VATICAN - The Holy Father Benedict XVI entrusts Immaculate Mary with “the children, particularly those who are seriously ill, disadvantaged or suffering because of serious family problems... elderly people living alone, for the sick, for immigrants struggling to build a new life in a new country, for families who barely make ends meet and especially for people who cannot find a job or have lost their jobs”

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - “Nearly three months ago, I had the great joy of traveling on a pilgrimage to Lourdes, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the apparition of the Virgin Mary to Saint Bernadette,” the Holy Father Benedict XVI said during the act of veneration of Immaculate Mary, made at the pillar dedicated to her in Piazza di Spagna (Rome), on the afternoon of Monday, December 8. The celebrations of this Jubilee Year of Lourdes came to a close on the feast of the Immaculate Conception, the name with which the Virgin revealed herself in the Massabielle Grotto. “ 'Immaculate Conception': we too repeat this mysterious name,” the Pope said. “We repeat it here, at the feet of this monument located in the heart of Rome; and a countless multitude of our brothers and sisters do so in the thousands of other shrines and chapels throughout the world, as well as in the homes of Christian families. Wherever a Catholic community is present, there Our Lady is honored with this amazing and wonderful name: Immaculate Conception...Like a child looking up at his mother, and seeing her smile forgets every fear and pain, so too, in turning our gaze to Mary, we recognize in her the smile of God, the immaculate reflection of divine light, and we find new hope even in the midst of the problems and dramas of our world.”
After mentioning that “to Mary we present our joys, but also our concerns, sure to find in her the comfort needed to avoid discouragement and the support to keep on going,” the Holy Father prayed the following prayer: “Oh Immaculate Virgin, at this time I would like to especially entrust to you the 'little ones' of our City: the children, particularly those who are seriously ill, disadvantaged or suffering because of serious family problems. Watch over them and let them feel, in the affection and assistance around them, the warmth of God's love! Oh Mary, I entrust to you the elderly people living alone, for the sick, for immigrants struggling to build a new life in a new country, for families who barely make ends meet and especially for people who cannot find a job or have lost their jobs. Mary, teach us to be in solidarity with those who are in difficulty, to bridge the increasingly vast social disparities; help us cultivate a livelier sense of the common good, respect for what is public, help us to see this city – especially our City of Rome – as a patrimony for all people, and to all make an effort to build a more just and helpful society.
Oh Immaculate Mother, you who are for all of us a sure sign of hope and consolation, help us to let ourselves be drawn in by your immaculate purity. Your beauty – Tota Pulchra, we sing to you today - assures us that the victory of love is possible; in fact, it is certain. It assures us that grace is stronger than sin and therefore it is possible to be redeemed from any form of slavery. Yes, Oh Mary, you help us to believe with greater trust in the good, to count on graciousness, service, non-violence, the power of the truth; you encourage us to remain awake, not to give in to the temptation of easy escapes, but to face reality with all its problems with courage and responsibility. That is how you lived, fair maiden, called to risk everything upon the Lord's Word. Be a loving mother to our youth, so they may have the courage to be 'sentinels of the morning,' and give this virtue to all Christians, that they may be a source of life for the world in this difficult moment in history. Immaculate Virgin, Mother of God and Our Mother, Salus Populi Romani, pray for us!” (SL) (Agenzia Fides 9/12/2008)