The rosary recited in front of the original statue of Our Lady of Fatima. For the Jubilee of Marian Spirituality Pope Leo wanted a prayer vigil. Before the celebration he offered, as is the custom of Pontiffs, the golden rose to the statue. Then he gathered in prayer, together with «Mary the Mother of Jesus, with the whole square just as, underlines the Pope, «the first Church of Jerusalem used to do. All together”, he continues, “perseverant and in agreement, nWe never tire of interceding for peace, a gift from God which must become our conquest and our commitment.”
Then remember that authentic Marian spirituality looks to Mary’s virtues, the human and evangelical ones, to imitate them. Only this “constitutes the most authentic Marian devotion”. And then Leone talks about welcome. “Like her, the first of believers, we want to be the welcoming lap of the Most High.” And, therefore, says the Pope, «we ask for the gift of a heart that listens and becomes a fragment of the hospitable cosmos. Through her, a sorrowful, strong, faithful woman, we ask that we obtain the gift of compassion towards every brother and sister who suffers and for all creatures.». Looking at her and the other women who stood under the cross, the Pontiff asks that we all learn to “pause like them next to the infinite crosses of the world, where Christ is still crucified in his brothers, to bring you comfort, communion and help”. He quotes the words of Father David Maria Turoldo to say to Mary:
«Mother, you are every woman who loves;
mother, you are every mother who cries
a son killed, a son betrayed.
These children never stopped killing.”
And among Mary’s words he cites, instead, those at the wedding at Cana «when, pointing to Jesus, he says to the servants: “Whatever he tells you, do it.” Then he won’t speak anymore. Therefore these words, which are almost a will, must be dear to the children, like every will from a mother. Whatever He tells you. She is certain that the Son will speak, his Word is not finished, it still creates, generates, works, fills the world with springs and the amphorae of the celebration with wine. Mary, like an indicator signal, orients beyond herself, shows that the point of arrival is the Lord Jesus and his Word, the center towards which everything converges, the axis around which time and eternity rotate.”
AND doing the Word of Jesus means doing the Gospel, making it «gesture and body, blood and flesh, effort and smile. Do the Gospel, and your life will be transformed, from empty to full, from off to on. Do whatever he tells you: the whole Gospel, the demanding word, the consoling caress, the rebuke and the embrace. What you understand and also what you don’t understand. Mary urges us to be like the prophets: not to let a single one of her words go to waste.”
One in particular resonates in these times of crisis: «The one addressed to Peter in the garden of olive trees: “Put the sword away.” Disarm the hand and before that the heart. As I have already had the opportunity to recall on other occasions, peace is disarmed and disarming. It is not deterrence, but brotherhood, it is not ultimatum, but dialogue. It will not come as the fruit of victories over the enemy, but as the result of sowing seeds of justice and courageous forgiveness.”
That «put away the sword», insists Leone, «it is a word addressed to the powerful of the world, to those who guide the fate of the people: have the audacity to disarm! And it is addressed at the same time to each of us, to make us increasingly aware that we cannot kill for any idea, or faith, or politics. First of all, the heart needs to be disarmed, because if there is no peace within us, we will not provide peace.” If the great people of the world build empires “with power and money”, Jesus warns: “But do not do this”. Because «God doesn’t do this: the Master has no thrones, but he wraps himself in a towel and kneels at everyone’s feet. His empire is just enough space to wash his friends’ feet and take care of them. It is also the invitation to acquire a different point of view to look at the world from below, with the eyes of those who suffer, not with the perspective of adults; to look at history with the eyes of the little ones and not with the perspective of the powerful; For interpret the events of the story from the point of view of the widow, the orphan, the stranger, the wounded child, the exile, the fugitive. With the look of someone who is shipwrecked, of poor Lazarus, thrown at the door of the rich man. Otherwise nothing will ever change, and a new time, a kingdom of justice and peace will not arise.”.
Mary leads the way for us, because she, in the Canticle of the Magnificat, places «her gaze on the fracture points of humanity, where the distortion of the world occurs, in the contrast between the humble and the powerful, between the poor and the rich, between the full and the hungry. And she chooses the little ones, she is on the side of the last in history, to teach us to imagine, to dream with her of new skies and a new earth.”
We must commit ourselves, explains Leone «so that the great word of the Lord becomes our flesh and passion, history and action: “Blessed are you, peacemakers”. Blessed are you: God gives joy to those who produce love in the world, joy to those who prefer peace with him to victory over the enemy». And even if it seems that things are getting worse and worse, we must not be discouraged, but continue walking. The invitation is aimed at those who build «the conditions for a future of peace, justice and forgiveness; be gentle and determined, don’t give up», says Leone. Because «peace is a journey and God walks with you. The Lord creates and spreads peace through his friends who are pacified in their hearts, who in turn become peacemakers, instruments of his peace.”
Finally, to Mary, Mother of Jesus and our Mother, “a deeply pacified woman, Queen of peace”, the Pontiff addresses a heartfelt invitation:
«Pray with us», she says, «Faithful woman, sacred womb to the Word.
Teach us to listen to the cry of the poor and of Mother Earth,
attentive to the calls of the Spirit in the secret of the heart,
in the lives of brothers, in the events of history,
in the groan and jubilation of creation.
Holy Mary, mother of the living,
strong, sorrowful, faithful woman,
Virgin bride at the Cross
where love is consumed and life flows,
be the leader of our service commitment.
Teach us to stop with you at the infinite crosses
where your Son is still crucified,
where life is most threatened;
to live and bear witness to Christian love
welcoming a brother in every man;
to renounce dull selfishness
to follow Christ, true light of man.
Virgin of peace, door of sure hope,
Welcome the prayers of your children!
