VATICAN CITY, 14 SEP 2008 (VIS) - At 6.30 p.m. today the Holy Father, wearing liturgical vestments, presided over the last stage of a Eucharistic procession on the Meadow of the shrine of Lourdes.
Following the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, the Pope pronounced an address.
"Lord Jesus, You are here! And you, my brothers, my sisters, my friends, you are here, with me, in His presence!" he said.
"We contemplate Him. We adore Him. We love Him. We seek to grow in love for Him".
"We adore Him Who is the origin and goal of our faith, Him without Whom we would not be here this evening, without Whom we would not be at all, without Whom there would be nothing, absolutely nothing! Him through Whom 'all things were made', Him in Whom we were created, for all eternity, Him Who gave us His own Body and Blood - He is here, this evening, in our midst, for us to gaze upon".
"The sacred host speaks to us of the incredible abasement of the One Who made Himself poor so as to make us rich in Him, the One Who accepted the loss of everything so as to win us for His Father. The sacred host is the living, efficacious and real sacrament of the eternal presence of the Saviour of mankind to His Church".
"Mary, the holy Virgin, Mary, the Immaculate Conception, accepted, two thousand years ago, to give everything, to offer her body so as to receive the Body of the Creator. Everything came from Christ, even Mary; everything came through Mary, even Christ.
"Mary, the holy Virgin, is with us this evening, in the presence of the Body of her Son, 150 years after revealing herself to little Bernadette.
"Holy Virgin, help us to contemplate, help us to adore, help us to love, to grow in love for Him Who loved us so much, so as to live eternally with Him.
"An immense crowd of witnesses is invisibly present beside us, very close to this blessed grotto and in front of this church that the Virgin Mary wanted to be built; the crowd of all those men and women who have contemplated, venerated, adored the real presence of Him who gave Himself to us even to the last drop of blood. ... This evening, we do not see them, but we hear them saying to us, to every man and to every woman among us: 'Come, let the Master call you! He is here! He is calling you! He wants to take your life and join it to His. Let yourself be embraced by Him! Gaze no longer upon your own wounds, gaze upon His. Do not look upon what still separates you from Him and from others; look upon the infinite distance that He has abolished by taking your flesh, by mounting the Cross which men had prepared for Him, and by letting Himself be put to death so as to show you His love. In His wounds, He takes hold of you; in His wounds, He hides you. Do not refuse His Love!'
"The immense crowd of witnesses who have allowed themselves to be embraced by His Love, is the crowd of saints in heaven who never cease to intercede for us. They were sinners and they knew it, but they willingly ceased to gaze upon their own wounds and to gaze only upon the wounds of their Lord, so as to discover there the glory of the Cross, to discover there the victory of Life over death".
"Jesus Christ, past, in the historical truth of the evening in the Upper Room, to which every celebration of holy Mass leads us back.
"Jesus Christ, present, because He said to us: 'Take and eat of this, all of you, this is my body, this is my blood.' 'This is', in the present, here and now, as in every here and now throughout human history".
"The Eucharist is also Jesus Christ, future, Jesus Christ to come. When we contemplate the sacred host, His glorious transfigured and risen Body, we contemplate what we shall contemplate in eternity, where we shall discover that the whole world has been carried by its Creator during every second of its history. Each time we consume Him, but also each time we contemplate Him, we proclaim Him until He comes again, 'donec veniat'. That is why we receive Him with infinite respect.
"Some of us cannot - or cannot yet - receive Him in the Sacrament, but we can contemplate Him with faith and love and express our desire finally to be united with Him. This desire has great value in God's presence: such people await His return more ardently; they await Jesus Christ Who must come again".
"Beloved brothers and sisters, day pilgrims and inhabitants of these valleys, brother bishops, priests, deacons, men and women religious, all of you who see before you the infinite abasement of the Son of God and the infinite glory of the Resurrection, remain in silent adoration of your Lord, our Master and Lord Jesus Christ. Remain silent, then speak and tell the world: we cannot be silent about what we know. Go and tell the whole world the marvels of God, present at every moment of our lives, in every place on earth. May God bless us and keep us, may He lead us on the path of eternal life, He who is Life, for ever and ever. Amen".
The procession over, Benedict XVI travelled to St. Joseph Hermitage where he dined and spent the night.
