HOLY FATHER STARTS "SPIRITUAL JOURNEY" TO SHRINE OF POMPEII

VATICAN CITY, SEP 7, 2003 (VIS) - Numerous faithful joined Pope John Paul II today in the inner courtyard of the apostolic palace at Castelgandolfo where they prayed the Angelus together and the Pope meditated on the rosary.

He noted that "in exactly one month, God willing, I will go to the shrine of Pompeii. That will be an especially meaningful moment in the Year of the Rosary, inaugurated last October 16 with the signing, in St. Peter's Square, of the Apostolic Letter 'Rosarium Virginis Mariae'. I wish today to begin a spiritual pilgrimage to that famous Marian temple, center of spirituality of the rosary, contemplating with Mary the face of Christ in the joyful, luminous, sorrowful and glorious mysteries."

"The liturgical feast of the Birth of Our Lady, which is tomorrow, September 8," remarked the Holy Father, "is a more than ever propitious occasion to undertake this spiritual itinerary. Her birth, in fact, was a sort of 'prologue' to the Incarnation: Mary as the dawn, precedes the sun of the 'new day', preannouncing the joy of the Redeemer."

The Pope said that "the Virgin Mary helps the Christian people to rediscover the rosary as a simple prayer but one of great profundity. Said well, it introduces us to the living experience of the divine mystery and gives hearts, families and the entire community that peace that we need so very much."

Following the Angelus, John Paul II greeted the faithful present in French, English, German, Portuguese, Spanish and Italian, with special words for the citizens of Castelgandolfo who today celebrate the feast of their patron, St. Sebastian.

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