WE OPEN OUR HEARTS IN THANKSGIVING FOR MARY IMMACULATE

VATICAN CITY, DEC 8, 2002 (VIS) - Pope John Paul prayed the Angelus today, the second Sunday of Advent and the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, with thousands of faithful who gathered in St. Peter's Square below his study window.

In remarks made before the prayer, the Pope recalled that "with the recitation of the Angelus three times each day, we repeat 'et verbum caro factum est' - 'and the Word was made flesh'. During Advent these words of the Gospel assume an even more intense meaning as the liturgy makes us relive the climate of expectation of the Incarnation of the Word.

"For this reason," he continued, "Advent offers the ideal context for the solemnity of Mary Immaculate. The humble girl from Nazareth, who with her 'yes' to the angel changed the course of history, was preserved from every stain of sin right from her conception. The first beneficiary of the salvation wrought by Christ, she was chosen from all time to be His mother."

The Holy Father said that "for this reason, today our eyes are fixed on the mystery of her Immaculate Conception while the heart is opened to a chorus of thanksgiving. ... It is with joy that I will renew this afternoon the traditional homage to her in Piazza di Spagna, becoming the interpreter of the devotion of the diocese of Rome and of the entire Church."

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