Pope speaks on Mary: guide of Church, inspiration of artists
August 16, 2010
At his Sunday audience on August 15, the feast of the Assumption, Pope Benedict XVI devoted his remarks to the Virgin Mary, “guide of the apostles, support of martyrs, light of the saints.”
Speaking to a crowded made up primarily by young pilgrims in the courtyard of his residence at Castel Gandolfo, the Holy Father remarked that devotion to the Virgin has been a common feature of the Church throughout her history, in both the Eastern and Western traditions. “Poets, writers, and musicians” have advanced this devotion, he said, as well as the architects and painters who “have painted and sculpted the sanctity of the Mother of the Lord, adorning churches and shrines.”
Earlier in the day the Pope had celebrated Mass at the parish of St. Thomas of Villanova in the town of Castel Gandolfo. In his homily there, too, he spoke of the Assumption, on how Mary’s bodily assumption into heaven foreshadows the full and final “incorporation” of the faithful with Christ in eternal life.
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Further information:
- Pope: Entrust ourselves to Mary in Heaven (AsiaNews)
- Pope Benedict XVI Marks the Assumption (Vatican Radio)
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