of hope, starting with a small glimmer of light.
Dear brothers and sisters, let us descend from the pedestals of our pride - we all have the temptation of pride - and we ask the blessing of the Holy Mother of God, the humble Mother of God. She shows us Jesus: let us be blessed; let us open our hearts to his goodness. Thus the year that begins will be a journey of hope and peace, not in words, but through daily gestures of dialogue, reconciliation and care for creation.
Following the recitation of the Angelus, the Holy Father continued:
Dear brothers and sisters!
To all of you here present in Saint Peter's Square and to all of you who are tuned in through various media, I extend my greetings for peace and for goodness in the new year.
I thank the President of the Italian Republic, the Honourable Sergio Mattarella, for the thought that he has sent in his Message for the end of the year, and I in turn invoke the blessing of God upon his high mission.
With affection, I greet the participants taking part in the Peace in all the world demonstration. This demonstration has been organized by the Community of Sant'Egidio in Rome and in many other cities throughout the world. They also have a school for peace. Keep up the good work! I greet the pilgrims from the United States of America, from New Zealand and from Spain; the young Italians, Albanians and Maltese, together with the Sisters of charity: the friends and volunteers from Fraterna Domus.
I extend my greetings and my encouragement to all the initiatives for peace that the particular Churches (Dioceses), the associations and the ecclesial movements have organized for this Day of Peace: meetings for prayer and for friendship, as well as solidarity with the poor. In particular, I remember the march that took place yesterday afternoon in Ravenna.
My thoughts also go to those many volunteers who, in places where peace and justice are threatened, courageously choose to be present in non-violent and disarming ways, as well as the military who are present and working on missions of peace in many places of conflict. Thank you very much to all of them!
To all of you, believers and non-believers, for we are all brothers, I wish that you may never stop hoping for a world of peace, working day after day to build such a world. And please, don't forget to pray for me. Enjoy your lunch and good bye.
Testo originale nella lingua italiana
Greetings of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
prior to the recitation of the Angelus
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
And Happy New Year!
Last night we ended the year 2019 by thanking God for the gift of time and all its benefits. Today we start 2020 with the same attitude of gratitude and praise. It is not obvious that our planet has started a new tour around the sun and that we human beings continue to live there. It is not obvious, indeed, it is always a miracle by which we are surprised and for which we are thankful.
On the first day of the year the Liturgy celebrates the Holy Mother of God, Mary, the Virgin of Nazareth who gave birth to Jesus, the Saviour. That Child is the Blessing of God for every man and woman, for the great human family and for the whole world. Jesus did not remove evil from the world but defeated it at the root. The world's salvation is not magical, but it is a patient salvation, that is, it involves the patience of love, which takes charge of iniquity and takes away its power. The patience of love: love makes us patient. Many times we lose patience; me too, and I apologize for yesterday's bad example (probably refers to the reaction towards a person who had yanked him in the square). For this reason, contemplating the Nativity scene, we see, with the eyes of faith, the renewed world, freed from the dominion of evil and placed under the royal lordship of Christ, the Child who lies in the manger.
This is why today the Mother of God blesses us. And how does Our Lady bless us? Showing us her Son. She takes him in her arms and shows him to us, and so she blesses us. She blesses the whole Church, blesses the whole world. Jesus, as the Angels sang in Bethlehem, is joy for all the people; he is the glory of God and peace for men (cf Lk 2:14). And this is the reason why the Holy Pope Paul VI wanted to dedicate the first day of the year to peace - it is the Day of Peace - dedicated to prayer, awareness and responsibility for peace. For this year 2020, the Message is like this: peace is a path of hope, a path in which we advance through dialogue, reconciliation and ecological conversion.
Therefore, let us fix our gaze on our Mother and the Son that she shows us. At the beginning of the year, let her bless you! Let us allow ourselves to be blessed by Our Lady with her Son.
Jesus is the blessing for those who are oppressed by the yoke of slavery, moral slavery and material slavery. He frees us with love. To those who have lost their self-esteem by remaining prisoners of vicious turns, Jesus says: the Father loves you; he does not abandon you, he awaits your return with unwavering patience (cf Lk 15:20). To those who are victims of injustice and exploitation, those who do not see the way out, Jesus opens the door of fraternity, where we can find welcoming faces, hearts and hands, where we can share bitterness and despair, and recover some dignity. To those who are seriously ill and feel abandoned and discouraged, Jesus comes close, touches our wounds with tenderness, pours the oil of consolation and transforms weakness into the strength of good to undo the most tangled knots. To those in prison and tempted to close in on themselves, Jesus reopens a horizon of hope, starting with a small glimmer of light.
Dear brothers and sisters, let us descend from the pedestals of our pride - we all have the temptation of pride - and we ask the blessing of the Holy Mother of God, the humble Mother of God. She shows us Jesus: let us be blessed; let us open our hearts to his goodness. Thus the year that begins will be a journey of hope and peace, not in words, but through daily gestures of dialogue, reconciliation and care for creation.
Following the recitation of the Angelus, the Holy Father continued:
Dear brothers and sisters!
To all of you here present in Saint Peter's Square and to all of you who are tuned in through various media, I extend my greetings for peace and for goodness in the new year.
I thank the President of the Italian Republic, the Honourable Sergio Mattarella, for the thought that he has sent in his Message for the end of the year, and I in turn invoke the blessing of God upon his high mission.
With affection, I greet the participants taking part in the Peace in all the world demonstration. This demonstration has been organized by the Community of Sant'Egidio in Rome and in many other cities throughout the world. They also have a school for peace. Keep up the good work! I greet the pilgrims from the United States of America, from New Zealand and from Spain; the young Italians, Albanians and Maltese, together with the Sisters of charity: the friends and volunteers from Fraterna Domus.
I extend my greetings and my encouragement to all the initiatives for peace that the particular Churches (Dioceses), the associations and the ecclesial movements have organized for this Day of Peace: meetings for prayer and for friendship, as well as solidarity with the poor. In particular, I remember the march that took place yesterday afternoon in Ravenna.
My thoughts also go to those many volunteers who, in places where peace and justice are threatened, courageously choose to be present in non-violent and disarming ways, as well as the military who are present and working on missions of peace in many places of conflict. Thank you very much to all of them!
To all of you, believers and non-believers, for we are all brothers, I wish that you may never stop hoping for a world of peace, working day after day to build such a world. And please, don't forget to pray for me. Enjoy your lunch and good bye.
Testo originale nella lingua italiana
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