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Mother Mary: Inspiring Words from Pope Francis
By Pope Francis Franciscan Media
Copyright © 2017 Franciscan Media
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-63253-056-1
CHAPTER 1
~ Handmaid of the Lord ~
HAIL MARY
On March 25 in the Church, we solemnly celebrate the Annunciation; the mystery of the Incarnation begins. The Archangel Gabriel visits a humble girl in Nazareth and proclaims to her that she will conceive and bear the Son of God. With this Annunciation, the Lord illuminates and strengthens Mary's faith, as he will also do for her spouse, Joseph, so that Jesus could be born into a human family.
This is very beautiful: it shows us how deeply the mystery of the Incarnation, as God desired, encompasses not only conception in the mother's womb, but also acceptance in a real family. Today, I would like to contemplate with you the beauty of this bond, the beauty of God's condescension; and we can do this by reciting the Hail Mary together, the first part of which takes up the words of the angel, those he addressed to the Virgin. I invite you to pray together:
"Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen."
Jesus, Mary and Joseph, in you we contemplate the splendor of true love, to you we turn with trust.
GENERAL AUDIENCE, ST. PETER'S SQUARE, VATICAN CITY WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2015
GOD COMES TO DWELL IN US
Mary first conceived Jesus in faith and then in the flesh, when she said "yes" to the message God gave her through the angel. What does this mean? It means that God did not want to become man by bypassing our freedom; he wanted to pass through Mary's free assent, through her "yes." He asked her: "Are you prepared to do this?" And she replied: "Yes."
But what took place most singularly in the Virgin Mary also takes place within us, spiritually, when we receive the Word of God with a good and sincere heart and put it into practice. It is as if God takes flesh within us; he comes to dwell in us, for he dwells in all who love him and keep his word. It is not easy to understand this, but really, it is easy to feel it in our heart.
PRAYER FOR MARIAN DAY, ST. PETER'S SQUARE SATURDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2013
THE HANDMAID OF THE LORD
The Gospel of St. Luke presents us with Mary, a girl from Nazareth, a small town in Galilee, in the outskirts of the Roman Empire and on the outskirts of Israel as well. A village. Yet the Lord's gaze rested on her, on this little girl from that distant village, on the one he had chosen to be the Mother of his Son. In view of this motherhood, Mary was preserved from original sin, from that fracture in communion with God, with others and with creation, which deeply wounds every human being. But this fracture was healed in advance in the Mother of the One who came to free us from the slavery of sin. The Immaculata was written in God's design; she is the fruit of God's love that saves the world.
And Our Lady never distanced herself from that love: throughout her life her whole being is a "yes" to that love, it is the "yes" to God. But that didn't make life easy for her! When the angel calls her "full of grace" (Luke 1:28), she is "greatly troubled" for, in her humility, she feels she is nothing before God. The angel consoles her: "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus" (v. 30, 31). This announcement troubles her even more because she was not yet married to Joseph; but the angel adds: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you ... therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God" (v. 35). Mary listens, interiorly obeys, and responds: "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word" (v. 38).
ANGELUS, ST. PETER'S SQUARE SUNDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2013, SOLEMNITY OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION
THE HUMBLE WOMAN OF NAZARETH
On this first day of the year, in the joyful — albeit cold — atmosphere of Christmas, the Church invites us to fix our gaze of faith and of love on the Mother of Jesus. In her, the humble woman of Nazareth, "the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us" (John 1:14). Because of this it is impossible to separate contemplating Jesus, the Word of Life who has become visible and tangible (cf. 1 John 1:1), from contemplating Mary, who has given him her love and his human flesh.
ANGELUS, ST. PETER'S SQUARE THURSDAY, JANUARY 1, 2015, SOLEMNITY OF MARY, MOTHER OF GOD
Pope Francis @Pontifex · August 15, 2015 Mary's life shows that God accomplishes great deeds through those who are the most humble.
JESUS IS COMING!
Mary teaches us to seize the right moment when Jesus comes into our life and asks for a ready and generous answer. And Jesus is coming. Indeed, the mystery of the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem took place historically more than 2,000 years ago but occurs as a spiritual event in the "today" of the Liturgy. The Word, who found a home in the virgin womb of Mary, comes in the celebration of Christmas to knock once again at the heart of every Christian. He comes and knocks. Each of us is called to respond, like Mary, with a personal and sincere "yes," placing oneself fully at the disposal of God and of his mercy, of his love.
How many times Jesus comes into our lives, and how many times he sends us an angel, and how many times we don't notice because we are so taken, immersed in our own thoughts, in our own affairs and even, in these days, in our Christmas preparations, so as not to notice him who comes and knocks at the door of our hearts, asking for acceptance, asking for a "yes" like Mary's.
ANGELUS, ST. PETER'S SQUARE SUNDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2014
EVERYTHING IS GRACE
The message of today's Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary can be summed up in these words: everything is a free gift from God, everything is grace, everything is a gift out of his love for us. The angel Gabriel calls Mary "full of grace" (Luke 1:28): in her there is no room for sin, because God chose her from eternity to be the Mother of Jesus and preserved her from original sin. And Mary corresponds to the grace and abandons herself, saying to the angel: "Let it be done to me according to your word" (Luke 38). She does not say: "I shall do it according to your word." No! But: "Let it be done to me. ..." And the Word was made flesh in her womb.
