Wednesday, May 10, 2017

Pope Francis: I will entrust the destiny of humanity to the Virgin in Fatima







Pope Francis with a statue of Our Lady of Fatima at the Wednesday General Audience in St. Peter's Square, May 13 2015. Credit: L'Osservatore Romano.


A few days before his trip to Fatima, Pope Francis held his usual Wednesday General Audience in St. Peter's Square. He embraced affectionate gestures from the youngest pilgrims. 

The pope continued his catechetical cycle on hope. This time, the protagonist was the Virgin Mary, in which he said that she is the greatest example of courage and hope. 

POPE FRANCIS
"It was not easy to respond with a "yes” to the Angel's announcement; and yet she, a woman still in the midst of her youth, responds boldly despite not knowing the fate that lay before her. Mary is there, faithfully present, every time That you need to keep a candle lit in a foggy place.”

He also spoke about all of the mothers in the world, and their ability to abandon their fears and fight for their children, even in the cruelest moments. This is similar to Mary, when she had to watch her own child die on the cross.

POPE FRANCIS
"Mothers do not deceive, and in that moment, at the foot of the cross, none of us can say what was the cruelest passion: that of an innocent man who dies on the cross, or the agony of a mother who accompanies his son in the final moments of his life.”

He explained that the Virgin Mary is a model for Christians, because she teaches one to be patient even when nothing seems to be making sense. The Holy Father then concluded by asking for prayers for his upcoming trip to Portugal. 

POPE FRANCIS
"I will go to Fatima on a pilgrimage, to entrust to the Virgin the temporal and eternal destinies of humanity.”

May 13 marks the 100th anniversary of the apparitions of the Virgin Mary, and Pope Francis will canonize two of the visionaries.


AQ

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