Questa mattina, nell’Aula Paolo VI, il Santo Padre ha ricevuto in Udienza i pellegrini convenuti per la Beatificazione di: ASCENSIÓN NICOL GOÑI (1868-1940), vergine, cofondatrice delle Suore Missionarie Domenicane del Rosario, e MARIANNE COPE (1838-1918), vergine, delle Sister of Saint Francis, Syracuse, NY, U.S.A.

Pubblichiamo di seguito il discorso che Benedetto XVI ha loro rivolto:

Cari fratelli e sorelle,

con gioia accolgo quest’oggi tutti voi venuti per partecipare al rito di beatificazione di Madre Ascensión del Corazón de Jesús Nicol Goñi e Madre Marianne Cope, che si è svolto sabato pomeriggio nella Basilica Vaticana. Esemplari testimoni della carità di Cristo queste due nuove Beate ci aiutano a meglio comprendere il senso e il valore della nostra vocazione cristiana.

Queridos peregrinos, habéis venido a Roma para revivir el mensaje misionero que ha dejado a la Iglesia, con su vida y su obra, la Madre Ascensión del Corazón de Jesús Nicol Goñi, que acaba de ser proclamada Beata. Os invito a conservar en el corazón el ardor apostólico, nacido del amor a Jesús, que la Madre Ascensión vivió y supo infundir en sus hijas espirituales.

Al saludar cordialmente a mis Hermanos en el Episcopado, a las diversas autoridades y fieles que han participado en este significativo acontecimiento, me dirijo especialmente a las Dominicas Misioneras del Rosario, que a ejemplo de su Beata Fundadora nos ayudan a revivir, en nuestro tiempo, el espíritu de Santo Domingo. Mantened viva la experiencia de la cercanía de Dios en la vida misionera – "qué cerquita se siente a Dios", decía la Madre –, el espíritu de fraternidad en vuestras comunidades, dispuestas a ir donde más os necesite la Iglesia, con el estilo emprendedor que llevó a la Madre Ascensión hasta las agrestes tierras del Vicariato de Puerto Maldonado.

Saludo a los peregrinos de este Vicariato Apostólico y de otras regiones peruanas, que vieron florecer un fruto precioso de genuina evangelización, cultivado con esmero especialmente por manos femeninas. Y saludo también a los que han venido de Navarra, tierra natal de la nueva Beata, y de otras partes de España, donde la semilla de la fe ha calado muy hondo y ha dado tantos misioneros en todas las partes del mundo.

La ceremonia ha tenido lugar en una fecha muy significativa para los misioneros y para toda la Iglesia: la víspera de Pentecostés, momento en el que bajo el impulso del Espíritu Santo, los discípulos de Jesús se lanzaron sin temor a proclamar por doquier y públicamente la enseñanza del Maestro. Desde entonces otros han acogido el mandato misionero poniendo sus energías al servicio del Evangelio. Entre éstos la Madre Ascensión se dejó inflamar también por el fuego de Pentecostés y se comprometió a difundirlo en el mundo.

Que ella interceda ahora por todos vosotros, para que llevéis al mundo la luz que dio esplendor a su vida y gozo a su corazón.

Bendigo a todos con gran afecto. Muchas gracias.

It is with great joy that I welcome you to Rome, dear brothers and sisters, for the Beatification of Mother Marianne Cope. I know that your participation in Saturday’s solemn liturgy, so significant for the universal Church, will have been a source of renewed grace and commitment to the exercise of charity which marks the life of every Christian.

Marianne Cope’s life was one of profound faith and love which bore fruit in a missionary spirit of immense hope and trust. In 1862 she entered the Congregation of the Franciscan Sisters of Syracuse where she imbibed the particular spirituality of Saint Francis of Assisi, dedicating herself wholeheartedly to spiritual and corporal works of mercy. Her own experience of consecrated life saw an extraordinary apostolate unfold, adorned with heroic virtue.

As is well known, while Mother Marianne was Superior General of her Congregation the then Bishop of Honolulu invited the Order to come to Hawaii and work among the lepers. Leprosy was spreading rapidly and causing unspeakable suffering and misery among the afflicted. Fifty other Congregations received the same plea for assistance, but only Mother Marianne, in the name of her Sisters, responded positively. True to the charism of the Order and in imitation of Saint Francis, who had embraced lepers, Mother Marianne volunteered herself for the mission with a trusting, ‘Yes’! And for thirty-five years, until her death in 1918, our new Blessed dedicated her life to the love and service of lepers on the islands of Maui and Molokai.

Undoubtedly the generosity of Mother Marianne was, humanly speaking, exemplary. Good intentions and selflessness alone, however, do not adequately explain her vocation. It is only the perspective of faith which enables us to understand her witness – as a Christian and as a Religious – to that sacrificial love which reaches its fulness in Jesus Christ. All that she achieved was inspired by her personal love of the Lord which she in turn expressed through her love of those abandoned and rejected by society in a most wretched way.

Dear brothers and sisters, let us today be inspired by Blessed Marianne Cope to renew our commitment to walk the path of holiness.

With my own prayers that your pilgrimage here to Rome may be a time of spiritual enrichment, I gladly impart to you my Apostolic Blessing, which I willingly extend to the members of your families at home, especially those who are ill or suffering in any way.

La Vergine Maria ci ottenga il dono d’una costante fedeltà al Vangelo. Ci aiuti a seguire l’esempio delle nuove Beate ed a tendere senza stancarci alla santità. A tutti voi qui presenti, e alle persone a voi care, la mia benedizione.

[00586-XX.02] [Testo originale: Plurilingue]