Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Fides Service) - Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints presided on Sunday 13 November a Beatification Mass in St Peters and at the request of the Pope read the apostolic letter with which His Holiness inscribed in the register of the Blessed a French priest Charles De Foucauld (1858-1916) and two Italian nuns Maria Pia Mastena (1881-1951) and Maria Crocifissa Curcio (1877-1957). At the end of the Mass Pope Benedict XVI went to the Basilica to venerate the relics of the new Blessed and addressed over 15,000 visitors who had come for the event gathered in St Peters and in the Square.
These three people “in different ways consecrated their existence to Christ and they re-propose to every Christian the sublime ideal of holiness” the Pope said. Charles de Foucauld in his contemplative and hidden life encountered the Lord whom he desired to follow in humility and poverty discovering his call to universal brotherhood. “As a priest he put the Eucharist and the Gospel at the centre of his existence the tables of the Word and the Bread, source of Christian life and mission”.
The Holy Father underlined the relevance of the charisma of Blessed Maria Pia Mastena who, “won by the Face of Christ, assimilated the Son of God’s sentiments of gentle concern for humanity disfigured by sin, concretised his gestures of compassion and opened an Institution ‘to propagate, heal and restore in souls the image of sweet Jesus. May the new Blessed obtain for all who venerate her with affection and devotion the gift of continual striving for holiness” the Pope said.
Blessed Maria Crocifissa Curcio foundress of the Carmelite Missionaries of Saint Teresa of the Child Jesus, placed at the centre of her life “the presence of the merciful Jesus encountered and adored in the Sacrament of the Eucharist… Her life was one of continual prayer even when she went out to serve people, especially poor girls in need”.
At the end of his address Pope Benedict XVI urged those present to thank God for the gift of the new Blessed and to strive hard to follow their example: “May their intercession help us to live in fidelity to Christ and his Church”.
In his homily during the Mass Cardinal José Saraiva Martins spoke of the close bond between the Word of God of the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time and the reality of Christian holiness, “understood as making the best use of talents received from God”. The Church inscribed these three people in the register of the Blessed because they worked to make their talents bear fruit “in the divine logic of love and total gift of self”. “Let us learn from the new Blessed to live a faith which is contagious and communicative, because a ‘harmless’ faith which says nothing and does not become witness, is like a gift which remains ‘unused’” the Cardinal said in his homily. “Following the example of these witnesses of the Risen Christ we too must never stop using the talents received until we will hear at last those wonderful words which can almost be considered the Gospel’s formula of Beatification: ‘Well done, good and faithful servant, come and share your master’s joy.” (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 14/11/2005, righe 38, parole 541)
