Pope Francis at Czestochowa: in history, a ‘Marian thread’ is interwoven with the ‘divine thread’

July 28, 2016

Commemorating the 1050th anniversary of the baptism of Poland, Pope Francis celebrated Mass at Jasna Góra Monastery in Czestochowa on July 28 and reflected on the manner in which the Incarnation of the Son of God took place.

God saved mankind “by making himself little, near, and real,” the Pope preached. “So he calls the simple and receptive to be his spokespersons; he entrusts to them the revelation of his name and the secrets of his heart. Our minds turn to so many sons and daughters of your own people, like the martyrs made the defenseless power of the Gospel shine forth, like those ordinary yet remarkable people who bore witness to the Lord’s love amid great trials, and those meek and powerful heralds of mercy who were Saint John Paul II and Saint Faustina.”

Reflecting on Polish history and the Blessed Virgin, the Pope continued:

You have been able to touch with your hand the real and provident tenderness of the Mother of all, whom I have come here as a pilgrim to venerate and whom we have acclaimed in the Psalm as the “great pride of our nation” (Judith 15:9).

It is to Mary, then that we, who have gathered here, now look. In her, we find complete conformity to the Lord. Throughout history, interwoven with the divine thread, is also a “Marian thread.” If there is any human glory, any merit of our own in the fullness of time, it is she. Mary is that space, preserved free from sin, where God chose to mirror himself. She is the stairway God took to descend and draw near to us.

Mary, the Pope continued, also manifests littleness, nearness, and realism. The Pope concluded:

Through her intercession, may the fullness of time come about also for us. The transition from before to after Christ means little if it remains a date in the annals of history. May each one of us be able to make an interior passage, a Passover of the heart, towards the divine “style” incarnated by Mary. May we do everything in littleness, and accompany others at close hand, with a simple and open heart.

 

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Further information:

• Homily of Pope Francis for Mass in Czestochowa (Vatican Radio)