PV-FRANCE/PRAYER EUCHARIST/LOURDES VIS 20080915 (940)
Following the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, the Pope pronounced an address.
"Lord Jesus, You are here! And you, my brothers, my sisters, my friends, you are here, with me, in His presence!" he said.
"We contemplate Him. We adore Him. We love Him. We seek to grow in love for Him".
"We adore Him Who is the origin and goal of our faith, Him without Whom we would not be here this evening, without Whom we would not be at all, without Whom there would be nothing, absolutely nothing! Him through Whom 'all things were made', Him in Whom we were created, for all eternity, Him Who gave us His own Body and Blood - He is here, this evening, in our midst, for us to gaze upon".
"The sacred host speaks to us of the incredible abasement of the One Who made Himself poor so as to make us rich in Him, the One Who accepted the loss of everything so as to win us for His Father. The sacred host is the living, efficacious and real sacrament of the eternal presence of the Saviour of mankind to His Church".
"Mary, the holy Virgin, Mary, the Immaculate Conception, accepted, two thousand years ago, to give everything, to offer her body so as to receive the Body of the Creator. Everything came from Christ, even Mary; everything came through Mary, even Christ.
"Mary, the holy Virgin, is with us this evening, in the presence of the Body of her Son, 150 years after revealing herself to little Bernadette.
"Holy Virgin, help us to contemplate, help us to adore, help us to love, to grow in love for Him Who loved us so much, so as to live eternally with Him.
"An immense crowd of witnesses is invisibly present beside us, very close to this blessed grotto and in front of this church that the Virgin Mary wanted to be built; the crowd of all those men and women who have contemplated, venerated, adored the real presence of Him who gave Himself to us even to the last drop of blood. ... This evening, we do not see them, but we hear them saying to us, to every man and to every woman among us: 'Come, let the Master call you! He is here! He is calling you! He wants to take your life and join it to His. Let yourself be embraced by Him! Gaze no longer upon your own wounds, gaze upon His. Do not look upon what still separates you from Him and from others; look upon the infinite distance that He has abolished by taking your flesh, by mounting the Cross which men had prepared for Him, and by letting Himself be put to death so as to show you His love. In His wounds, He takes hold of you; in His wounds, He hides you. Do not refuse His Love!'
"The immense crowd of witnesses who have allowed themselves to be embraced by His Love, is the crowd of saints in heaven who never cease to intercede for us. They were sinners and they knew it, but they willingly ceased to gaze upon their own wounds and to gaze only upon the wounds of their Lord, so as to discover there the glory of the Cross, to discover there the victory of Life over death".
"Jesus Christ, past, in the historical truth of the evening in the Upper Room, to which every celebration of holy Mass leads us back.
"Jesus Christ, present, because He said to us: 'Take and eat of this, all of you, this is my body, this is my blood.' 'This is', in the present, here and now, as in every here and now throughout human history".
"The Eucharist is also Jesus Christ, future, Jesus Christ to come. When we contemplate the sacred host, His glorious transfigured and risen Body, we contemplate what we shall contemplate in eternity, where we shall discover that the whole world has been carried by its Creator during every second of its history. Each time we consume Him, but also each time we contemplate Him, we proclaim Him until He comes again, 'donec veniat'. That is why we receive Him with infinite respect.
"Some of us cannot - or cannot yet - receive Him in the Sacrament, but we can contemplate Him with faith and love and express our desire finally to be united with Him. This desire has great value in God's presence: such people await His return more ardently; they await Jesus Christ Who must come again".
"Beloved brothers and sisters, day pilgrims and inhabitants of these valleys, brother bishops, priests, deacons, men and women religious, all of you who see before you the infinite abasement of the Son of God and the infinite glory of the Resurrection, remain in silent adoration of your Lord, our Master and Lord Jesus Christ. Remain silent, then speak and tell the world: we cannot be silent about what we know. Go and tell the whole world the marvels of God, present at every moment of our lives, in every place on earth. May God bless us and keep us, may He lead us on the path of eternal life, He who is Life, for ever and ever. Amen".
The procession over, Benedict XVI travelled to St. Joseph Hermitage where he dined and spent the night.
PV-FRANCE/PRAYER EUCHARIST/LOURDES VIS 20080915 (940)
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