Pope Francis uses incense as he celebrates Mass at the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome Jan. 28. (CNS photo/Remo Casilli, Reuters)

In times of trouble, turn to Mary, pope says at St. Mary Major Basilica

1369 0

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — A relationship with Mary, the mother of God, is not “optional” for Christians, Pope Francis said, because Jesus points to her as a source of protection and guidance.

Wherever people have opened their doors to Mary, “the devil doesn’t come in; wherever the Mother Mary is, turmoil will not prevail, fear will not win. Who among us doesn’t need this? Who among us is not sometimes in distress or worried?” he asked in a morning homily Jan. 28.

The pope celebrated Mass at the Basilica of St. Mary Major on the feast of the formal installation of the basilica’s Marian icon, “Salus Populi Romani” (health of the Roman people). The icon had been extensively restored in time for the day’s celebration.

Pope Francis is particularly devoted to the icon, which has had a place in the hearts of Rome citizens since the 16th century when their prayers to be saved from the plague seemed to be answered after the image was carried through the city streets in a procession.

In his homily, the pope recalled how Christians have always turned to Mary in times of trouble and difficulty.

“How many times the heart is a stormy sea, where waves of problems swell and the winds of worry do not stop blowing? Mary is the ark, safe in the middle of a flood,” he said.

“It won’t be ideas or technology that gives us comfort and hope, but the face of the mother Mary — her hands caress our life, her mantle shelters us,” he said.

Mary “is not optional,” he said. From his cross, Jesus gave her to his disciples because “he knows we need refuge and protection in the midst of so many dangers.”

“It is very dangerous for the faith to love without the mother, without protection, letting ourselves be carried along by life like leaves in the wind.”

Christians, too, become united as brothers and sisters since they are children of God the father, and Mary, the mother, he said.

“You can’t be neutral or detached from the mother, otherwise we lose our identity as children and as people” of God, he said.

Related Post

This year is leap year and so February 2020 has 29 days. The extra day we get approximately once every four years is a way to adapt the calendar year to the astronomical year. The present system of calculating the leap years was designed around fixing the date of Easter. (CNS photo/Rosanna Aguilera, San Angelo Standard-Times via Reuters)

Leap year’s extra day has a Catholic origin

Posted by - March 1, 2020 0
BOSTON (CNS) — The extra day we get approximately once every four years is a way to adapt the calendar…
This is the new coat of arms for the Archdiocese of Detroit, featuring an image of St. Anne and a door representing Capuchin Father Solanus Casey, a sainthood candidate declared "venerable" for his heroic virtues. Both were prominent intercessors for the city. (CNS photo/Archdiocese of Detroit)

‘Pray for boldness,’ archbishop implores faithful at Pentecost vigil

Posted by - June 9, 2017 0
DETROIT (CNS) — From the scattered languages of the tower of Babel to the apostles speaking in tongues at the…
Pope Francis delivers the homily as he celebrates Mass Sept. 4 in the chapel of his residence, the Domus Sanctae Marthae. In his homily, the pope described the Christian life as a battle between "the spirit of God that leads us to do good deeds, to charity, to brotherhood, to adore God, to know Jesus, to do many works of charity, to pray" and "the spirit of the world that leads us to vanity, pride, arrogance, gossip." (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

Worldly mentality leads to pride, gossip, pope says at morning Mass

Posted by - September 8, 2018 0
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Christians must engage in spiritual combat every day against a worldly spirit that leads down a…