ANGELUS, ST. PETER'S SQUARE MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014, SOLEMNITY OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION
Pope Francis @Pontifex · December 30, 2013 Our Mother Mary is full of beauty because she is full of grace.
A LUMINOUS EVENT
The Angelus prayer is a beautiful popular expression of the faith. It is a simple prayer, recited at three specific times during the day. It thus punctuates the rhythm of our daily activities: in the morning, at midday, and at sunset. But it is an important prayer. I encourage each of you to recite it, along with the Hail Mary. It reminds us of a luminous event which transformed history: the Incarnation, the moment when the Son of God became man in Jesus of Nazareth.
ANGELUS, ARCHBISHOP'S RESIDENCE, ST. JOAQUIN, RIO DE JANIERO, BRAZIL FRIDAY, JULY 26, 2013
TRANSFORMED BY LOVE
The mystery of this girl from Nazareth, who is in the heart of God, is not estranged from us. She is not there and we over here. No, we are connected. Indeed, God rests his loving gaze on every man and every woman! By name and surname. His gaze of love is on every one of us....
On this solemnity, then, by contemplating our beautiful Immaculate Mother, let us also recognize our truest destiny, our deepest vocation: to be loved, to be transformed by love, to be transformed by the beauty of God. Let us look to her, our Mother, and allow her to look upon us, for she is our Mother and she loves us so much; let us allow ourselves to be watched over by her so that we may learn how to be more humble, and also more courageous in following the Word of God; to welcome the tender embrace of her Son Jesus, an embrace that gives us life, hope and peace.
ANGELUS, ST. PETER'S SQUARE SUNDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2013, SOLEMNITY OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION
MARY IS CLOSE TO US
The Mother of God. This is the first and most important title of Our Lady. It refers to a quality, a role which the faith of the Christian people, in its tender and genuine devotion to our heavenly Mother, has understood from the beginning....
Mary has always been present in the hearts, the piety and above all the pilgrimage of faith of the Christian people. "The Church journeys through time ... and on this journey she proceeds along the path already trodden by the Virgin Mary" (Redemptoris Mater, 2). Our journey of faith is the same as that of Mary, and so we feel that she is particularly close to us.
HOMILY, VATICAN BASILICA, VATICAN CITY WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 1, 2014, SOLEMNITY OF MARY, MOTHER OF GOD
WE MUST IMITATE MARY
St. Luke says that Mary, with Jesus in her womb, arose and went in haste to serve her cousin Elizabeth who, in her old age, was about to become a mother (cf. Luke 1:39–45). She did God's will by making herself available to those who needed her. She did not think of herself; she overcame adversity and gave herself to others.
Victory is for those who continually arise without being discouraged. If we imitate Mary, we cannot keep our arms folded, only complaining, or perhaps dodging the hard work that others do and which is our responsibility. This is not about doing great things, but about doing everything with tenderness and mercy.
Mary was always with her people supporting the least. She knew loneliness, poverty and exile, and she learned to create fraternity and to make her home in any place where goodness took root. Let us beseech her to give us a poor spirit which is not proud, a pure heart that sees God in the face of the neediest, and great patience that we may not shrink when confronted with life's difficulties.
MESSAGE TO THE CUBAN EPISCOPAL CONFERENCE, FROM VATICAN CITY MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2014
MARY'S "YES"
We have just heard how Mary went to meet her cousin Elizabeth. She set out without delay, without doubts, without lessening her pace, to be with her relative who was in the last months of her pregnancy.
Mary's encounter with the angel did not hold her back since she did not consider herself privileged, or make her hesitate in leaving those around her. On the contrary, it renewed and inspired an attitude for which Mary is and always will be known: she is the woman who says "yes," a "yes" of surrender to God and, at the same time, a "yes" of surrender to her brothers and sisters.
HOMILY, BASILICA OF OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE, MEXICO CITY SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2016
Pope Francis @Pontifex · April 23, 2013 Mary is the one who says "yes." Mary, help us to come to know the voice of Jesus better, and to follow it.
BLESSED AMONG WOMEN
Today, we are reminded of the words of blessing which Elizabeth spoke to the Virgin Mary: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me?" (Luke 1:42–43).
This blessing is in continuity with the priestly blessing which God had given to Moses to be passed on to Aaron and to all the people: "The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace" (Numbers 6:24–26). In celebrating the Solemnity of Mary Most Holy, the Holy Mother of God, the Church reminds us that Mary, more than anyone else, received this blessing. In her, the blessing finds fulfillment, for no other creature has ever seen God's face shine upon it as did Mary. She gave a human face to the eternal Word, so that all of us can contemplate him.
