IT IS FAITH WHICH GIVES US A HOME IN THIS WORLD

Vatican City,  (VIS) - Benedict XVI today made a pastoral visit to Loreto, Italy, where he entrusted to the Blessed Virgin - venerated in the famous Marian shrine there - two impending ecclesial events: the Synod of Bishops on new evangelisation which is to run from 7 to 28 October, and the Year of Faith which will begin on 11 October. The Holy Father's visit today was also intended to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of Blessed Pope John XXIII's pilgrimage to Loreto during which, on the eve of the inauguration of Vatican II, he entrusted the Council to the Virgin.

The shrine of Loreto, which has been a pilgrim destination since the fourteenth century, conserves the house where Mary lived in Nazareth, the which, according to popular pious tradition, was transported by the angels to Loreto in 1294, shortly after the definitive expulsion of the Crusaders from the Holy Land. Recent examinations of documents and archaeological remains (excavations under the Holy House), as well as philological and iconographic studies, are giving increasing weight to the hypothesis that the stones of the Holy House were transported to Loreto by ship at the initiative of the aristocratic Angelos family which then ruled the region of Epirus. Divine assistance in this undertaking remained as a symbol in the presence of angels. The House is the place where the Virgin was born, lived with St. Joseph, received the Annunciation from Gabriel and conceived the Son of God. It is therefore associated with the Mystery of the Incarnation.

Mary's house in Nazareth was composed of two parts: a grotto which is still to be seen in the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth, and a house with three stone walls. Comparative studies between the Holy House of Loreto and the grotto of Nazareth have revealed the coexistence and contiguity of the two. Another recent study on the way in which the stone has been worked - in the manner used by the Nabateans which was widespread in Galilee at Jesus' time - also confirms the popular tradition. When the three walls of the Holy House arrived in Loreto they were set up, without foundations, in a public street, but almost immediately they became the object of the extraordinary measures of care and protection afforded to a precious relic.

Benedict XVI departed from the Vatican by helicopter at 9 a.m. and arrived in Loreto an hour later, where he was welcomed by the local civil and religious authorities. He then visited the shrine where he greeted the community of Capuchin Friars before going on to adore the Blessed Sacrament and pray before Our Lady of Loreto.

At 10.30 a.m. he celebrated Mass in the Piazza della Madonna di Loreto, pronouncing a homily ample extracts of which are given below.

"On 4 October 1962, Blessed John XXIII came as a pilgrim to this Shrine to entrust to the Virgin Mary the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, due to begin a week later. ... Fifty years on, having been called by divine Providence to succeed that unforgettable Pope to the See of Peter, I too have come on pilgrimage to entrust to the Mother of God two important ecclesial initiatives: the Year of Faith, which will begin in a week, on 11 October, on the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council, and the Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, which I have convened this October with the theme “The New Evangelisation for the Transmission of the Christian Faith”".

"As I said in my Apostolic Letter announcing the Year of Faith, “I wish to invite my brother bishops from all over the world to join the Successor of Peter, during this time of spiritual grace that the Lord offers us, in recalling the precious gift of faith”. It is precisely here at Loreto that we have the opportunity to attend the school of Mary who was called “blessed” because she “believed”. ... Mary offered her very body; she placed her entire being at the disposal of God’s will, becoming the “place” of His presence, a “place” of dwelling for the Son of God. ... The will of Mary coincides with the will of the Son in the Father’s unique project of love and, in her, heaven and earth are united, God the Creator is united to His creature. God becomes man, and Mary becomes a “living house” for the Lord, a temple where the Most High dwells.

"Here at Loreto fifty years ago, Blessed John XXIII issued an invitation to contemplate this mystery. ... He went on to affirm that the aim of the Council itself was to spread ever wider the beneficial impact of the Incarnation and Redemption on all spheres of life. This invitation resounds today with particular urgency. In the present crisis affecting not only the economy but also many sectors of society, the Incarnation of the Son of God speaks to us of how important man is to God, and God to man. Without God, man ultimately chooses selfishness over solidarity and love, material things over values, having over being. We must return to God, so that man may return to being man. With God, even in difficult times or moments of crisis, there is always a horizon of hope: the Incarnation tells us that we are never alone, that God has come to humanity and that He accompanies us.

"The idea of the Son of God dwelling in the “living house”, the temple which is Mary, leads us to another thought: we must recognise that where God dwells, all are “at home”; wherever Christ dwells, His brothers and sisters are no longer strangers. ... So it is faith which gives us a home in this world, which brings us together in one family and which makes all of us brothers and sisters. As we contemplate Mary, we must ask if we too wish to be open to the Lord, if we wish to offer Him our life as His dwelling place; or if we are afraid that the presence of God may somehow place limits on our freedom, if we wish to set aside a part of our life in such a way that it belongs only to us. Yet it is precisely God Who liberates our liberty, He frees it from being closed in on itself, from the thirst for power; ... He opens it up to the dimension which completely fulfils it: the gift of self, of love, which in turn becomes service and sharing.

"Faith lets us reside, or dwell, but it also lets us walk on the path of life. The Holy House of Loreto contains an important teaching in this respect as well. Its location on a street is well known. ... It is not a private house, ... rather it is an abode open to everyone placed, as it were, on our street. So here in Loreto we find a house which lets us stay, or dwell, and which at the same time lets us continue, or journey, and reminds us that we are pilgrims, that we must always be on the way to another dwelling, towards our final home, the Eternal City, the dwelling place of God and the people He has redeemed.

"There is one more important point in the Gospel account of the Annunciation which I would like to underline, one which never fails to strike us: God asks for mankind’s “yes”; He has created a free partner in dialogue, from whom He requests a reply in complete liberty. ... God asks for Mary’s free consent that He may become man. To be sure, the “yes” of the Virgin is the fruit of divine grace. But grace does not eliminate freedom; on the contrary it creates and sustains it. Faith removes nothing from the human creature, rather it permits his full and final realisation".

