VATICAN CITY, JUN 1, 2005 (VIS) - At 8 p.m. yesterday, the traditional procession marking the end of the month of May took place from the Church of St. Stephen of the Abyssinians - located near the apse of the Vatican Basilica - to the Grotto of Lourdes in the Vatican Gardens. The ceremony was presided by Archbishop Angelo Comastri, vicar general of His Holiness for Vatican City State.
Benedict XVI arrived at the Grotto at 9 p.m., and before imparting his apostolic blessing delivered a brief address.
"In the special Year of the Eucharist through which we are currently living," the Pope said, "Mary helps us especially to discover" this great Sacrament. In today's feast we recall the visit by the Virgin to her cousin St. Elizabeth, an elderly woman "whom everyone considered sterile but who had, in fact, reached the sixth month of a pregnancy donated by God." Mary is carrying the recently-conceived Jesus in her womb, she "is a young girl, but she is not afraid because God is with her, He is within her."
The Holy Father affirmed how, "in a certain way, we can say that her journey was - and we are pleased to highlight this in the Year of the Eucharist - the first 'Eucharistic procession' of history. Living tabernacle of God-made-flesh, Mary is the Ark of the Covenant in whom the Lord has visited and redeemed His people. Jesus' presence fills her with the Holy Spirit."
After emphasizing how the Virgin's meeting with Elizabeth "finds expression in the canticle of the Magnificat," Benedict XVI asked: "is not this too the joy of the Church, that incessantly welcomes Jesus in the Holy Eucharist and carries Him to the world with the testimony of assiduous charity permeated by faith and hope? Yes, to welcome Christ and to take Him to others is the true joy of Christians! Dear brothers and sisters, let us carry on and imitate Mary, a deeply Eucharistic soul, and all our lives will become a Magnificat. Let this be the grace that, together this evening, we ask of the Most Holy Virgin at the close of the month of May."
AC/END MAY ROSARY/GROTTO LOURDES VIS 20050601 (380)
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