Pope Francis proposed a “new” Marian dedication: “Our Lady in Trouble” and gave a spontaneous speech to the faithful present, especially young sick people, highlighting the importance of the Marian prayer from the Sanctuary of Fatima, on 5 August Saturday.
“There are so many invocations of Mary”, but one – that we can also say, thinking – is this: the Virgin who runs away, every time there is a problem, every time we invoke her, she doesn’t take long, she comes, she hurries”, he affirmed. Pope Francis in his address in the Chapel of the Apparitions of the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fatima.
“Our Lady Hasty. Do you like that? Let’s all say it together: Our Lady in a Hurry. She hurries to be close to us, she hurries because she is Mother, apressada , in Portuguese they say apressada , Bishop Ornelas tells me. Nossa Senhora Apressada ”, he added.
Because the word ‘ apressada ‘ in Portuguese, translated into Spanish, indicates “precipitated”, similarly, according to the Royal Spanish Academy, the term implies the action of a person “who acts in haste or haste”. Thus, the expression of Pope Francis can allude to a ‘Mother in a hurry’, that is, the Virgin Mary acts in a hurry to help her children when they suffer adversity.
Indeed, during the moment of prayer before 200,000 faithful and pilgrims, the Holy Father entrusted the Virgin Mary, mother, to guard “all” his children. “Our Lady who Accompanies, she always accompanies. She is never the protagonist, ”she maintained.
Later, he invited to look at the “image of Mary and each one think, what does Mary say to me as a Mother? what is she pointing at me with her finger? She points us to Jesus, sometimes she also points us to some little thing that does not work well in the heart, but she always points it out.
Let’s have a little moment of silence and each one in his heart say: Mother, what are you pointing out to me? What is there in my life that worries you? What is there in my life that moves you? What is there in my life that interests you? And you point it out. And there the heart points to us so that Jesus comes ”, he added.
“That is Mary, that is our Mother, Our Lady in Press (hurried), to be close to us. May she bless us all. Amen!” concluded the Pontiff.
This morning, upon his arrival at the Fatima Heliport, the Pope was received by the Bishop of Leiria-Fatima and President of the Episcopal Conference of Portugal, Msgr. José Ornelas Carvalho.
Then, he went by car to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fatima, where – after taking a few rounds in the Popemobile among the faithful – the Holy Father led the recitation of the Holy Rosary with the young sick people in the Chapel of the Apparitions.
After entering the Chapel of the Apparitions, Pope Francis venerated the image of the Blessed Virgin of Fatima and stopped in silent prayer.
Two children offered the Holy Father some flowers that he placed at the feet of the Mother of God and gave her a golden Rosary as a gift.
At the end of the recitation of the Holy Rosary and after greeting the Bishop of Leiria-Fatima, Pope Francis delivered his speech, without reading a text.
Several sick young people prayed the Rosary together with the Pope, including some with disabilities. They receive help from the John Paul II Disability Support Center (JPII), the Fátima Rehabilitation and Integration Center, the House of the Good Samaritan and the Silent Workers of the Cross.
As part of his trip to Portugal to participate in the World Youth Day in Lisbon, Pope Francis wanted to add a special stage to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fatima.
This is the Pope’s second trip to Portugal, after, in 2017, he presided over the centennial ceremonies of the apparitions at the Sanctuary of Fatima.
His 2017 visit was marked by the canonization of the pastors Jacinta and Francisco Marto, who together with Lucía Dos Santos saw the Virgin of Fátima in 1917.
The Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary is located in the place where, on May 13, 1917, the three little shepherds, while playing “masonry”, saw a sudden flash of lightning that surprised them so much that they gathered their flock to return home. , for fear of rain.
Prayer of the Pope: “You, who untie the knots, undo the entanglements of selfishness”
Later, in the afternoon, an appeal to “pray together” was published on the Pontiff’s Twitter account:
“ Oh Mary, we love you and we trust you. And to you, now, we entrust ourselves again. With the heart of children we consecrate our lives to you, every fiber of our being, everything we have and what we are, forever. We consecrate the Church and the world to you, especially countries at war. Obtain for us peace. You, Virgin of the way, open trails where it seems they don’t exist. You, who unties the knots, undoes the entanglements of selfishness and the bonds of power. You, who never let yourself be outdone in generosity, fill us with tenderness, fill us with hope and make us taste the joy that does not pass, the joy of the Gospel. Amen ”.