Holy Mass in Sao Paulo (3 July 1980)

On Thursday, 3 July 1980, the Holy Father celebrated Mass in São Paulo, Brazil. In his homily, the Pope recalled Father José de Anchieta, now Blessed, who celebrated the first Mass in São Paulo on the Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul.

1. I am truly happy to be with you today, in this dear city of São Paulo, whose municipal council, with a delicate gesture, wanted to offer me the title of "Saulian citizen", due to the fact that as supreme pontiff I recently decreed the beatification of Father José de Anchieta, of the Society of Jesus, rightly considered one of the founders of your city.

This manifestation of cordiality moves me and makes me express my heartfelt and sincere thanks.

Now I would like to reflect with you on the fascinating figure of Blessed Anchieta, so closely linked to the religious and civil history of this beloved Brazil.

Blessed Anchieta arrived here in this part of your great nation, Brazil, in 1554. The city did not yet exist; there were just a few settlements of Aboriginal people. He arrived on January 24, the eve of the feast of the conversion of Saint Paul. Therefore the first mass celebrated here was precisely that in honor of the apostle of the Gentiles and the village that would arise around the small hut - the "little church" - which must have been his heart was dedicated to him. Hence the name of your city, São Paulo, the largest city in Brazil.

Born in the Canary Islands, educated in Portugal, José de Anchieta came from those nations which, at that time, contributed so much to the discovery of the world: navigators and pioneers departed from Spain and Portugal, who, crossing the seas, reached lands as far then unknown. Conquerors, colonists, traders, explorers followed them.

Did Father Anchieta come as a soldier in search of glory, a conqueror in search of land or a merchant in search of good business and money? No! He came as a missionary to proclaim Jesus Christ and spread the Gospel. He came with the sole purpose of leading men to Christ, giving them the life of children of God, destined for eternal life. He came without demanding anything for himself; indeed, willing to give his life for them.

Well, I too come to you for the same reason, moved by the same love: I come to you as a humble messenger of Christ.

This has always been the only motivation for the journeys that have taken me to the various continents: apostolic journeys of one who, a servant of Christ, wants to confirm his brothers in the faith.

Even today this is the reason why I am among you. It unites me intimately with your blessed José de Anchieta.

Welcome me as you welcomed Anchieta: my passage among you has something of what was the passage and is the permanence of the great apostle among your people, in your villages of that time, in your great country. Let it be the passage of the Lord's grace.

2. Young, full of life, intelligent, cheerful by nature, with a big heart and loved by all, brilliant in his studies at the University of Coimbra, José de Anchieta was able to win the sympathy of his companions who liked to hear him recite. For the timbre of his voice they called him "canary", thus recalling the song of the birds of his native island, Tenerife, in the Canary Islands.

Many paths to success lay before him. But, as a young man of faith, he was attentive to the inspirations and motions of God who attracted him along other paths, called him and directed him along a very different path from what others had perhaps imagined for him. In moments of spiritual darkness, the young man sought silence, solitude, to pray. Often, putting his books aside, he walked alone along the banks of the Mondego River.

During one of these walks, José entered the cathedral of Coimbra and, in front of the altar of the Virgin Mary, he unexpectedly found the much desired peace and serenity. He then decided to dedicate his life to the service of God and men. And, in order to live this ideal, he made the vow of chastity there, at that same hour, consecrating himself to the Virgin: he was then 17 years old.

From that day he intensified his prayers and continued his studies with ardor. Although young, he showed a great sense of maturity in the face of the value of life. The gift of self made to the Mother of God began to materialize as a call to religious life.

At that time, at the University of Coimbra, one read the letters that Francis Xavier - the great missionary - wrote from the East. They also contained insistent appeals to the young students of European universities. Deeply impressed by what Xavier said about the shortcomings of so many peoples and countries, and wishing to follow such an eloquent example of dedication to the glory of God and the good of men, Anchieta decided to enter the Society of Jesus: he wanted to be a missionary!

So, a few years later, he came to Brazil.

Now I want to address you, young people of São Paulo, young people from all over Brazil, from the great nation that can be called "young" because its population has such a high youth index: look at your Anchieta!

He was young, like you, but open to God and his appeals. He was full of life like you, but in prayer he sought the answer to life. In this contact with the living God he found the path that leads to true life, to a life of love for God and for men.

The Lord, who lived on earth, passing from village to village, doing good (cf. Mt 9:35), also goes today in search of hearts open to his invitation: "Come, follow me!" ( Mt 19.21, Lk 10.2).

Remember: José de Anchieta responded generously and the Lord made him the "apostle of Brazil" who contributed in an outstanding way to the good of your people.

3. Once a missionary, Anchietas lived the spirit of the apostle of the Gentiles, who in his letters spoke of the vicissitudes, difficulties and dangers he faced, bearing in his heart his "daily concern, his concern for all the Churches" (2 Cor 11 ,26-28).

In a letter dated June 1, 1560, revealing his great desire to lead the peoples of this country to the Lord, Father Anchieta wrote verbatim: "Therefore without letting ourselves be intimidated by the calms, the storms, the rains, the foaming and impetuous currents of the rivers , we try without rest to visit all the villages and houses of both the Indians and the Portuguese; and even at night we rush to the sick, crossing dark forests, at the price of great efforts, both because of the roughness of the roads and because of the bad weather” (J. de Anchieta, Carta ao P. Tiago Laynez, Prepósito-General da Companhia de Jesus, 1st June 1560). Describing even more clearly the conditions of those who, with him and like him, dedicated themselves to the "brasis" - as he used to call them -, he reveals even more profoundly the greatness of his love and his spirit of sacrifice and, above all, the purpose of existence: "Nothing is difficult for those whose hearts are nurtured and whose sole purpose is the glory of God and the salvation of souls, for which they do not hesitate to give their lives" (ibid. ) .

