After the
Mass of Canonization of St. Giuseppe Moscati
AND TELL HER HOW THINGS ARE
On Sunday, 25 October,
after the Mass of Canonization, the Holy Father recited the Angelus. He introduced the prayer as follows:
Dear
Brothers and Sisters,
1.
Our thoughts today turn to the Sanctuary of the Blessed Virgin of the Rosary in
Pompei, a Sanctuary which was very dear to Doctor Moscati, whom I have had the
joy of proclaiming a saint this morning.
He often stopped there when travelling to Amalfi,
Today, we too wish to go spiritually to that centre of Marian devotion,
to open our hearts to the Madonna and tell her “things as they are”. The Sanctuary of Pompei, with its vast impact
on the international level, with the multitudes of pilgrims converging there,
with the great complex of works that surround it, witnesses to the powerful
energies that the cult of Mary is capable of awakening, energies which, in the
last analysis, are embodied in a burning love for man, for the whole man, in
his spiritual and in his social and temporal dimensions.
At
the origin of the work of Bartolo Longo there is, as is well known, love for
man, for suffering man of the
This
very painting was soon to become the hub of the movement of worship and charity
on an international level. According to
Bartolo Longo's illuminated intuition, Marian devotion and the pious exercise
of the Rosary were to be - not only for the poor peasants of the Valley of
Pompei, but for the whole Church and all of society - an extraordinarily
effective means for human advancement and universal peace.
We
wish today to accept the invitation, which comes to us from Blessed Bartolo
Longo and from the new Saint, Doctor Giuseppe Moscati, to renew our devotion to
Mary. The Madonna of Pompei, venerated
under the title of “Virgin of the Rosary”, indicates to us a privileged way to
progress in our devotion to her and to deepen our relationship of faith and
love with her Son Jesus: “the Rosary”.
The
contemplation of the mysteries from which the history of our salvation unwinds,
the invocation of God the Father with the very words Jesus has taught us, the
rhythmic flow of the “Hail Mary” - as it were a garland of roses gathered round
the purest, the most beautiful, the holiest of all women - the final doxology
glorifying the Divine Trinity: all of
this makes the Rosary a prayer extraordinarily rich in content, even in the
simplicity of its structure which permits its recitation in the most varied
circumstances.
Let
us take the Rosary in hand again, beloved brothers and sisters, to express our
veneration of Mary, to learn from her to be diligent disciples of our Divine
Master, to implore her heavenly aid in our daily necessities as well as in the
great problems that trouble the Church and all mankind.
After the angelus
I greet all the bishops, priests and faithful
of