VATICAN CITY, FEB 11, 2005 (VIS) - Today, liturgical memory of Our Lady of Lourdes, Cardinal Camillo Ruini, vicar general for the diocese of Rome, celebrated Mass at 4:30 p.m. in the Vatican Basilica for the sick and for pilgrims of Opera Romana Pellegrinaggi and UNITALSI (the Italian National Union for Transport of the Sick to Lourdes and International Shrines) on the occasion of the 13th World Day of the Sick.
During the Eucharistic celebration, Cardinal Ruini read a Message from Pope John Paul - who returned last evening to the Vatican following a ten-day stay in Gemelli Hospital - to the sick assembled in St. Peter's.
The Holy Father began the Message by referring to the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, who first appeared to St. Bernadette Soubirous on February 11, 1858 in a grotto at Massabielle. "From that grotto," he says, "which became a place of prayer and hope for many pilgrims from throughout the world, Immaculate Mary continues to invite us to prayer, penitence and conversion. ... When the sick and suffering run to the feet of Mary, that is a ceaseless exhortation to trust Christ and His heavenly Mother, who never abandon those who turn to them in times of pain and trials."
"Dear sick people," the Pope adds, "if you add your pain" to the suffering of Christ Who died on the Cross to redeem us, "you can be His privileged cooperators in the salvation of souls. This is your duty in the Church, which is always aware of the role and value of sickness illuminated by faith. Your suffering, dear sick friends, is not useless! Rather, it is precious because it is sharing in the mysterious but real salvific mission of the Son of God.
"For this reason," concludes John Paul's Message, "the Pope counts so much on the value of your prayers and your sufferings: offer them for the Church and for the world; offer them also for me and for my mission as universal pastor of the Christian people."
JPII-MESSAGE/WORLD DAY SICK/RUINI VIS 20050214 (350)
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