Holy Mass in Belem (8 July 1980)

On 8 July 1980, the Holy Father celebrated Holy Mass in Belém. In his homily the Pope preached on Mary as the New Eve.

Archbishop, Monsignor Alberto Gaudenzio Ramos,
Auxiliary Bishop, Monsignor Taddeo Prost,
my brothers in the episcopate and in the ministerial priesthood,
my beloved brothers and sisters, men and women religious and laity.

1. This moment of joy and communion finds us gathered in Belém [which means Bethlehem], “house of bread”, to receive the bread of the word of God and, soon, the Eucharistic bread, the body of the Lord. Our meeting takes place in the Basilica of Our Lady of Nazareth. Bethlehem and Nazareth speak to us above all of Jesus, the Savior, in his hidden life, as a child and then as a young man, in the fulfillment of his mission: "Behold, I come... to do your will, O God" (Heb 10 , 7).

Bethlehem and Nazareth also speak to us of the Mother of Jesus, always close to the eternal Son of God, her Son according to the flesh, also faithful in carrying out a mission of primary importance in the plan of divine salvation: "Here I am, I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it happen to me as you have said” ( Lk 1:38).

Our Lady progressed along the path of faith, always in communion with her Son. She follows him step by step, associating with him, rejoicing and suffering with him, always loving those he loved. And in the days that preceded Pentecost, the group of disciples, a nascent Church, full of joy and faith for the triumph of the risen Christ and ardently awaiting the promised Holy Spirit, want to feel very united. We find them in prayer, "with Mary, the Mother of Jesus" ( Acts 1:14). It was the prayer of a family: of those whom the Lord had called to be intimate with the Mother who "cooperated with her love so that the faithful were born into the Church, members of that head of whom she is effectively Mother according to the body ”, as St. Augustine said (St. Augustine,De Virginitate , 6: PL 40,399).

2. It was under the patronage of Our Lady of Grace that, through the work of intrepid religious, a Christian community was founded here, which later became a diocese, from where the Gospel of Christ has spread, not without difficulty, to this northern part of Brazil. And she, the Mother of divine grace, accompanied the missionaries in their commitment and effort and was with Mother Church - of which she is the prototype, model and supreme expression - at the beginning of her taking root in these blessed lands: blessed from God the creator with the natural beauties and riches that amaze us; and she was then blessed by Christ the Redeemer, with the goods of the salvation wrought by him and which we are now celebrating here.

In this Eucharist, in this thanksgiving par excellence, as Mass always is, with Mary Most Holy we pay grateful homage to the Father, through Christ, in the Holy Spirit: grateful for the evangelization and the divine benefits it has brought; grateful for the charity of the missionaries and the hope that animated them and made them strong in expanding their faith, through preaching and baptism, and those who, with their new life in Christ, increased the family of God's children here.

3. Belém and its sanctuary of Our Lady of Nazareth are monuments of the past, as a sign of evangelization and a palpable example of authentic piety towards the "Star of evangelization". But they are also of the present: the present of a living Church, and the present of Marian devotion, in this dear Brazilian land.

"All generations will call me blessed" ( Lk 1:48), Mary said in her prophetic song; “blessed are you among all women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus”, peoples of all latitudes, races and languages ​​echo her down the ages. Some more enlightened, others less so, the Christian faithful never cease to have recourse to the Madonna, the Holy Mother of God: in moments of her joy, calling her "the cause of our joy"; in moments of pain, invoking her "comforter of the afflicted"; in moments of loss of her, imploring her "refuge of sinners".

These expressions of a search for God, linked to the way of being and to the culture of every people and, not infrequently, to emotional states of mind, will not always appear solidly supported on an adherence of faith. It may even happen that they are not properly separated from elements foreign to religion. But they are a reality worthy of consideration and, often, truly rich in authentic values.

Popular religiosity, normally linked to devotion to the Madonna, certainly needs to be enlightened, guided and purified. But since it is - as my predecessor Paul VI wished to call it - "devotion of the poor and simple", it generally translates a certain "thirst for God" (cf. Paul VI, Evangelii Nuntiandi, 48 ) . Besides, it's not necessarily a vague feeling, or an inferior form of religious manifestation. Indeed, it often contains a profound sense of God and of his attributes, such as fatherhood, providence, loving presence, mercy, etc ...

