FEAST OF VISITATION: PROCESSION AND ROSARY IN VATICAN CITY

VATICAN CITY, MAY 31, 2000 (VIS) - This evening, feast of the Visitation and the end of the month dedicated to Mary, there was the traditional procession in Vatican City from the church of St. Stephen of the Abyssinians to the Grotto of Lourdes, during which the faithful who were present prayed the rosary. The procession was led by Cardinal Virgilio Noe, archpriest of the Vatican Basilica. When the pilgrims reached the grotto, Pope John Paul II joined them.

"In this event," he told them, referring to the Visitation, "an even more profound 'visitation' shines through: that of God to His people, greeted by the exultation of little John - the greatest of those born of woman - from his mother's womb. The Marian month thus concludes in the sign of 'gaudio' - the second joyful mystery - in the sign, that is, of joy, of jubilation."

"We thank God because in this month of May of the great Jubilee, he gave us a way to feel, with special intensity, the presence of the Mother of the Redeemer, an assiduous and prayerful presence, as in the first community of Jerusalem."

"As you return home," the Holy Father concluded, "bring the joy of this encounter with you and keep your soul fixed on Jesus, in the hopes of one day being able to be with Him, united in the same glory."

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