Just as the Apostles, together with Mary, “went up to the upper room” and there, “with one accord devoted themselves to prayer” (Acts 1:13-14), so too we are gathered here today at the Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida, which at this moment is our “upper room” where Mary, Mother of the Lord, is in our midst.
Mary Most Holy, a school of faith
Today it is She who leads our meditation; it is She who teaches us to pray. It is She who shows us the way to open our minds and hearts to the power of the Holy Spirit, who comes to fill the whole world.
We have just prayed the Rosary. Through these sequences of meditations, the divine Comforter seeks to initiate us in the knowledge of Christ that issues forth from the clear source of the Gospel text. For her part, the Church of the third millennium proposes to offer Christians the capacity for “knowledge” – according to the words of St. Paul – “of God’s mystery, of Christ, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col 2:2-3).
Mary Most Holy, the pure and immaculate Virgin, is for us a school of faith destined to guide us and give us strength on the path that leads us to the Creator of Heaven and Earth.
“Remain in the school of Mary”
The Pope has come to Aparecida with great joy so as to say to you first of all: “Remain in the school of Mary.” Take inspiration from her teachings, seek to welcome and to preserve in your hearts the enlightenment that She, by divine mandate, sends you from on high.
Mary leads our meditation, She teaches us to pray. It is She who shows us how to open our hearts to the power of the Holy Spirit
How beautiful it is to be gathered here in the name of Christ, in faith, in fraternity, in joy, in peace and in prayer, together with “Mary, the Mother of Jesus” (Acts 1:14). How beautiful it is, my dear Priests, Deacons, Consecrated men and women, Seminarians and Christian families, to be here in the National Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida, which is God’s Dwelling-place, the House of Mary and a house of brothers […].
Great esteem for Brazil
I am glad to be here with you, in your midst! The Pope loves you! The Pope greets you affectionately! He is praying for you! And he implores the Lord’s choicest blessings upon the Movements, Associations and new ecclesial realities, a living expression of the perennial youth of the Church! Be truly blessed!
My very affectionate greeting I also extend to the families who are gathered here and who represent all the dearly beloved Christian families present throughout the world. I rejoice especially with you and I offer you an embrace of peace.
I am grateful for the welcome and the hospitality of the Brazilian people. Ever since my arrival I have been received with great affection! The various manifestations of appreciation and the greetings show how much you love, esteem and respect the Successor of the Apostle Peter.
My Predecessor, the Servant of God John Paul II, mentioned on numerous occasions your affability and your spirit of fraternal welcome. He was entirely right! […]
Religious life, a gift of God to the Church
I now turn my gaze and my attention to you, dear consecrated men and women, gathered here in the Shrine of our Mother, Queen and Patron of the Brazilian people, including those spread throughout the whole world.
Remain in the school of Mary. Take inspiration from her teachings, preserve in your hearts the light that She sends from on high
Dear religious men and women, you are an offering, a present, a divine gift that the Church has received from her Lord. I give thanks to God for your lives and for the witness that you offer the world of faithful love for God and for your brethren. This unreserved, total, definitive, unconditional and impassioned love is manifested in silence, in contemplation, in prayer and in the most varied activities that you undertake in your religious families, for the sake of humanity and especially of the poorest and most abandoned.
All this elicits in the hearts of the young the desire to follow Christ the Lord more closely and radically, and to offer their lives so as to attest before the men and women of today that God is Love, and that it is worth allowing oneself to be captivated and drawn, to devote one’s life exclusively to Him.
Religious saints of Brazil
Religious life in Brazil has always been important and has had a key role in the work of evangelization, from early in the colonial era.
Only yesterday, I had the great joy of presiding at the Eucharistic celebration which included the canonization of St. Antônio de Sant’Ana Galvão, a Franciscan priest and religious and the first saint to have been born in Brazil. Alongside him, another admirable witness to the consecrated life is St. Pauline, foundress of the Little Sisters of the Immaculate Conception.
I could cite many other examples. May all of them together serve as an incentive to you to live out your total consecration. God bless you! […]
Prayer to Our Lady of Aparecida
Let us ask the Mother of God, Our Lady of Aparecida, to protect the lives of all Christians. May She, who is the Star of Evangelization, guide our steps along the path towards the heavenly Kingdom:
“Our Mother, protect the Brazilian and Latin American family!
“Guard under your protective mantle the children of this beloved land that welcomes us. As the Advocate with your Son Jesus, give to the Brazilian people constant peace and full prosperity.
“Pour out upon our brothers and sisters throughout Latin America a true missionary ardour, to spread faith and hope. Make the resounding plea that You uttered in Fatima for the conversion of sinners become a reality that transforms the life of our society. And You, who from the Shrine of Guadalupe, intercedes for the people of the Continent of Hope, bless its lands and its homes. Amen.” ◊
BENEDICT XVI.
Address at the National Shrine of
Our Lady of Aparecida, 12/05/2007
