Liturgy of the Word at the Sanctuary of Montserrat (7 November 1982)

On 7 November 1982, the Holy Father celebrated the Liturgy of the Word at the Sanctuary of Montserrat in Barcelona. In his homily, the Pope reflected on the Psalm « We will go to the house of the Lord » ( Ps 121 [122], 1)

Dear brothers in the Episcopate,
beloved brothers and sisters: 
Praised be Jesus Christ!

1. The words of the prophet sound fully relevant in the liturgy: "Many peoples will come and say: / " Come , let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, / to the temple of the God of Jacob, / so that he may show us his ways / and we can walk along its paths . " For out of Zion will come the law, / and out of Jerusalem the word of the Lord” ( Is 2, 3).

In consonance with the biblical invitation, the visit to Montserrat closely associates the values ​​of religious pilgrimage with the enchantment of the Marian destination on the top of the mountain, where the heavens merge with the earth. The climb to the Sanctuary, in this evocative landscape setting, invites you to evoke a centuries-old history.

It is impressive to know that we are in a sacred place; that along these paths, opened centuries ago, crowds of pilgrims passed, many of them illustrious for their noble birth or for their science. And it is a special reason for joy to know that we follow in the footsteps of John of Mata, Peter Nolasco, Raymond of Peñafort, Vincent Ferrer, Louis Gonzaga, Francis Borgia, Joseph Calasanz, Anthony Mary Claret and many other eminent saints; without forgetting that soldier who, having laid down his weapons at the foot of the "Moreneta", came down from the mountain to captain the Society of Jesus.

2. Here the pilgrim's song of jubilation emerges spontaneously when he reaches his goal. The Psalmist evokes, first of all, the initial joy of the journey: “What joy when they said to me: / « We will go to the house of the Lord » ” ( Ps 121 [122], 1). An intense, contagious, impatient joy, as Saint Augustine comments: “Let us run, let us run, because we will go to the house of the Lord. Let us run without getting tired, because we will arrive where there is no more effort. . . We will go to the house of the Lord.

I rejoiced with the prophets, I rejoiced with the apostles. All of them said to us: "We will go to the house of the Lord"” (S. Augustine, Enarr. in Ps. 121 [122], 1).

Immediately afterwards, the Psalmist describes the unique experience of the pilgrims, once they have reached the longed-for goal: “And now our feet stop / at your gates, Jerusalem! Jerusalem is built / as a firm and compact city. There the tribes go up together, / the tribes of the Lord, / according to the law of Israel, to praise the name of the Lord” ( Ps 121 [122], 2-4).

The first feeling is of admiration before the solidity of a well-founded building. Montserrat happily figures in the series of those Sanctuaries that last year I had the pleasure of defining as "a sign of God, of his irruption in human history", as they represent "a memorial to the mystery of the Incarnation and Redemption", in marvelous consonance with that "traditional and always very current vocation of all Sanctuaries, which consists in being a permanent antenna of the Good News of our salvation" (John Paul II, Allocutio ad sanctuariorum rectores habita , die 22 ian. 1981: Teachings of John Paul II , IV, 1 [1981] 139).

It is the glory of the deserving sons of Saint Benedict to have transformed Saint Augustine's dream into reality: “This is the house of the Lord. In it the one who built the house is praised. He is the delight of all who live there. He alone is the hope here and the reality there” (S. Augustine, Enarr. in Ps. 121 [122], 3). Faithful to their founding charism, the Monks of Montserrat fully live their commitment to making the Basilica an example of liturgical prayer, making the ceremonies beautiful with the songs of their famous "schola cantorum" and directing their prayer in the pastoral care of the countless devotees who gather around the “Mare de Déu”.

The environment irresistibly invites prayer, which is a necessity for pilgrims who ascend the mountain, "according to the law of Israel, / to praise the name of the Lord". It is a joy to glorify his greatness, here, where the song to the Creator emerges spontaneously on our lips; it is a duty to thank with filial love for his generous gifts also on behalf of our brothers; finally, it is a measure of prudence to ask for a reserve of energy in view of further stages. Because the pilgrimage continues. It is not permissible to think here on earth of a "permanent home", and we must "aspire to the future one".

3. The exemplary attitude of the Madonna, who is Mother and, therefore, Teacher, invites us to do this.

Sitting on a throne of glory in a hieratic attitude, as befits the Queen of heaven and earth, with the Child God on her knees, the "Virgen Morena" reveals before our eyes the exact vision of the last glorious mystery of the Holy Rosary .

It is, however, providential that the liturgical celebration of the feast is founded on the joyful mystery of the Visitation, which constitutes the first initiative of the Virgin Mother. Montserrat therefore contains very valid lessons for our journey as pilgrims.

We must never forget the definitive goal of the last mystery of glory. “Think - Saint Augustine will say - that one day you will have to stay there, and although you are still on the way, think as if you were already there, as if you were already enjoying unfailingly among the Angels, and as if what was already happening in you said: « Blessed are those who dwell in your house; forever and ever they will praise you » ” (S. Augustine, Enarr. in Ps. 121 [122], 3).

On the journey we must imitate the Mother's style in the visit she made to her cousin: "In those days Mary set out towards the mountains and quickly reached a city of Judah" ( Lk 1, 39). Her rhythm is decidedly exemplary according to Saint Ambrose: “she Happy in desire, religiously ready for duty, thoughtful in joy, she went to the mountain” (S. Ambrose, Exp. in Evang. secundum Lucam 2, 19).

