Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vienna (Agenzia Fides) - Immediately after the welcome ceremony at 12.45 on Friday 7 September Pope Benedict XVI went to the Mariensäule (Mary's Colomon) in the Am Hof Square in Vienna, first step on his pilgrimage to Mariazell. From the balcony of the Church of the Nine Angelical Choirs the Pope presided a Liturgy of the Word at the end of which he went into the Church to open a Vigil of Prayer and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament which young people are involved during the Papal Visit.
“ As the first stop of my pilgrimage to Mariazell I have chosen the Mariensäule, to reflect briefly with all of you on the significance of the Mother of God for Austria past and present, and her significance for each one of us” the Pope said in his homily during the Liturgy of the Word. “ From earliest times, faith in Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God, has been linked to a particular veneration for his Mother, for the Woman in whose womb he took on our human nature, sharing even in the beating of her heart. Mary is the Woman who accompanied Jesus with sensitivity and deference throughout his life, even to his death on the Cross. At the end, he commended to her maternal love the beloved disciple and, with him, all humanity. In her maternal love, Mary continues to take under her protection people of all languages and cultures, and to lead them together, within a multiform unity, to Christ. In our problems and needs we can turn to Mary. Yet we must also learn from her to accept one another lovingly in the same way that she has accepted all of us: each as an individual, willed as such and loved by God.”.
The Holy Father recalled that the Mariensäule, erected by Emperor Ferdinand III as an act of thanksgiving for the liberation of Vienna from great danger 360 years ago “must also be a sign of hope for us today.”. “ How many persons, over the years, have stood before this column and lifted their gaze to Mary in prayer! - the Pope said - How many have experienced in times of trouble the power of her intercession!”. Our Christian hope includes much more than the mere fulfilment of our wishes and desires, great or small. We turn our gaze to Mary, because she points out to us the great hope to which we have been called (cf. Eph 1:18), because she personifies our true humanity! This is what we have just heard in the biblical reading: even before the creation of the world, God chose us in Christ. From eternity he has known and loved each one of us! And why did he choose us? To be holy and immaculate before him in love! This is no impossible task: in Christ he has already brought it to fulfilment. We have been redeemed!... And if we continue to bring our everyday concerns to the immaculate Mother of Christ, she will help us to open our little hopes ever more fully towards that great and true hope which gives meaning to our lives and is able to fill us with a deep and imperishable joy.”
At the end of his homily the Pope recited a prayer to entrust Austria and the Austrian people to the Immaculate Virgin. After the prayer at Mariensäule, Benedict XVI paid a visit to the Judenplatz Memorial erected in commemoration of the Austrian victims of the Shoah. Welcomed by the Grand Rabbi and the president of the Jewish Community of Austria, the Pope prayed for a few minutes silently. He was then driven to the Apostolic Nunciature. (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 8/9/2007; righe 38, parole 566)
