Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - In the Vatican Gardens in the evening of 31 May, the Feast of the Visitation, the traditional procession with the recitation of the Rosary made its way from the little ancient church of St Stephen of the Abyssinians to the replica of the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes. The procession was presided by Bishop Angelo Comastri, Vicar General of His Holiness for Vatican City and Arch-priest of St Peter's Basilica. Pope Benedict XVI arrived at the end of the prayers to give his blessing. In a brief discourse the Pope spoke about the feast of the Visitation and Mary's experience as she set out from Nazareth in Galilee to visit her cousin Elizabeth in a village of Judea and he began with a question: “What drove the young Mary to undertake that journey? What in particular drove her to forget herself and spend the first three months of her own pregnancy, with her cousin who was in need of assistance?” The Pope continued “The Holy Spirit who made the Son of God present in the flesh of Mary, dilated her heart to the dimensions of God's heart of and impelled her to take the path of charity… The Spirit drove her to "arise" and depart in haste to offer help to her elderly relation. Jesus was just beginning to take form in Mary's womb and the Spirit had already filled her heart so that the Mother begins immediately to follow her divine Son: along the road that leads from Galilee to Judea it is Jesus himself who 'impels' Mary filling her with generous zeal, to go to help a person in need, the courage not to give first place to her own needs, difficulties, concerns and the dangers of her life. It is Jesus who helps her to overcome everything letting herself be guided by the faith which operates through charity”.
Pope Benedict XVI said this mystery helps Christians understand the fact the Christian charity is a 'theological" virtue: “We see the heart of Mary is visited by the grace of the Father, it is permeated with the power of the Spirit and inwardly impelled by the Son; we see a human heart perfectly inserted in the dynamism of the Most Holy Trinity. This movement is charity which is Mary is perfect and becomes the Church's model of charity as a manifestation of Trinitarian love. Every gesture of this genuine love, even the smallest, holds within itself a glimmer of the infinite mystery of God …everything down to the smallest detail becomes "theological" when it is animated by the Spirit of Christ ”. Last of all the Pope prayed through the intercession of Mary for the “gift of knowing how to love as She loves ”, and he entrusted to her care “the small portion of the Church which lives and works in the Vatican… the Roman Curia and the institutions connected with it, that the Spirit of Christ may animate every task and service”. Before giving his Apostolic Blessed the Holy Father concluded: “from this hill we look out over Rome to the whole world and we pray for all Christians that with St Paul they may say: ‘the love of Christ urges us on', and that with Mary's help they may spread the dynamism of charity throughout the world.” (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 1/6/2007 - righe 35, parole 549)
