Pope marks World Day for Consecrated Life, calls on religious to be prophets
February 02, 2026
Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica this evening (booklet, video) and called upon consecrated men and women “to be prophets—messengers who announce the presence of the Lord and prepare the way for him.”
Celebrating the Mass of the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, the Pontiff preached that during the Presentation (Luke 2:22-40), “the Fountain of Light offers himself as a lamp to the world, and the Infinite gives himself to the finite in a way so humble that it almost passes unnoticed.”
“Today we celebrate the 30th World Day of Consecrated Life with this scene in mind, recognizing it as an image of the mission of religious men and women in the Church and in the world,” Pope Leo continued. alluding to the commemoration instituted by Pope St. John Paul II (background). “Dear brothers and sisters, the Church asks you to be prophets—messengers who announce the presence of the Lord and prepare the way for him.”
The Pope explained:
Borrowing expressions from the prophet Malachi, whom we heard in the first reading, you are invited to become, through the generous “emptying” of yourselves for the Lord, braziers for the Refiner’s fire and vessels for the Fuller’s soap (cf. Mal 3:1-3). Through this offering, Christ—the one eternal messenger of the covenant, who remains present among humanity today—can melt and purify hearts with his love, grace and mercy. You are called to this mission above all through the sacrificial offering of your lives, rooted in prayer and in a readiness to be consumed by charity.
Pope Leo then recalled the example of founders of religious institutes, who “allowed themselves to be guided with faith and courage.”
“Setting out from the Eucharistic table, some were led to the silence of the cloister, others to the demands of the apostolate; some to the classrooms of schools, others to the destitution of the streets or the toil of the missions,” he said. “This same faith moved them to return, time and again, humbly and wisely, to the foot of the Cross and to the Tabernacle, where they offered everything and discovered in God both the source and the goal of all their actions.”
“Even today, through your profession of the evangelical counsels and the many works of charity you carry out, you are called to bear witness to God’s saving presence in history for all peoples (cf. Lk 2:30-31), even within a society in which false and reductive understandings of the human person increasingly widen the gap between faith and life,” Pope Leo added. “You are called to testify that the young, the elderly, the poor, the sick and the imprisoned hold a sacred place above all else on God’s altar and in his heart. At the same time, each of them is an inviolable sanctuary of God’s presence, before whom we must bend our knee, in order to encounter him, adore him and give him glory.”
The Pope concluded:
Dear consecrated men and women, today the Church gives thanks to the Lord and to you for your presence. She encourages you to be leaven of peace and signs of hope wherever Providence may lead you. As we renew the offering of our lives to God upon the altar, we entrust your work to the intercession of Mary Most Holy, together with all your holy founders and foundresses.
The Pontiff celebrated the Mass in Italian, with Latin Gregorian chants.
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