“Let’s think of the sorrows of Our Lady and thank her for having accepted being a Mother.”

According to Vatican News, Pope Francis stressed this today, April 3, during his private daily Mass at his residence Casa Santa Marta on this Passion Friday before Palm Sunday, where we remember Mary’s pain.

The Holy Father dedicated the homily to the Virgin of Sorrows.

“Today – he said – it will do us good to think of the sorrows of Our Lady and thank her for having accepted to be a Mother.”

At the start of the Mass, while remembering all victims of coronavirus, the Holy Father prayed for those who carry great responsibilities even eventually in the aftermath of the epidemic, to help those who, resulting from this period have problems of poverty, work and hunger.

“There are people who are now starting to think about the aftermath: the aftermath of the pandemic. To all the problems that will come: problems of poverty, work, hunger …,” he observed, inviting: “We pray for all the people who help today, but also think about tomorrow, in order to help us all.”

Speaking about Mary’s sorrows, Francis

This Friday of Passion, the Church remembers the pains of Mary, Francis encouraged faithful to do this homework: “late in the evening, when I pray to the Angelus, to pray and recall her seven sorrows as a remembrance of the Mother of the Church , as the Mother of the Church gave birth to all of us with so much pain…”

Christian piety, Francis said,  follows this path of the Madonna that accompanies Jesus.

“Our Lady never asked for anything for herself,” the Pope said, “ever.”

“Yes, for the others,” he said, noting: “we think of Cana, when she goes to speak with Jesus.”

Recalling her utter selflessness, Francis said: “Honor Our Lady and say: “This is my Mother,” because she is Mother.”

“Our Lady,” the Argentine Pontiff said, “did not want to take any title from Jesus; she received the gift of being Mother of Him and the duty to accompany us as Mother, to be our Mother.”

“She is our mother,” he said, who with strength and trust in God pushed through her broken heart. “It wasn’t a fake cry,” he said, “it was her heart destroyed by pain.”

For this reason, Francis implored: “It will do us good to stop a little and say to Our Lady: “Thank you for accepting to be Mother when the Angel told you and thank you for accepting to be Mother when Jesus told you”

Before concluding, the Pope exhorted faithful to partake in Spiritual Communion in this difficult time, and ended the celebration with Eucharistic Adoration and Benediction.

Here are the Holy Father’s words, followed by the prayer for Spiritual Communion:

I prostrate myself at your feet, O my Jesus, and I offer you the repentance of my contrite heart, which abases itself in its nothingness in Your Holy Presence. I adore you in the Sacrament of Your Love; I desire to receive You in the poor abode that my heart offers You. While waiting for the happiness of a Sacramental Communion, I want to possess You in spirit. Come to me, O my Jesus, that I may come to You. May Your Love inflame my whole being, in life and in death. I believe in You, I hope in You, I love You. Amen.

The Masses in Francis’ chapel normally welcome a small group of faithful, but due to recent measures’ taken by the Vatican, are now being kept private, without their participation.

It was announced this month that the Pope would have these Masses, in this period, be available to all the world’s faithful, via streaming on Vatican Media, on weekdays, at 7 am Rome time.

The Vatican has also published the Pope’s Holy Week and Easter schedule, confirming this year’s events will not welcome the physical presence of the faithful, and the events will be made available via streaming.

This comes at a time too when the Italian bishops’ conference has canceled public Masses throughout the nation, following guidelines put out by Italian authorities.

In addition to Santa Marta, the Vatican has taken other steps to keep people safe and to stay close to the Pope, even if from a distance. They are televising the Pope giving privately, from the papal library, his weekly Angelus and General Audience addresses.

The Vatican Museums are now closed, along with the Vatican’s other similar museums. There have also been various guidelines implemented throughout the Vatican, to prevent the spread of the virus.

For anyone interested, the Pope’s Masses at Santa Marta can be watched live and can be watched afterward on Vatican YouTube. Below is a link to today’s Mass. Also, a ZENIT English translation of the Pope’s full homily, is being prepared, and in the next few hours, will be available below:

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FULL HOMILY

Zenit is translating the homily and will update this article with the full text as soon as possible.

The post ‘Let’s Think of Our Lady of Sorrows & Thank Her for Accepting Being Mother,’ Says Pope (Full Text of Pope Francis’ Morning Homily) appeared first on ZENIT – English.