Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Częstochowa (Agenzia Fides) - In the afternoon of Friday 26 May Pope Benedict XVI travelled to Częstochowa to the Marian Shrine of Jasna Góra. After paying a visit to the Shrine to pray in front of deeply venerated Icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Pope had a meeting with Polish men and women Religious, seminarians and representatives of Church Movements. “Mary, the Mother of the Lord, is in our midst - the Pope said in his address -. Today it is she who leads our meditation; she teaches us how to pray. Mary shows us how to open our minds and our hearts to the power of the Holy Spirit, who comes to us so as to be brought to the whole world. We need a moment of silence and recollection to place ourselves in her school, so that she may teach us how to live from faith, how to grow in faith, how to remain in contact with the mystery of God in the ordinary, everyday events of our lives..”
Addressing specifically the men and women religious The Pope asked if they remembered the enthusiasm with which they undertook the consecrated life and added “Try not to lose this first fervour, and let Mary lead you to an ever fuller adherence. Dear men and women religious, dear consecrated persons! Whatever the mission entrusted to you, whatever cloistered or apostolic service you are engaged in, maintain in your hearts the primacy of your consecrated life. Let it renew your faith. The consecrated life, lived in faith, unites you closely to God, calls forth charisms and confers an extraordinary fruitfulness to your service..”
To candidates to the priesthood Pope Benedict XVI proposed a reflection on the manner in which Mary learned from Jesus: “On your journey of preparation, and in your future priestly ministry, let Mary guide you as you "learn" Jesus. Keep your eyes fixed on him. Let him form you, so that in your ministry you will be able to show him to all who approach you. When you take into your hands the Eucharistic Body of Jesus so as to nourish his People, and when you assume responsibility for that part of the Mystical Body which will be entrusted to you, remember the attitude of wonder and adoration which characterised Mary’s faith. As she in her solicitous, maternal love for Jesus, preserved her virginal love filled with wonder, so also you, as you genuflect at the moment of consecration, preserve in your soul the ability to wonder and to adore. Know how to recognise in the People of God entrusted to you the signs of Christ’s presence… the world and the Church need priests, holy priests.”
Lastly the Holy Father addressed the representatives of new Church Movements: “My prayer is that you will grow ever more numerous so as to serve the cause of the Kingdom of God in today’s world. Believe in the grace of God which accompanies you and bring it into the living fabric of the Church, especially in places the priest or religious cannot reach. The movements you belong to are many. You are nourished by different schools of spirituality recognised by the Church. Draw upon the wisdom of the saints, have recourse to the heritage they have left us. Form your minds and your hearts on the works of the great masters and witnesses of the faith, knowing that the schools of spirituality must not be a treasure locked up in convents or libraries. The Gospel wisdom, contained in the writings of the great saints and attested to in their lives, must be brought in a mature way, not childishly or aggressively, to the world of culture and work, to the world of the media and politics, to the world of family and social life..” (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 27/5/2006 - righe 38, parole 569)
