VATICAN CITY, 12 MAY 2010 (VIS) - At 9.15 p.m. today, the Holy Father travelled by popemobile to the Chapel of the Apparitions at Fatima where he prayed the Rosary by torchlight with pilgrims gathered there. Before the prayer Benedict XVI blessed the candles and addressed some words to the participants.
"All of you, standing together with lighted candles in your hands", he said, "seem like a sea of light around this simple chapel, lovingly built to the honour of the Mother of God and our Mother, whose path from earth to heaven appeared to the shepherd children like a way of light.
"However", he added, "neither Mary nor we have a light of our own: we receive it from Jesus. His presence within us renews the mystery and the call of the burning bush which once drew Moses on Mount Sinai and still fascinates those aware of the light within us which burns without consuming us".
"God ordered Moses: 'Take off your shoes, for the place on which you stand is holy ground'. And that is what he did: he would put his shoes back on to free his people from slavery in Egypt and to guide them to the promised land. ... Throughout the history of the chosen people, the promise of a homeland comes more and more to mean this: the land is granted in order to be a place of obedience, a window open to God".
The Holy Father went on: "In our time, in which the faith in many places seems like a light in danger of being snuffed out for ever, the highest priority is to make God visible in the world and to open to humanity a way to God. And not to any god, but to the God who had spoken on Sinai; the God Whose face we recognise in the love borne to the very end in Jesus Christ, crucified and risen. ... Do not be afraid to talk of God and to manifest without fear the signs of faith, letting the light of Christ shine in the presence of the people of today".
"In this place it is amazing to think how three children entrusted themselves to the interior force which had enflamed them in the apparitions of the angel and of our heavenly Mother. In this place where we were repeatedly requested to recite the Rosary, let us allow ourselves to be attracted by the mysteries of Christ, the mysteries of Mary's Rosary. ... Meditating upon the joyful, luminous, sorrowful and glorious mysteries as we pray our Ave Maria, let us reflect upon the interior mystery of Jesus, from the Incarnation, through the Cross, to the glory of the Resurrection; let us contemplate the intimate participation of Mary in the mystery of our life in Christ today, a life which is also made up of joy and sorrow, of darkness and light, of fear and hope. Grace invades our hearts, provoking a wish for an incisive and evangelical change of life".
"The devotion and affection of all of you, the faithful who have come here from all around the world, is clear to me", Benedict XVI concluded. "I bring with me the worries and hopes of our times, the sufferings of our wounded humanity and the problems of the world, and I place them at the feet of Our Lady of Fatima: Virgin Mother of God and our own dear Mother, intercede for us before your Son, that the family of nations, both those called Christians and those who do not yet know the Saviour, may live in peace and harmony, in order that they come together as the one people of God".
Having prayed the Rosary, the Holy Father returned to the "Casa Nossa Senhora do Carmo" as Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B. presided at a Mass for the vigil of the Marian Solemnity of 13 May.
PV-PORTUGAL/ VIS 20100513 (670)
Thursday, May 13, 2010
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