Vatican City, 6 April 2015 (VIS) – At
midday today the Holy Father appeared at the window of his study to
pray the Regina Coeli, the prayer that substitutes the Angelus during
Easter time, with the thousands of faithful and pilgrims reunited in
St. Peter's Square. Before reciting the Marian prayer, Francis
commented on the day's Gospel reading, remarking that the angel
announced to the women in the tomb that Jesus was risen, and asked
them to take the news to the disciples and to tell them to go to
Galilee, where they would encounter the Messiah. “Today, too, He is
with us, here in the square”. The Pope also noted that this is the
announcement that the Church has repeated since the very first day.
“Christ is risen!” “It is the good news we are called upon to
take to others everywhere, inspired by the Holy Spirit. Faith in the
resurrection of Jesus and the hope that He has brought to us is the
most beautiful gift that the Christian can and must offer to his
brethren. … Christ is risen! Let us repeat this in words, but above
all with the witness of our life”.
“Let us proclaim Christ's
resurrection when His light illuminates the darkest moments of our
existence and we are able to share it with others; when we know how
to smile with those who smile, and weep with those who weep; when we
walk alongside those who are sad and at risk of losing hope; when we
recount our experience of faith to those who are in search of meaning
and happiness. With our attitude, our witness, our life, we say:
Jesus is risen! We say this with all our soul. … Easter is the
event that brought radical newness to every human being, for history
and for the world: it is the triumph of life over death; it is the
celebration of reawakening and regeneration. Let our existence be
conquered and transformed by the Resurrection!” concluded the Pope,
urging those present to pray to the Virgin Mary to “let the joy of
Easter grow in us”.
Following the Regina Coeli prayer,
Francis greeted the faithful, wishing them a happy Easter and
encouraging them to read a passage from the Gospel every day. He
addressed some words to the Shalom Movement, which has reached the
final stage of its relay race to raise public awareness of the
persecution of Christians throughout the world. “You have reached
the end of your itinerary, but we must all continue on the spiritual
path of intense prayer, concrete participation and tangible aid in
the defence and protection of our brothers and sisters who are
persecuted, exiled, killed, decapitated, for the mere fact of being
Christians. They are our present-day martyrs, and there are many of
them; indeed, we might say that there are more of them than in the
first centuries”.
Francis also urged the international
community “not to remain silent and inert in the face of this
unacceptable crime, which constitutes a worrying erosion of the most
elementary human rights. I truly hope that the international
community does not look away”.
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