No Pentecost Without Virgin Mary

Vatican City - "There is no Pentecost without the Virgin Mary. Thus it was at the beginning, in the Upper Room where the disciples "devoted themselves to prayer, together with some women and Mary, the Mother of Jesus, and his brothers" - as recounted in the Acts of the Apostles ( 1.14), and thus it always is, in every place and every time. " So said Benedict XVI in his reflection before reciting the Regina Caeli with pilgrims in St Peter's Square.

After the Marian prayer, the pontiff also called on all Christians in China and the world to celebrate the World Day of Prayer for the Church in China, which he established on May 24 with the Letter to Chinese Catholics in 2007.

"The feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Help of Christians - said the pope - offers us - tomorrow May 24th - the chance to celebrate the Day of Prayer for the Church in China. While the faithful in China are praying that the unity among themselves and with the universal Church will grow ever deeper, Catholics in the world - especially those who are of Chinese origin - will join them in prayer and charity, that the Holy Spirit pours into our hearts, especially in today's solemnity. "

Earlier, Benedict XVI stressed the link between Mary and the Holy Spirit and recalled his recent visit to Fatima, and celebrations with over half million people: "What was the experience of... that immense multitude, in the esplanade of the Shrine where we were all of one heart and one soul, if not a new Pentecost? In our midst there was Mary, the Mother of Jesus. This is the typical experience of the great Marian shrines - Lourdes, Guadalupe, Pompeii, Loreto - or even smaller ones: wherever Christians gather in prayer with Mary The Lord gives his Spirit. "

The pope stressed that Pentecost lives continually in the Church: "The Church constantly lives in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, without which it would exhaust its strength, like a sailboat without wind".

Pope Benedict XVI quoted a few major events of the Spirit: "The Councils, for example, saw sessions rewarded by special effusions of the Holy Spirit, and among these is certainly the Second Vatican Council. We also remember the famous meeting of the ecclesial movements with Pope John Paul II here in St. Peter's Square, on Pentecost in 1998.

"But the Church - he added - knows numerous 'Pentecosts' that enliven local communities: we think of the Liturgies, in particular of those experienced at special moments in the life of the community in which God's power was clearly perceived infusing souls with joy and enthusiasm. We also think of so many prayer meetings, where young people clearly feel God's call to root their lives in his love, even devoting themselves entirely to Him”.

"Dear friends - he concluded - in this feast of Pentecost, we too want to be spiritually united to the Mother of Christ and the Church faithfully invoking a renewed outpouring of the divine Paraclete. We invoke it for the whole Church and particularly in this Year for Priests, for all the ministers of the Gospel, so that the message of salvation can be preached to all nations. "

Source: Asia News

Pope at Fatima: "We would be mistaken to think that Fatima's prophetic mission is complete".

» 05/13/2010 12:51
VATICAN-PORTUGAL

Pope: we would be mistaken to think that Fatima’s prophetic mission is complete
Benedict XVI celebrates Mass in Fatima, in front of 500 thousand people. I have come, he says, to pray for our suffering humanity, to entrust to Mary the confession that "I love" the Church and priests "love" Jesus, to entrust to Mary’s protection the ordained, the consecrated and missionaries.

Fatima (AsiaNews) - "We would be mistaken to think that Fatima’s prophetic mission is complete " while the human family is still "ready to sacrifice all that is most sacred on the altar of the petty and selfish interests of nations, races, ideologies, groups and individuals, "the Virgin continues to offer herself " to implant in the hearts of all those who trust in her the Love of God burning in her own heart".

