VATICAN CITY, SEP 3, 2000 (VIS) - Pope John Paul, before praying the angelus today with the estimated 100,000 faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square for the beatification of five Servants of God, greeted the pilgrims present in Italian, French and English, and then spoke of the role of Mary in the lives of the new Blesseds.
In Italian he saluted those present for the beatification of Popes Pius IX and John XXIII and Bishop Tommaso Reggio. He then welcomed "French-speaking people, especially the young, and all the pilgrims of the Marianist family, who came for the beatification of Fr. Chaminade," the founder of the Society of Mary. Lastly, the Pope extended "a warm welcome to the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors, especially those who have come from Ireland for the beatification of Dom Columba Marmion."
"Marian devotion was very deep in the new Blesseds," the Holy Father then remarked. "Christians will be forever grateful to Pius IX, the Pope of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, for having proclaimed this stupendous truth of the faith, from which comes light and hope for the destiny of the world and of every person."
He added that "John XXIII, in his 'Journal of the Soul,' left a witness to a filial love for the holy Virgin, which can be summed up in the invocation 'My mother, my trust."
"Bishop Tommaso Reggio proposed Mary as a model for women of every age and condition," the Pope stated. "Fr. Chaminade, talking to his confreres, said: 'We are the missionaries of Mary, who told us: Do everything that He (Christ) tells you'." And he observed that Abbot Marmiom asked "how could we truly love and perfectly resemble Christ, without having a special devotion for she from whom He received His human nature."
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