Vatican
City, 24 July 2013 (VIS) – The Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida,
patron of Brazil, was the scene of the first public Mass celebrated
by Pope Francis on the American continent. The Pope wished to include
a visit to this sanctuary, of great importance to Brazilians and to
Catholics throughout the continent, on the itinerary for his
apostolic trip on the occasion of World Youth Day.
The
story of Our Lady of Aparecida dates back to 1717 when, after several
fruitless attempts at fishing in the River Paraiba, three fishermen
cast their net and pulled it back to find a statue of the Virgin,
without a head. Upon their next cast they found the head of the
statue. Casting the net a third time, they brought it to shore full
of fish. The statue, to which the 'miraculous' haul was attributed,
remained for fifteen years in the house of one of the fishermen, and
his neighbours gathered there to pray the Rosary. With the grace
received, devotion to Our Lady Aparecida gradually spread throughout
the various regions of Brazil. In 1734 a Chapel was built, and
construction of the existing “Old Basilica” began in 1834. The
image of the Virgin was crowned in 1904, and in 1929 Pope Pius XI
proclaimed Our Lady Aparecida the “Queen and patron of Brazil”.
The bishops and redemptorist missionaries initiated the construction
of the existing “New Basilica”, the world's largest marian
structure, in 1955, and it was blessed by John Paul II during his
apostolic voyage to Brazil in 1980. The sanctuary is visited by over
seven million pilgrims each year. On 13 May 2007 Pope Benedict XVI
inaugurated in Aparecida the work of the Fifth General Conference of
the Bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean, which established
pastoral guidelines for the continent for the coming years.
Pope
Francis arrived at the shrine at 10.00 a.m. (local time; 15.00 Rome
time), where he was welcomed by the rector. He went to the Room of
the Twelve Apostles to pray for a minute before the image of Our Lady
of Aparecida. The Holy Mass – which was attended only by the
bishops of the province, as the prelates of World Youth Day were
engaged in the catechesis sessions in Rio de Janeiro – began at
10.30 a.m.
The
Holy Father began his homily by recalling that, on the day following
his election as Bishop of Rome, he went to the Basilica of St. Mary
Major in Rome to entrust his ministry to the Virgin. This time he has
come to Aparecida to “ask Mary our Mother for the success of World
Youth Day and to place at her feet the life of the people of Latin
America”. Afterwards, referring to the Fifth General Conference of
the Bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean, in which he
participated, he said that “something beautiful took place here. …
I saw how the Bishops – who were discussing the theme of
encountering Christ, discipleship and mission – felt encouraged,
supported and in some way inspired by the thousands of pilgrims who
came here day after day to entrust their lives to Our Lady. That
Conference was a great moment of Church. It can truly be said that
the Aparecida Document was born of this interplay between the labours
of the bishops and the simple faith of the pilgrims, under Mary’s
maternal protection. When the Church looks for Jesus, she always
knocks at his Mother’s door and asks: “Show us Jesus”. It is
from Mary that the Church learns true discipleship. That is why the
Church always goes out on mission in the footsteps of Mary”.
He
continued, “Today, looking forward to the World Youth Day which has
brought me to Brazil, I too come to knock on the door of the house of
Mary – who loved and raised Jesus – that she may help all of us,
pastors of God’s people, parents and educators, to pass on to our
young people the values that can help them build a nation and a world
which are more just, united and fraternal. For this reason I would
like to speak of three simple attitudes, … : hopefulness, openness
to being surprised by God, and living in joy”.
To
explain the first of these attitudes, hopefulness, the Pope spoke
about the second reading of the Mass, which presents a dramatic
scene: a woman – an image of Mary and the Church – being pursued
by a Dragon – the devil – who wants to devour her child. “But
the scene is not one of death but of life, because God intervenes and
saves the child. How many difficulties are present in the life of
every individual, among our people, in our communities; yet as great
as these may seem, God never allows us to be overwhelmed by them. In
the face of those moments of discouragement we experience in life, in
our efforts to evangelize or to embody our faith as parents within
the family, I would like to say forcefully: Always know in your heart
that God is by your side; he never abandons you! Let us never lose
hope! Let us never allow it to die in our hearts! The 'dragon',
evil, is present in our history, but it does not have the upper hand.
The one with the upper hand is God, and God is our hope!”
