Before the Angelus

After the Angelus

At midday today, the Holy Father Francis appeared at the window of his study in the Vatican Apostolic Palace to pray the Angelus with the faithful and pilgrims gathered in Saint Peter’s Square.

The following is the Pope’s introduction to the Marian prayer:

Before the Angelus

Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!

In the Gospel reading today, Feast of the Assumption of Mary, the Holy Virgin prays, saying: “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour” (Lk 1: 46-47). Let us look at the verbs in this prayer: glorify and rejoice. Two verbs: “glorify” and “rejoice”. One rejoices when something happens that is so beautiful that it is not enough to be joyful within, in the heart, but one wishes to express happiness with all the body: so one rejoices. Mary rejoices because of God. Who knows if it has happened to us too to rejoice for the Lord: we rejoice for a result achieved, for good news, but today Mary teaches us to rejoice in God. Why? Because He – God – does “great things” (cf. 49).

Great things are recalled by the other verb: to glorify. “My soul glorifies”. Glorify. Indeed, to glorify means to rejoice in something for its greatness, for its beauty… Mary rejoices in the greatness of the Lord, she praises Him saying that He is truly great. In life it is important to seek great things, otherwise one loses oneself in so many little things. Mary shows us that, if we want our life to be happy, God must be placed in first place, because only He is great. How often, instead, do we live by following trivial things: prejudices, rancour, rivalry, jealousy, illusions, superfluous material goods… How much pettiness there is in life! We know this. Mary today invites us to raise our gaze to the “great things” that the Lord has accomplished in her. In us too, in each one of us, the Lord does many great things. It is necessary to recognize them and to rejoice in them, to glorify God, for these great things.

It is the “great things” that we celebrate today. Mary is taken up in heaven: small and humble, she is the first to receive the highest glory. She, who is a human creature, one of us, reaches eternity in body and soul. And she awaits us there, just as a mother waits for her children to return home. Indeed, the people of God invoke her as the “gateway to Heaven”. We are journeying as pilgrims towards our home on high. Today we look to Mary and we see our objective. We see that a creature has been assumed in the glory of the risen Jesus Christ, and that creature could be none other than her, the Mother of the Redeemer. We see that in paradise, along with Christ, the New Adam, she is there too, Mary, the New Eve, and this gives us comfort and hope in our pilgrimage here below.

The Feast of the Assumption of Mary is a call to us all, especially those who are afflicted by doubts and sorrows, and who live with their eyes turned downwards, who are unable to raise their gaze. Let us look upwards, the heaven is open: it does not induce fear, it is no longer distant, because on the threshold of heaven there is a mother who awaits us and is our mother. She loves us, she smiles at us and she cares for us attentively. Like every mother, she wants the best for her children and says to us: “You are precious in the eyes of God; you are not made for the small pleasures of the world, but for the great joys of heaven”. Yes, because God is joy, not boredom. God is joy. Let us allow ourselves to be taken by the hand by Our Lady. Every time that we take the Rosary in our hand and pray it, we take a step ahead towards the great aim in life.

Let us allow ourselves to be attracted by true beauty, not to be sucked in by the little things of life, but to choose the greatness of heaven. May the Holy Virgin, gateway of heaven, help us to look there every day with trust and joy, where our true home is, where she as a mother awaits us.

After the Angelus

Dear brothers and sisters,

I express my closeness to the populations of various countries in Southern Asia, badly affected by the monsoon rains. I pray for the victims and the displaced, for all the homeless families. May the Lord give strength to them and to those who help them.

Today in Czestochowa, Poland, many pilgrims have gathered to celebrate the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and to commemorate the centenary of the restoration of diplomatic relations between the Holy See and Poland. I send my greetings to all those gathered at the foot of the Black Madonna and I urge them to pray for the whole Church. And I also greet the Polish people present here!

I address a cordial greeting to you, Italian pilgrims and those from various countries. In particular, I greet the Missionary Family Donum Dei, the Union Seglar de San Antonio Maria Claret, the Venezuelan group of the “Festeros de San Vicente” who have come by bicycle from Valencia, and the young people of Novoli involved in a school camp.

And now I ask you to accompany this gesture with prayer: I will bless a large number of Rosaries for our brothers and sisters in Syria. About six thousand chaplets of the Rosary were made on the initiative of the Association “Aid to the Church in Need”; the Carmelite Sisters made them in Bethlehem. Today, at this great feast of Mary, I bless them, and then they will be distributed to the Catholic communities in Syria as a sign of my closeness, especially to families who have lost someone because of the war. Prayer with faith is powerful! Let us continue to pray the Rosary for peace in the Middle East and in the whole world.

I will give my blessing, but first let us pray the Hail Mary.

[Hail Mary]

Blessing

I wish you all a happy Feast of the Assumption. Please, do not forget to pray for me. Have a good lunch, and goodbye.