"Let
us pray together for peace, dialogue and reconciliation in that dear nation and
throughout the world," Pope Francis said as he spoke in Castel Gandolfo about
the "painful news" coming from Egypt. For that nation, the Pontiff expressed
a wish "to ensure my prayers for all the victims and their families, the
injured and all those who are suffering." The pope's thoughts about the "dear land" of Egypt cast a sad shadow on this day of celebration, which the Holy Father dedicated to the Lazio town where popes traditionally spend their summers, but which he has not done yet.
However, for the third time since he took office, he visited the town's Pontifical Villas, going first to the cloistered monastery of the Poor Clares, followed by the celebration of Mass in Piazza della Libertà. This afternoon, before returning to the Vatican, he will make a private visit to the parish church dedicated to Saint Thomas of Villanova.
In Mary's Assumption, the pope sees a message that is a "canticle of patience and victory, of struggle and joy, which unites the triumphant Church to the pilgrim Church, uniting earth with heaven, history with eternity."
This is a message that speaks of "struggle" against the evil one, that "concerns all Christians" and the "resurrection", that saw Mary united to Jesus in death, who "had" the gift of the resurrection", of "hope", and "the virtue of those who, experiencing conflict, the daily struggle between life and death, between good and evil, believe in the Resurrection of Christ, in the victory of Love."
During the Angelus on the day of the Assumption, Pope Francis also mentioned the 25th anniversary of the Apostolic Letter Mulieris dignitatem, by the Blessed Pope John Paul II, on the dignity and vocation of women.
"This document," he said, "is full of ideas that deserve to be taken up and developed. At the base of it all is the figure of Mary. Indeed, [the letter] was issued for the Marian Year. Let us behold the prayer placed at the end of this Letter Apostolic (cf. n. 31), so that by meditating on the biblical mystery of women, condensed in Mary, all women may find themselves and the fullness of their vocation."
To them the Pope said, "At the end of its Constitution on the Church, the Second Vatican Council left us a very beautiful meditation on Mary Most Holy. Let me just recall the words referring to the mystery we celebrate today: "the immaculate Virgin preserved free from all stain of original sin, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, when her earthly life was over, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things" (no. 59). Then towards the end, there is: "the Mother of Jesus in the glory which she possesses in body and soul in heaven is the image and the beginning of the church as it is to be perfected in the world to come. Likewise, she shines forth on earth, until the day of the Lord shall come" (no. 68). In the light of this most beautiful image of our Mother, we are able to see the message of the biblical readings that we have just heard. We can focus on three key words: struggle, resurrection, hope."
"The passage from Revelation presents the vision of the struggle between the woman and the dragon. The figure of the woman, representing the Church, is, on the one hand, glorious and triumphant and yet, on the other, still in travail. And the Church is like that: if in heaven she is already associated in some way with the glory of her Lord, in history she continually lives through the trials and challenges which the conflict between God and the evil one, the perennial enemy, brings. And in the struggle which the disciples must confront, Mary does not leave them alone: the Mother of Christ and of the Church is always with us. And in a way, Mary shares this dual condition. She has of course already entered, once and for all, into heavenly glory. But this does not mean that she is distant or detached from us; rather Mary accompanies us, struggles with us, sustains Christians in their fight against the forces of evil. Prayer with Mary, especially the rosary, has this "suffering" dimension, that is of struggle, a sustaining prayer in the battle against the evil one and his accomplices."
"The second reading speaks to us of resurrection. The Apostle Paul, writing to the Corinthians, insists that being Christian means believing that Christ is truly risen from the dead. Our whole faith is based upon this fundamental truth which is not an idea but an event. Even the mystery of Mary's Assumption body and soul is fully inscribed in the resurrection of Christ. The Mother's humanity is "attracted" by the Son in his own passage from death to life. Once and for all, Jesus entered into eternal life with all the humanity he had drawn from Mary; and she, the Mother, who followed him faithfully throughout her life, followed him with her heart, and entered with him into eternal life which we also call heaven, paradise, the Father's house. Mary also experienced the martyrdom of the Cross: she lived her Son's Passion to the depths of her soul. She was fully united to him in his death, and so she was given the gift of resurrection. Christ is the first fruits from the dead and Mary is the first of the redeemed, the first of "those who are in Christ."
"The Gospel suggests to us the third word: hope. Hope is the virtue of those who, experiencing conflict - the struggle between life and death, good and evil - believe in the resurrection of Christ, in the victory of love. The Magnificat is the song of hope, it is the song of the People of God walking through history. It is the song many saints, men and women, some famous, and very many others unknown to us but known to God: mums, dads, catechists, missionaries, priests, sisters, young people, even children, who have faced the struggle of life while carrying in their heart the hope of the little and the humble. Everywhere today, the Church too sings "My soul glorifies the Lord". This song is particularly strong in places where the Body of Christ is suffering the Passion. And Mary is there too, near those communities, our brothers and sisters, she accompanies them, suffers with them, and sings the Magnificat of hope with them."