The Pope presides over the First Vespers of Mary Most Holy Mother of God in St. Peter’s Basilica with the solemn Te Deum. In the homily, he focuses on man’s “plans” far from those inspired by the wisdom of God, which “aim to conquer markets, territories, zones of influence”, cloaked in “hypocritical speeches, ideological proclamations, false religious motives”. Thanks to those who worked for the Jubilee, and then the best wishes to the city of Rome to always be on par with the most vulnerable
Antonella Palermo – Vatican City
God’s plan and men’s strategies. Divine wisdom and mercy, man’s destructive calculation. God’s proposal and the impositions of men. It is the jarring threshold on which Pope Leo dwells, in the homily of the First Vespers of Mary, Mother of God, when there are now only a handful of hours left before entering the new calendar year. In the Vatican Basilica, with 5,500 faithful, the jubilation of thanksgiving of the universal Church resounds, while other alarms, missiles, explosions, explosions, bombastic voices of conquest resound throughout the world. All the more so that jubilation, then, cannot remain indifferent, cannot fail to be filled with further hope and desire for good for wounded humanity.
The assembly at the recitation of Vespers in St. Peter’s Basilica (@VATICAN MEDIA)
Prayer is wrapped in sweetness and harmony. The Sistine Chapel choir modulates and accompanies her, from beginning to end, with singular grace. With the Latin song “Ave, stella Maris”, the supplication for the gift of peace rises, the theme that forms the continuous background to the liturgy, the invocation to God to break the bonds of the oppressed. The antiphon to the Psalms recalls God’s prodigious plan to be born of a virgin. And then the verses of Psalm 112 in which praise flows which will be released even more in the Magnificat. The Letter to the Ephesians is the song of recapitulation of God’s alliance with humanity, all creation participates in thanksgiving for the work of the Lord.
READ THE FULL TEXT OF THE POPE’S HOMILY HERE
The need for a wise, benevolent, merciful plan
“Give voice to all the hearts and faces that have passed under these vaults and through the streets of this city”. This is what, in the desire of Pope Leo expressed in the homily, he would like to convey the solemn song of God bless you which fills the temple of Christianity, a destination for millions of pilgrims during the Holy Year. Tonight, at the close of the Octave of Christmas, a “dizzying mystery” is celebrated: “God born of a virgin, or, said backwards, of the divine maternity of Mary”. A “paradox”. A “design”, a word that echoes in the biblical passages listened to, with a “clear center”, states the Pontiff, which is the “fullness of the times”. And it is as if we were on “a high mountain illuminated by the sun in the middle of a dense forest”, he explains again with an effective image.
Sisters, brothers, in our time we feel the need for a wise, benevolent, merciful plan. May it be a free and liberating, peaceful, faithful project, like the one that the Virgin Mary proclaimed in her song of praise: «From generation to generation his mercy / extends to those who fear him».
The world surrounded by armed strategies
The Successor of Peter underlines the inverse logic that moves the Almighty with respect to the desires of men, well summarized in Magnificat of Mary, “the smallest and highest among creatures”.
Other designs, however, today as yesterday, envelop the world. Rather, they are strategies that aim to conquer markets, territories and areas of influence. Armed strategies, cloaked in hypocritical speeches, ideological proclamations, false religious motives.
God loves to hope with the hearts of little ones
The Pope returns to the praise of littleness, that of the young girl from Nazareth who accepted God’s proposal which reached her heart and flesh, that of the fisherman Simon, who became the builder of the Church of Christ.
God loves to hope with the hearts of little ones, and he does so by involving them in his plan of salvation. The more beautiful the design, the greater the hope. And in fact the world goes on like this, driven by the hope of many simple people, unknown but not to God, who despite everything believe in a better tomorrow, because they know that the future is in the hands of the One who offers them the greatest hope.
Rome is worthy of the most vulnerable
2025 is drawing to a close. Leone invites us to give thanks for the gift of the Jubilee, a great sign of hope for a “renewed and reconciled” world and, following the wishes of his predecessor Francis who initiated it, he hopes that Rome will remain, “even more so after this time of grace”, a welcoming city. “Animated by Christian hope – she says -, may she be at the service of God’s loving plan for the human family”. The mayor of the capital is in the front row of the assembly of the faithful representing the citizens to whom the Pope dedicates a specific thought:
What can we wish for Rome? To be worthy of his little ones. Of children, of lonely and fragile elderly people, of families who find it more difficult to move forward, of men and women who have come from far away hoping for a dignified life.
The homage to the nativity scene in the square and the embrace of the faithful
After the homily, the Bishop of Rome introduces the invocations of intercession: the heartfelt request for peace returns, in Christ “who came to unite men of every language and nation into one single people”. And here, after the recitation of Our Fatherthe school of singers sing, to seal Vespers, the ancient hymn of God bless you The choir and the assembly alternate in the rendering of grace and in the acclamation to God who conquers death, who helps, guides and protects his children. The amazement at the wonders of creation is combined with the desire for hope, that hope that does not confuse.
The homage to the nativity scene in St. Peter’s Square (@Vatican Media)
St. Peter’s Square shines. Choirs of faithful remaining outside the basilica mingle with the enthusiasm of the children and families who have gathered here awaiting the Pope’s traditional homage to the nativity scene which this year reproduces the architectural elements of the Baptistery of Santa Maria Maggiore in Nocera Superiore, the fountain Helvius of Sant’Egidio del Monte Albino and the typical courtyards of the Agro Nocerino-Sarnese. After greeting, among others, Sister Raffaella Petrini, president of the Governorate of the Vatican City State, Leone paused for a few moments in front of the image of the Nativity, then thanked the band of the Swiss Guards, the gendarmes. Acclaimed by the crowd, he does not hesitate to give caresses to children, to shake hands, to embrace those who express so much affection and exultation towards him. Wishing everyone a good year.
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