Pope Leo XIV offered a message of hope and maternal tenderness as he celebrated Mass for the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe in St. Peter’s Basilica, emphasizing Mary’s role in bringing divine joy into places marked by suffering and division.
In his homily, the Holy Father reflected on the Church’s long-standing understanding of the Blessed Virgin Mary as “the mother of love,” highlighting how her openness to God transforms the world around her, according to Vatican News. Drawing from the Gospel, Pope Leo explained that Mary “lives the dynamic of one who allows the world to enter her life and transform it,” a disposition that first filled her with joy at the Annunciation and continued throughout her earthly life.
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That joy, the Pope said, is not superficial or fleeting. Rather, Mary “brings joy to places where human joy is insufficient,” a reality made visible in her apparition at Guadalupe. Referring to her encounter with St. Juan Diego, Pope Leo noted that Mary’s message awakened “in the inhabitants of America the joy of knowing themselves loved by God,” according to Vatican News. By speaking to Juan Diego in his own mother tongue, the Virgin demonstrated a closeness that meets people where they are, especially amid hardship.
Addressing the challenges facing the modern world, the Holy Father recalled Mary’s reassuring words at Guadalupe: “Am I not here, I who am your mother?” Pope Leo described Mary as “the voice that makes the promise of divine faithfulness resound, the sustaining presence when life becomes unbearable,” according to Vatican News. Her maternal care, he said, speaks directly to those weighed down by conflict, injustice, and suffering.
Pope Leo also turned to Mary’s guidance for the Church today, reminding the faithful of her words at Cana to “do whatever [Jesus] tells us.” In response, he invited believers to entrust themselves to her care, asking her to teach them how to persevere in faith when strength fades and “shadows grow,” and to recognize that with her help, “even winter becomes a time of roses,” according to Vatican News.
In a prayerful address to the Virgin Mary, the Pope asked her to help the world overcome deep divisions, to accompany young people so they may remain firm in the faith, to seek out those who have drifted away from the Church, and to strengthen families. He prayed that, like Mary, the faithful might “keep the Gospel in our hearts,” confident that wherever it is proclaimed, “everything becomes beautiful, restored, renewed,” according to Vatican News.
The Holy Father also humbly entrusted his Petrine ministry to Our Lady of Guadalupe, asking her support as he carries out his mission as Successor of St. Peter. He prayed that she would help him confirm the faithful “in the one path that leads to the blessed Fruit of your womb,” according to Vatican News.
Concluding his homily, Pope Leo expressed trust in Mary’s maternal protection, praying that she would grant the grace for all believers to advance together, ever more united with Christ and one another, toward the eternal dwelling prepared by the Lord, “and in which [Mary] awaits us,” according to Vatican News.
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