HOMILY, VATICAN BASILICA THURSDAY, JANUARY 1, 2015, SOLEMNITY OF MARY, MOTHER OF GOD
HASTEN OUR STEPS TO BETHLEHEM
May the Virgin Mary help us to hasten our steps to Bethlehem, to encounter the Child who is born for us, for the salvation and joy of all people. To her the angel said: "Hail, full of grace: the Lord is with you" (Luke 1:28). May she obtain for us the grace to live the joy of the Gospel in our families, at work, in the parish and everywhere. An intimate joy, fashioned of wonder and tenderness. The joy a mother experiences when she looks at her newborn baby and feels that he or she is a gift from God, a miracle for which she can give only thanks!
ANGELUS, ST. PETER'S SQUARE THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT, DECEMBER 15, 2013
GOD HAS DONE MARVELOUS THINGS!
In the Psalm we said: "Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things" (Psalm 98:1).
Today we consider one of the marvelous things which the Lord has done: Mary! A lowly and weak creature like ourselves, she was chosen to be the Mother of God, the Mother of her Creator....
At the message of the angel, she does not hide her surprise. It is the astonishment of realizing that God, to become man, had chosen her, a simple maid of Nazareth; not someone who lived in a palace amid power and riches, or one who had done extraordinary things, but simply someone who was open to God and put her trust in him, even without understanding everything: "Here I am, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word" (Luke 1:38). That was her answer.
HOMILY FOR MARIAN DAY, ST. PETER'S SQUARE SUNDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2013
A FAITH WHICH UNITES US
I would like to think for a moment about Joseph and Mary in Bethlehem. They were forced to leave home, families and friends. They had to leave all that they had and they had to go somewhere else, to a place where they knew no one, a place where they had no house, no family. That was when that young couple had Jesus. That was how, having made preparations as best they could in a cave, they gave us Jesus. They were alone, in a strange land, just the three of them. Then, all of a sudden, people began to appear: shepherds, people just like them who had to leave their homes to find better opportunities for their families....
I come to you here like those shepherds who went to Bethlehem. I want to be your neighbor. I want to bless your faith, your hands and your community. I come to join you in giving thanks, because faith has become hope, and hope in turn kindles love. ... This is the faith which unites us in solidarity, it unites us to our elder brother, Jesus, and our Mother, the Blessed Virgin.
ADDRESS TO THE PEOPLE OF BAÑADO NORTE, ASUNCIÓN, PARAGUAY SUNDAY, JULY 12, 2015
A SIGN OF HOPE
Let us always have at heart the Virgin Mary, a humble girl from small people lost on the fringes of a great empire, a homeless mother who could turn a stable for beasts into a home for Jesus with just a few swaddling clothes and much tenderness. Mary is a sign of hope for peoples suffering the birth pangs of justice.
ADDRESS, WORLD MEETING OF POPULAR MOVEMENTS, SANTA CRUZ DE LA SIERRA, BOLIVIA THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2015
CONTEMPLATING THE NATIVITY SCENE
Isaiah's prophecy announces the rising of a great light which breaks through the night. This light is born in Bethlehem and is welcomed by the loving arms of Mary, by the love of Joseph, by the wonder of the shepherds....
The question put to us simply by the Infant's presence is: Do I allow God to love me? ...
Dear brothers and sisters, on this holy night we contemplate the Nativity scene: there "the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light" (Isaiah 9:1). People who were unassuming, people open to receiving the gift of God, were the ones who saw this light. This light was not seen, however, by the arrogant, the proud, by those who made laws according to their own personal measures, who were closed off to others. Let us look to the crib and pray, asking the Blessed Mother: "O Mary, show us Jesus!"
HOMILY, MIDNIGHT MASS, VATICAN BASILICA WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2014, SOLEMNITY OF THE NATIVITY OF THE LORD
MARY PRESENTS JESUS TO THE WORLD
In these days, the Church's liturgy sets before our eyes the icon of the Virgin Mary, Mother of God. The first day of the year is the feast of the Mother of God, followed by the Epiphany, commemorating the visit of the Magi. The Evangelist Matthew writes: "Going into the house they saw the child with Mary, his Mother, and they fell down and worshipped him" (Matthew 2:11). It is the Mother who, after giving birth to him, presents the Son to the world. She gives us Jesus, she shows us Jesus, she lets us see Jesus.
GENERAL AUDIENCE, PAUL VI AUDIENCE HALL, VATICAN CITY WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 7, 2015
AN ICON OF LOVE
The Baby Jesus with his Mother Mary and with St. Joseph are a simple but so luminous icon of the family. The light it casts is the light of mercy and salvation for all the world, the light of truth for every man, for the human family and for individual families. This light which comes from the Holy Family encourages us to offer human warmth in those family situations in which, for various reasons, peace is lacking, harmony is lacking, and forgiveness is lacking. May our concrete solidarity not diminish, especially with regard to the families who are experiencing more difficult situations due to illness, unemployment, discrimination, the need to emigrate....
Let us entrust to Mary, Queen and Mother of the family, all the families of the world, that they may live in faith, in accord, in reciprocal aid; and, for this, I invoke upon them the maternal protection of the One who was the mother and daughter of her Son.
ANGELUS, ST. PETER'S SQUARE SUNDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2014, FEAST OF THE HOLY FAMILY
(Continues...)
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