It is important to note that his itinerary is not limited to this physical ascent of the mountain. The Spirit bursts in at a powerful moment: he made John rejoice with joy in his mother's womb; flooded Elizabeth's mind with divine light; he kidnapped the Queen of the prophets, pushing her on the upward march to the summit of the invisible mountain of the Lord. He did so by following the marvelous law that "overthrows the mighty and exalts the humble" ( Lk 1, 52). The Magnificat represents the echo of that sublime experience in its paradigmatic pilgrimage: "My soul magnifies the Lord / and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior, / because he has looked at the humility of his servant. / From now on all generations will call me blessed” ( Lk 1, 46-48). Mary's song resounds unfailingly throughout the centuries. Here in Montserrat it seems to have crystallized to such an extent as to constitute "a " Magnificat " of rock". It is not only a trustworthy sign of achieved ascent; it is also an arrow indicating further climbs.

The virtue of the pilgrim is hope. Here it is possible to stock up on it, because Mary holds it in her arms and places it maternally at our disposal. Even without us realizing it, as she did with the spouses of Cana in Galilee. She always intervenes with the care and delicacy of a mother. She did this in an exemplary way in the mystery of the Visitation, represented liturgically in an indelible way here in Montserrat. It explains, then, why the melodious accent of the greeting to the Madonna, to the Queen, to the Mother, to the Confessor of hope who encourages pilgrims resounds every day on this mountain: “Déu vos salve, life, sweetness and our hope”.

4. The Psalmist alludes to a heavenly Jerusalem that can be glimpsed through the earthly Jerusalem. Will it be forced to transpose the image? The Virgin of Montserrat, sitting on the throne, with her Son on her knees, seems waiting to embrace all her children with him. Our spiritual pilgrimage ultimately boils down to fully reaching divine filiation. Our vocation is a fact; out of the Father's incomprehensible predilection, he made us children in the Son: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, / who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heaven, in Christ.

/ He chose us in him before the creation of the world, / to be holy and immaculate before him in charity, / predestining us to be his adopted children / through the work of Jesus Christ, / according to the good pleasure of his will. / And this to the praise and glory of his grace, / which he has given us in his beloved Son” ( Eph 1, 3-6).

The Psalmist describes the goal as a “Jerusalem that is being built as a city”. From here Saint Augustine takes inspiration to modulate filiation according to another register: "Now it is being built, and living stones contribute to its construction, of which Saint Paul says: "You too, like living stones, are built as a spiritual house"” (S. Augustine, Enarr. in Ps. 121 [122], 4).

This mountain that is Montserrat, perched in a characteristic way, appears like an incomparable quarry. “Now the city is built, now the stones of the mountains are cut by the hands of those who preach the truth and squared so that they may be united in eternal construction” ( Ibid .). From here, from Montserrat, from the Catalan region, from the whole of Spain, the stones for the new construction must be extracted.

Without forgetting that the foundation is Christ (cf. 1 Cor 10, 4); with all the resulting consequences in architecture. It would seem that Saint Augustine, when he commented on the Psalm, had before his eyes a Basilica like that of Montserrat. “When you lay the foundations in the earth, you build the walls upwards, and their weight gravitates downwards, because the foundations are placed underneath. But if our support or foundation is in heaven, let us build towards heaven. The builders built the structure of this Basilica which you see rising majestically; but since men built it, they laid the foundations underneath; instead when we are built up spiritually, the foundation is placed high. Let us therefore run in that direction to be edified; in fact of this same Jerusalem it was said: " And now our feet stand at your gates, Jerusalem " (St. Augustine, Enarr. in Ps. 121 [122], 4). The temple on which our feet rest is the door to that other one still under construction, of which we feel like living stones.

5. It is not permissible to ignore the suggestion offered to the pilgrims: “Ask for peace for Jerusalem: / be peace to those who love you, / be peace on your walls, / be security in your bulwarks. / For my brothers and my friends / I will say: « Upon you be peace! » . / By the house of the Lord our God, / I will ask good for you” ( Ps 121 [122], 6-9).

Peace summarizes in short the accumulation of goods that a man can desire. A peace firmly based on the covenant of the Lord, faithful to his chosen ones. From this holy mountain, an oasis of serenity and peace, I wish authentic messianic peace for all men, who are brothers, whom the "Moreneta" looks at with the same love as a Mother, and whom she recommends to her divine Son. “He will be judge among the nations / and will be arbiter between many peoples. / They will beat their swords into plowshares, / their spears into pruning hooks; / a people will no longer raise the sword against another people, / they will no longer practice the art of war. / House of Jacob, come, / let us walk in the light of the Lord” ( Is 2, 5).

May the holy mountain, Lord, be a forest of olive trees, be a "sacrament of peace". A sign of what the children who love the true common Mother are; and an effective impulse to truly realize what today sounds like utopia. And it will be reality to the extent that men will meekly submit to the only imperative that the Gospels collected from the mouth of Mary: "Do whatever he tells you". And he is called “Prince of Peace”.

6. We thank you, Lord, for the joy that stopping our steps here in the Sanctuary consecrated to the Mother gave us, in which we felt comforted by a renewed impulse for our future itinerary.

We pray to you, O Father, in this Basilica, in which your Son Jesus Christ, Son of Mary, resides, to abundantly grant peace, harmony and joy to all the pilgrim tribes of the new Israel.

Grant, O Lord, that all men are able to discover the profound meaning of their pilgrim existence on earth; who do not confuse the stages with the goal, who model the journey on the example of Mary. She will be their Helper; because here, now and always, Mary is a powerful Queen and a most pious Mother. Amen.

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