4. In centers of Marian worship and in highly frequented sanctuaries, alongside the religion of the people, one commonly notices the presence, for one reason or another, of people who either do not belong to the ecclesial community, or who have not always remained faithful to the commitments and practice of the Christian life, or even who are guided by an incomplete vision of the faith they profess.

Now all of this requires an attentive and adequate pastoral care, and above all a very pure and disinterested one, which goes from a lively and faithful liturgy, to assiduous and sure preaching, to both systematic and occasional catechesis, especially in the administration of the sacraments. Among these, in places of great confluence of the faithful, the sacrament of penance will always occupy an essential place, especially if favored by the charitable availability of the ministers of the confessional.

Therefore, no opportunity should be missed to enlighten, purify and strengthen the faith of the faithful people, even when it has a typically popular imprint. The fact that in it the Madonna occupies a pre-eminent place, as indeed happens in the totality of the Christian faith, does not exclude or even obscure the universal and irreplaceable mediation of Christ, who always remains the way par excellence for reaching an encounter with God, as the Second Vatican Council teaches ( Lumen Gentium , 60).

5. Gathered here as a family, as brothers whom life keeps physically distant from each other, on this feast day, close to our common Mother, let us now all turn to her, to Our Lady. Isn't it true that in occasional family reunions with the mother, all the brothers feel more disposed to goodness, reconciliation, unity and to find each other in brotherly affection? And then, on similar occasions, piety and filial love demand that the last word be left to the mother. And it is the time for outpourings of affection and good intentions that calm the maternal heart.

We have arrived at this moment. As a Mother full of goodness, the Blessed Virgin never ceases to invite all her children, members of the mystical body, to cultivate goodness, reconciliation and unity among themselves. Allow me at this moment, like an older brother, to collect and interpret what is certainly in everyone's heart and deposit it in the immaculate heart of the mother of Jesus and our mother. I invite everyone to follow, in silent prayer, the prayer I offer in the name of all:
- Maria, you said, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that generations would call you blessed. We take up the song of past generations, so that it does not interrupt, and we exalt in you what humanity has most luminously offered to God: the human creature in its perfection, created again in justice and holiness, in an incomparable beauty that we call “the Immaculate Conception” or “the Full of Grace”.

- Mother, you are the “New Eve”. The Church of your son, aware of the fact that only with "new men" can evangelize, that is, bring the good news to the world to form a "new humanity", through your intercession may the newness of the Gospel never be lacking in it, the seed of holiness and fruitfulness.

- Mary, we adore the Father for the prerogatives that shine in you, but we also adore him because you are always for us "the handmaid of the Lord", little creature. Because you were able to say "fiat" - let it be done - you became the bride of the Holy Spirit and mother of the Son of God.

- Mother, who appears in the pages of the Gospel showing Christ to the shepherds and the Magi, ensure that every evangelizer - Bishop, priest, religious, father or mother, young person or child - be possessed by Christ to be able to reveal it to others .

- Mary, hidden in the multitude while your Son performs the miraculous signs of the rising of the kingdom of God, and who speaks only to say to do whatever he will say (cf. Jn 2:5 ) , helps the evangelizers to preach not themselves but Jesus Christ.

- Mother, wrapped up in the mystery of your Son, often without being able to understand, but able to collect everything and meditate in the heart ( Lk 2,19 and 51), ensure that we evangelizers always understand that beyond the techniques and strategies, the preparation and plans, evangelizing is immersing ourselves in the mystery of Christ and trying to communicate something of him to the brothers.

- Our Lady of humility in truth, who taught us in the prophetic canticle that "God always exalts the humble" (cf. Lk 1:52), always helps the "simple and the poor" who seek you with their popular religiosity, help pastors to lead them to the light of truth and to be strong and understanding at the same time, when they have to eradicate certain elements that are no longer genuine and purify certain expressions of popular devotion.

- Mother, we ask through your intercession, like the disciples in the upper room, continuous assistance of the Holy Spirit and docility to welcome him into the Church; we ask it for those who seek God's truth and for those who must serve and live it. May Christ always be the "light of the world" (cf. Jn 8:12) and may the world recognize us as his disciples because we abide in his word and know the truth that will set us free with the freedom of children of God (cf. Jn 8.32). So be it.

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