POPE FRANCIS IN ROME. On 8 December Pope Francis visited the Basilica of Saint Mary Major, the principal Marian shrine in Rome, which houses the picture of María Salus Populi Romani, before heading to Piazza di Spagna for the traditional veneration of the Immaculate Conception. He placed a flower offering at the feet of the monument dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The pontiff asked Mary to intercede for God’s people to “go against the current” in the lead up to Christmas,” asking her “to teach us to uncover ourselves, prostrate, give of self, listen and be silent, not be the centre, to make space for the beauty of God, the source of true joy.”
Francis composed a prayer for the occasion and prayed it. We publish it here.
Oh Mary, our Mother,
today the people of God, in celebration,
venerate you, the Immaculate
preserved since the beginning of time from the contagion of sin.
Accept the homage I pay you today
in the name of the Church that is in Rome
and the whole world.
Knowing that you, who are our Mother, are totally free from sin
gives us great consolation.
Knowing that evil has no power over you
fills us with hope and strength
in the daily battle that we have to fight
against the threat of evil.
But we are not alone in this battle, we are not orphans,
because Jesus, before dying on the cross,
gave you to us as our Mother.
We, therefore, and despite being sinners, are your children,
children of the Immaculate,
called to this sanctity that radiates from you
by the grace of God from the beginning.
Encouraged by this hope,
we invoke your motherly protection for us, our families,
for this city, for the entire world.
The power of God’s love
that has preserved you from original sin,
frees humanity, through your intercession, from all spiritual and material slavery,
so that God’s plan of salvation is victorious in hearts and actions.
Also make it that grace prevails over pride in us, your children,
and that we can be merciful,
as our heavenly Father is merciful.
During this time that leads
to the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus,
teach us to go against the current to
uncover ourselves, prostrate ourselves, give of ourselves, listen and be silent,
not be the centre,
make space for the beauty of God, the source of true joy.
O Mary, Immaculate Mother, pray for us!
Original: Spanish – Translation: Sarah-Leah Pimentel, South Africa