Saving souls for the glory of God: this is the goal of his life. This explains the prodigious activity of Anchieta, in seeking new forms of apostolic activity, which led him to be all to all for the Gospel; to make himself a servant of all in order to win as many men as possible for Christ (cf. 1Cor 9:19-22).

He spared no effort to understand his "brasis" and share their life. If he learned their difficult language - and so well that he was the first to compose a grammar - it was for the love that drove him to incarnate among them, to speak to them about Jesus and pass on the good news. Thus he became an outstanding catechist who - following the example of Christ the Lord, God made man to reveal the Father - spoke of God to the men among whom he lived in a simple way, adapting to their mental categories and their customs.

With this same purpose, taking into account the talents and natural qualities of the Indians, their thirst for knowledge, their generosity and hospitality and their sense of community, he promoted and developed the "aldeias" (villages), centers where the life of each merged with that of the others, adequately, in work, in solidarity, in cooperation. The heart of each of these centers was always the house of God, where the Eucharistic sacrifice was celebrated regularly and the Lord remained present in the most holy sacrament. Yes, because a social group that is not animated by charity, which only God knows how to instil in hearts (cf. Rom 5:5), cannot last, nor can it offer what the heart of man and all of humanity seek with great desire.

In Puebla, speaking of man's liberation, I insisted that it must be seen in the light of the Gospel, that is, in the light of Christ, who gave his life to redeem humanity, freeing it from sin. More recently, speaking in Africa, where the sense of community is so alive, I recommended to the peoples of that continent that they seek to develop their social sense in an authentically Christian way, without letting themselves be influenced by extraneous currents, materialists on the one hand, consumerists on the other other. I repeat it to you too. Father Anchieta was able to understand the mentality and customs of your people. With his prudent social action, inspired by the Gospel and rooted in it, he knew how to stimulate growth and development capable of integrating this same mentality and customs-in what they had that was authentically human and, therefore,
Appreciating the thirst for knowledge of the "brasis", their marked talent for music, their skill and other gifts, he created for them cultural and craft training centers that gradually contributed to raising the general level of the following generations: São Paulo, Olinda, Bahia, Porto Seguro, Rio de Janeiro, Reritiba - where he died and which today is called Anchieta - are places which, together with others, speak to us of the blessed's tireless apostolic activity.
In all this immense effort of his, with the help of many confreres unknown to many but equally admirable, there was a vision and a spirit: the integral vision of man redeemed by the blood of Christ; the spirit of the missionary who does everything so that human beings, to whom he approaches to help and educate, reach the fullness of Christian life.

Allow me now to address you in a special way, Bishops, priests, men and women religious, who have given their lives to serve God in the Church. The finality of your pastoral action, individually or collectively, never deviate from what - as I said in my encyclical "Redemptor Hominis" - is the true purpose for which the Son of God became man and worked among us. May his mission of love, peace and redemption truly be yours. Remember that Christ himself showed us what his mission consists of: "Veni ut vitam habeant et ut abundantius habeant": "I have come that they may have life and have it in abundance" (Jn 10:10 ) .

If you want to continue the life and mission of Christ, be faithful to your vocation.

Father Anchieta did everything, even studied the fauna and flora, medicine, music, literature, but he addressed everything to the true good of man, called to be and to live as a child of God.

4. From where did Father Anchieta draw the strength to carry out so many works in a life all consumed for the benefit of others, until he died exhausted when he was still in full swing?

Certainly not from iron health. On the contrary, he always had poor health. In his apostolic journeys, made on foot and without comfort, he always suffered in his body the consequences of an accident he had as a young man.

Did he perhaps find strength in his talents and human gifts? Partly yes; but that doesn't explain everything. With this statement alone we do not get to the real root.

This man's secret was his faith: José de Anchieta was a man of God. Like Saint Paul, he could say: "Scio cui credidi": "I know in whom I believed... and I am convinced that he is capable of keeping until that day the deposit entrusted to me" ( 2 Tim 1:12).

From the moment he spoke with God and with the Virgin Mary, Mother of Christ and ours, in the cathedral of Coimbra, from that moment until his last breath, José de Anchieta's life was one of linear clarity: serving the Lord , be available to the Church, do all they can for those who were or were to become children of the Father who is in heaven.

Certainly he did not lack pain and suffering, disappointments and failures, he too had his share of the daily bread of every apostle of Christ, of every priest of the Lord. But in his tireless activity and continuous suffering, he never lacked the calm, serene and virile certainty founded on the Lord Jesus, whom he found and to whom he united himself in the Eucharistic mystery, to whom he constantly offered himself to allow himself to be molded by his Spirit.

José de Anchieta understood what God's will was for him the day he humbly knelt before an image of Our Lady: the Mother of the Savior began to take care of him and he began to nurture a very tender love for her . He taught her "brasis of her" to know and love her. He dedicated a poem to her which is a true song of the soul, written in very difficult circumstances when, taken hostage, he was in constant danger of death. Having neither paper nor ink at his disposal, he lovingly wrote on the sand of the beach his poem about her, which he memorized: “De Beata Virgine Matre Dei Maria”.

The deep and ardent union with God; the living and affectionate attachment to the crucified and risen Christ, present in the Eucharist; tender love for Mary: this is the source from which the richness of Anchieta's life and activity springs, an authentic missionary, a true priest.

May God, through the intercession of Blessed José de Anchieta, give you the grace to live as he taught, as he invites us by the example of his life.

© Copyright 1980 - Vatican Publishing House

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