It is May 13th, the 93rd anniversary of Our Lady’s apparition, the 10th anniversary of the beatification of Jacinta and Francisco, the fifth anniversary of the death of Sister Lucia and 100th anniversary of the birth of Jacinta. Benedict XVI celebrated Mass at Fatima, where he says, " I have come to Fatima, because today the pilgrim Church, willed by her Son as the instrument of evangelization and the sacrament of salvation," to pray "for our humanity afflicted by misery and suffering, "" to entrust to Our Lady the intimate confession that “I love” Jesus, that the Church and priests “love” him and desire to keep their gaze fixed upon him as this Year for Priests comes to its end, and in order to entrust to Mary’s maternal protection priests, consecrated men and women, missionaries and all those who by their good works make the House of God a place of welcome and charitable outreach "

In the immense esplanade at the heart of the sanctuary perhaps 500 thousand people (see photo) gathered to participate in the mass , raising lags from nations across the world. There was also the President of the Republic, Anibal Cavaco Silva. Before the beginning of the celebration the statue of the Blessed Virgin was carried in procession among them, followed by all the bishops of Portugal.

In his greeting to Benedict XVI, Bishop of Leiria-Fatima, António Augusto dos Santos Marto, also expressed solidarity with the Pope "under attack", who, however , did not directly mentioning the issue.

Instead he entrusted “to Heaven all the nations and peoples of the earth. In God I embrace all their sons and daughters, particularly the afflicted or outcast, with the desire of bringing them that great hope which burns in my own heart, and which here, in Fatima, can be palpably felt. Yes! The Lord, our great hope, is with us. In his merciful love, he offers a future to his people: a future of communion with himself.”.

“The resplendent daughter of this people – continued the Pope - is the Virgin Mary of Nazareth who, clothed with grace and sweetly marvelling at God’s presence in her womb, made this joy and hope her own in the canticle of the Magnificat: “My spirit rejoices in God my Saviour”. She did not view herself as a fortunate individual in the midst of a barren people, but prophecied for them the sweet joys of a wondrous maternity of God, for “his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation” (Lk 1:47, 50).”.

“This holy place is the proof of it. In seven years you will return here to celebrate the centenary of the first visit made by the Lady “come from heaven”, the Teacher who introduced the little seers to a deep knowledge of the Love of the Blessed Trinity and led them to savour God himself as the most beautiful reality of human existence. This experience of grace made them fall in love with God in Jesus, so much so that Jacinta could cry out: “How much I delight in telling Jesus that I love him! When I tell him this often, I feel as if I have a fire in my breast, yet it does not burn me”. And Francisco could say: “What I liked most of all was seeing Our Lord in that light which Our Mother put into our hearts. I love God so much!” (Memoirs of Sister Lúcia, I, 42 and 126).”.

“In listening to these innocent and profound mystical confidences of the shepherd children, one might look at them with a touch of envy for what they were able to see, or with the disappointed resignation of someone who was not so fortunate, yet still demands to see. To such persons, the Pope says, as does Jesus: “Is not this the reason you are wrong, that you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God?” (Mk 12:24). The Scriptures invite us to believe: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe” (Jn 20:29), but God, who is more deeply present to me than I am to myself (cf. Saint Augustine, Confessions, III, 6, 11) – has the power to come to us, particularly through our inner senses, so that the soul can receive the gentle touch of a reality which is beyond the senses and which enables us to reach what is not accessible or visible to the senses. For this to happen, we must cultivate an interior watchfulness of the heart which, for most of the time, we do not possess on account of the powerful pressure exerted by outside realities and the images and concerns which fill our soul (cf. Theological Commentary on The Message of Fatima, 2000). Yes! God can come to us, and show himself to the eyes of our heart. Moreover, that Light deep within the shepherd children, which comes from the future of God, is the same Light which was manifested in the fullness of time and came for us all: the Son of God made man.”

“May the seven years which separate us from the centenary of the apparitions – concluded the Pope - hasten the fulfilment of the prophecy of the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, to the glory of the Most Holy Trinity.”.

Taken from: http://www.europeansacredart.com/files/2289272/uploaded/pope-benedict-xvi.jpg

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Pope's Most Important Words at Fatima

Pope warns against weakening ideals as he blames Church for sex scandal

Richard Owen in Lisbon

The Pope today warned priests against “activities which do not fully accord with the ministry of Christ” after he arrived at Fátima, one of Christianity’s most popular shrines, on the second day of his four-day visit to Portugal.

