Vatican City, 8 February 2014 (VIS) –
The Church in Sri Lanka was consecrated to the Virgin seventy-five
years ago, and to mark this occasion, the faithful of the island have
made a pilgrimage to Rome, where they were greeted this morning by
Pope Francis in St. Peter's Basilica. The Holy Father commented that
shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War, the archbishop
of Colombo, Jean-Marie Masson, made a vow to build a shrine in honour
of Our Lady if the island were preserved from foreign invasion. So it
came about that after the end of the war the Shrine of Our Lady of
Lanka at Tewatte was constructed.
“Our Lady is always close to us, she
looks upon each one of us with maternal love and accompanies us
always on our journey”, said the Pontiff. “Do not hesitate to
turn to her for every need, especially when the burden of life with
all its problems makes itself felt”.
“Your homeland is called the Pearl of
the Indian Ocean, on account of its natural beauty and its shape”,
he continued. “They say that the pearl is formed from the tears of
the oyster. Unfortunately, many tears have been shed in recent years,
on account of the internal conflict which caused so many victims and
so much damage. It is not easy, I know, to heal the wounds and
cooperate with yesterday’s enemy to build tomorrow together, but it
is the only path that gives hope for the future, for development and
for peace. For this reason, I assure you that you have a particular
place in my prayer. I ask the Lord to grant you the gift of peace and
reconciliation, and to help you in your effort to ensure a better
future for all who live in Sri Lanka”.
The Pope concluded by entrusting the
faithful to the maternal intercession of Mary, Our Lady of Lanka, and
asked them to pray for him.
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