“It
is true that nowadays, to some extent, everyone, including our young
people, feels attracted by the many idols which take the place of God
and appear to offer hope: money, success, power, pleasure. Often a
growing sense of loneliness and emptiness in the hearts of many
people leads them to seek satisfaction in these ephemeral idols. Dear
brothers and sisters, let us be lights of hope! Let us maintain a
positive outlook on reality. Let us encourage the generosity which is
typical of the young and help them to work actively in building a
better world. Young people are a powerful engine for the Church and
for society. They do not need material things alone; also and above
all, they need to have held up to them those non-material values
which are the spiritual heart of a people, the memory of a people. In
this Shrine, which is part of the memory of Brazil, we can almost
read those values: spirituality, generosity, solidarity,
perseverance, fraternity, joy; they are values whose deepest root is
in the Christian faith”.
Moving
on to the second attitude, openness to being surprised by God, the
Pope said, “Anyone who is a man or a woman of hope – the great
hope which faith gives us – knows that even in the midst of
difficulties God acts and he surprises us. The history of this Shrine
is a good example: three fishermen, after a day of catching no fish,
found something unexpected in the waters of the Parnaiba River: an
image of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception. Whoever would have
thought that the site of a fruitless fishing expedition would become
the place where all Brazilians can feel that they are children of one
Mother? God always surprises us, like the new wine in the Gospel we
have just heard. God always saves the best for us. But he asks us to
let ourselves be surprised by his love, to accept his surprises. Let
us trust God! Cut off from him, the wine of joy, the wine of hope,
runs out. If we draw near to him, if we stay with him, what seems to
be cold water, difficulty, sin, is changed into the new wine of
friendship with him”.
Finally,
the third attitude relates to living in joy. “If we walk in hope,
allowing ourselves to be surprised by the new wine which Jesus offers
us, we have joy in our hearts and we cannot fail to be witnesses of
this joy. Christians are joyful, they are never gloomy. God is at our
side. We have a Mother who always intercedes for the life of her
children. ... Jesus has shown us that the face of God is that of a
loving Father. Sin and death have been defeated. Christians cannot be
pessimists! They do not look like someone in constant mourning. If we
are truly in love with Christ and if we sense how much he loves us,
our heart will 'light up' with a joy that spreads to everyone around
us”.
“We
have come to knock at the door of Mary’s house”, Francis
concluded. She has opened it for us, she has let us in and she shows
us her Son. Now she asks us to 'do whatever he tells you'. Yes, dear
Mother, we are committed to doing whatever Jesus tells us! And we
will do it with hope, trusting in God’s surprises and full of joy”.
After
the Holy Mass, the Pope appeared on the balcony of the sanctuary to
bless the faithful present, and to greet the thousands of faithful
and pilgrims who were unable to enter and who followed the ceremony
outside under pouring rain. He added a few improvised words in
Spanish, promising at the end that he would return to Aparecida for
the 300th anniversary of the discovery of the statue of Maria.
“Irmaos
e Irmas … Irmaos e Irmas, eu nao falo brasileiro” (“Brothers
and sisters, I don't speak Brazilian, ed.”). Forgive me, I will
speak to you in Spanish. Obrigado (thank you, ed.) for being here. I
thank you from my heart, with all my heart, and I ask that the
Virgin, Our Lady of Aparecida, bless you, that she bless your
families, that she bless your children, that she bless your parents,
that she bless your homeland. Let's see, now I will know if you
understand me. I have one question – does a mother forget her
children? She does not forget us: she loves and cares for us. Now we
ask for the blessing, the blessing of God Almighty. May the Father
and the Son and the Holy Spirit descend upon you, forever. I ask a
favour of you – pray for me, pray for me, I need your prayers. May
God bless you, and may Our Lady of Aparecida care for you. Until
2017, when I will return”.
The
Holy Father then proceeded by Popemobile to the Missionary Seminary
of Bom Jesus, a distance of three kilometres, to have lunch with the
bishops of the province and the seminarians. Upon arrival he blessed
an image of Frei Galvao (St. Antonio de Santana Galvao, canonised by
Pope Benedict XVI in Sao Paulo during his apostolic trip in 2007),
which is located in the sanctuary dedicated to the saint in the town
of Guaratingueta.
After
lunch, the Pope returned to the heliport near Aparecida and from
there, returned by helicopter to Rio de Janeiro to visit the San
Francisco de Asis Hospital.
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