The Pope did not refer specifically to the clerical sex abuse crisis engulfing the Church, as he had on the plane to Lisbon from Rome. However, he warned the clergy to pay “particular attention to a certain weakening of priestly ideals”.

On the plane to Lisbon the Pope admitted that “sins inside” the Catholic Church were entirely responsible for the child abuse scandal that has spread across Europe.

In his most strongly worded condemnation of the priests involved in paedophile cases the pontiff said: “Today we see in a truly terrifying way that the greatest persecution of the Church does not come from enemies on the outside but is born from the sins within the Church.

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“The Church needs to profoundly relearn penitence, accept purification, learn forgiveness but also justice.” Vatican officials have sought to blame the abuse scandal on a supposed conspiracy by the media, freemasons and pro-abortion and pro-gay marriage lobbies.

The pontiff’s pilgrimage to Fátima, 120km (75 miles) north of Lisbon, is the highlight of his visit. He will hold an open air Mass for half a million people tomorrow at the shrine, the “Lourdes of Portugal”, which receives 5 million pilgrims a year, many of whom approach it on their knees.

The Mass will mark the anniversary of the day in 1917 when three Portuguese shepherd children — Lucia Santos, 10, and her cousins Jacinta and Francisco Marto, aged 9 and 7 — claimed that as the sun “spun in the sky” they saw several visions of the Virgin Mary, who confided three secrets to them.

Ten years ago John Paul II beatified Jacinta and Francisco, who died young and are buried at the shrine. Lucia Santos, who became a nun, died five years ago and is also buried at Fátima. She, too, is headed for beatification, the step before sainthood.

The First and Second Secrets of Fátima, published in the 1940s, were interpreted as foreseeing the Second World War and the conversion of Communist Russia to Christianity. The Third Secret, only disclosed during John Paul’s 2000 visit to Fátima, predicted the attempt on his life on May 13, 1981, describing him as a “bishop in white” cut down in a hail of gunfire.

There are persistent reports that another part of the Third Secret, predicting the collapse of the Catholic Church in apostasy, was suppressed. The Vatican denies this.

In Lisbon the Pope said that the Third Secret predicted the suffering not only of Popes, but also of the Church, of which the sex abuse crisis was part. However, he added, “the resurrection of Christ assures us that no adverse power will ever be able to destroy the Church”.

After his short helicopter ride to Fátima from Lisbon the Pope prayed in front of the statue of the Madonna at the Chapel of Apparitions, in whose crown is embedded the bullet that nearly killed John Paul in 1981. He attributed his survival to the “miraculous intervention” of the Virgin Mary.

In Lisbon thousands of wellwishers lined the Pope’s route and attended an open air mass near the Tagus. However, hundreds of protesters against the Vatican’s refusal to sanction the use of condoms as a way of fighting HIV and Aids handed out free contraceptives.

Before leaving Lisbon today the Pope met leading Portuguese cultural figures, including the 101-year-old filmmaker Manoel de Oliveira.

Up to 90 per cent of Portuguese people call themselves Roman Catholics, but less than one third attend Mass regularly. President Aníbal Cavaco Silva is expected next week to sign into law a Bill that will make Portugal the sixth European country to permit gay marriage.

Portugal’s centre-left Socialist Government legalised abortion in in 2007.

In Lisbon the Pope criticised the abortion law, saying that officials must give “essential consideration” to issues that affect human life. “The point at issue is not an ethical confrontation between a secular and religious system, so much as a question about the meaning that we give to our freedom,” he said.

In contrast to his visit to Malta three weeks ago, when he met victims of sex abuse and prayed with them, few sex abuse allegations have so far emerged in Portugal.

At his Lisbon Mass the Pope said that Portugal “has gained a glorious place among the nations for the service rendered to the spreading of the faith: in all five continents there are local churches that owe their origin to Portuguese missionary activity.

“Today, as you play your part in building up the European community, you offer the contribution of your cultural and religious identity.”

Taken from:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article7124373.ece