"On this pilgrimage in the footsteps of Blessed John XXIII - which comes, providentially, on the day in which the Church remembers St. Francis of Assisi, a veritable “living Gospel” - I wish to entrust to the Most Holy Mother of God all the difficulties affecting our world as it seeks serenity and peace. ... I also wish to place in the hands of the Mother of God this special time of grace for the Church, now opening up before us. Mother of the “yes”, you who heard Jesus, speak to us of Him; tell us of your journey, that we may follow Him on the path of faith; help us to proclaim Him, that each person may welcome Him and become the dwelling place of God".

Following Mass, the Pope had lunch at the local John Paul II Centre. He is due to leave Loreto at 5 p.m. and to arrive back in the Vatican at 6 p.m.

THE CHURCH BECOMES FULLY VISIBLE IN THE LITURGY

Vatican City,  (VIS) - The time dedicated to liturgical prayer in the life of Christians, especially during Mass, was the central theme of Benedict XVI's catechesis during his general audience, held this morning in St. Peter's Square.

Prayer, the Pope explained, "is the living relationship of the children of God with their immeasurably good Father, with His Son Jesus Christ and with the Holy Spirit. Therefore the life of prayer consists in dwelling habitually in the presence of God and knowing Him. ... Such communion of life with the One Triune God is possible through Baptism, by which we are united to Christ, ... because only in Christ can we dialogue with God the Father as children".

For Christians prayer means "constantly gazing at Christ in ways that are ever new", said the Holy Father. "Yet we must not forget that we discover Christ and know Him as a living Person in the Church. She is 'His Body'. ... The unbreakable bond between Christ and the Church, through the unifying power of love, does not annul 'you' and 'me' but exalts them to their most intense unity. ... Praying means raising oneself to the heights of God, by means of a necessary and gradual transformation of our being".

By participating in the liturgy "we make the language of mother Church our own, we learn to speak in her and for her. Of course this comes about gradually, little by little. I must progressively immerse myself into the words of the Church with my prayers, life and suffering, with my joy and my thoughts. This is a journey which transforms us", the Pope said.

The question of "how to pray" is answered by following the Our Father, the prayer which Jesus taught us. "We see that its first two words are 'Father' and 'our', and the response then becomes clear: I learn to pray and I nourish my prayer by addressing myself to God as Father, and by praying with others, with the Church, accepting the gift of her words, which little by little become familiar and rich in meaning. The dialogue God establishes with each one of us in prayer, and we with Him, always includes a 'with'. We cannot pray to God individualistically. In liturgical prayer, especially the Eucharist, ... in all prayer, we speak not only as single individuals, but enter into that 'us' which is the prayerful Church".

The liturgy, then, "is not some form of 'self-expression' of a community. ... It means entering into that great living community in which God Himself nourishes us. The liturgy implies universality", and it "is important for all Christians to feel that they are truly part of this universal 'us', which is the foundation and refuge for the 'me', in the Body of Christ which is the Church".

To do this we must accept the logic of the incarnation of God, Who "came close to us, making Himself present in history and in human nature. ... This presence continues in the Church, His Body. The liturgy, then, is not the recollection of past events but the living presence of Christ's Paschal Mystery which transcends and unites time and space".

"It is not the individual priest or member of the faithful, or the group, which celebrates the liturgy. Rather, the liturgy is primarily the action of God through the Church with all her history, her rich tradition and her creativity. This universality and fundamental openness, which is specific to all the liturgy, is one of the reasons for which it cannot be invented or modified by a single community or by experts, but must remain faithful to the forms of the universal Church".

The Church becomes fully visible in the liturgy, the Holy Father concluded, "the act by which we believe that God enters our lives and we can encounter Him. The act in which ... He comes to us and we are illuminated by Him".

POPE ASKS FAITHFUL TO PRAY FOR YEAR OF FAITH, SYNOD OF BISHOPS

Vatican City,  (VIS) - Following his catechesis during his general audience this morning, the Pope mentioned his visit tomorrow to Loreto, Italy, "on the fiftieth anniversary of the famous pilgrimage made to that Marian shrine by Blessed Pope John XXIII, a week before the opening of Vatican Council II".

Benedict XVI asked everyone to join his prayers "entrusting to the Mother of God the main ecclesial events we are preparing to experience: the Year of Faith, and the Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelisation. May the Blessed Virgin accompany the Church on her mission to announce the Gospel to the men and women of our time".

BENEDICT XVI'S PRAYER INTENTIONS FOR OCTOBER

Vatican City,  (VIS) - Pope Benedict's general prayer intention for October is: "That the new evangelisation may progress in the oldest Christian countries".

His mission intention is: "That the celebration of World Mission Day may result in a renewed commitment to evangelisation".

THREE CARDINALS TO TAKE POSSESSION OF TITLES, DIACONATES

Vatican City,  (VIS) - A note released today by the Office of Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff provides details concerning the taking of possession of the following titles and diaconates:

- At 6 p.m. on Monday 8 October Cardinal Lucian Muresan, major archbishop of Fagaras and Alba Julia of the Romanians, Romania, will take possession of the title of Sant’Atanasio, Via del Babuino 149, Rome.

- At 4 p.m. on Sunday 14 October Cardinal George Alencherry, major archbishop of Ernakulam-Angamaly of the Syro-Malabars, India, will take possession of the title of San Bernardo alle Terme, Via Torino 94, Rome.

- At 6.30 p.m. on Saturday 20 October Cardinal Julien Ries, will take possession of the diaconate of Sant’Antonio di Padova a Circonvallazione Appia, Circonvallazione Appia 150, Rome.