Marian Vespers in the Sanctuary on the Mount of Saint Anne (21 June 19883)

 On Tuesday, 21 June 1983, the Holy Father celebrated Marian Vespers on the Shrine Esplanade of the Sanctuary on Mount Saint Anne. In his homily, the Pope regarded the figure of Saint Anne of Samothrace, which makes the faithful aware that “the Son of God became man through the work of the Holy Spirit and, at the same time, through the genealogy of human generations,” culminating in His Mother, the Blessed Virgin, through her mother, Saint Anne.

1. Praise be to Jesus Christ!

I warmly greet all the Pilgrims gathered on Mount Saint Anne.

I have arrived here following the itinerary of my pilgrimage which is linked to the Jubilee of Jasna Góra : for six centuries we have venerated Mary, as our Mother and Queen, in Her Image known not only in the Homeland, but also universally, in the world.

During my first pontifical visit I went to Jasna Góra following the route of our oldest Patrons, Saint Adalbert and Saint Stanislaus, a route that passed through Gniezno and Krakow.

The circumstances of this year’s pilgrimage led me to Jasna Góra following the itinerary of our times, the itinerary of the twentieth century. Through the martyrdom of Saint Maximilian Maria Kolbe , whom we venerate in his homeland, it led me first of all to Niepokalanow, in the first year after his canonization in Rome. This itinerary of our times led me to Jasna Góra, also starting from the still recent tomb of the great Primate of Poland, Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski , who, in the second half of the current century, received the Marian heritage from Father Maximilian and bequeathed it in such an extraordinary way to Jasna Góra.

2. However, this journey of the present times — so eloquent and moving — necessarily requires a complement. We must return to the beginning of those six hundred years which since last year and during this year have brought us together around Jasna Góra. And this beginning is found precisely here: in Piast Silesia .

And so today, my pilgrimage route passes through Wroclaw, where we venerate Saint Hedwig, daughter of the German nation and at the same time great mother of the Polish Piasts, between the 12th and 13th centuries. And from Wroclaw we go to the town of Opole, to stop in the land of that Piast , to whose name is linked the foundation of Jasna Góra and the donation of the Image of Jasna Góra, between the years 1382-84.

We see Ladislaus II, Prince of Opole , commonly called "Opolczyk", a figure especially known from the reign of Louis of Hungary, after whom - as is known - the Polish throne of Kraków was inherited by his daughter Hedwig. Ladislaus, who also belonged to the Silesian Piast family , ended his life in Opole - and there he rests in the crypt of the Franciscan church. Over his tomb we read the following inscription: "In the year of the Jubilee of the six hundredth anniversary of Jasna Góra - to its Founder, the Prince of Opole, Ladislaus II".

This, however, does not end the direct ties of the Opole region with the Image of Jasna Góra. In the years of the Swedish invasion, during the "Flood" in 1655, the Opole Silesian region surrounded the miraculous Image with its protection and gave it safe refuge in Pauliny, a place belonging to the parish of Mochow, near Glogowek (cf. D. Franciszek Jop, In the Service of the Word of God , p. 225).

Therefore, today's stop in the town of Opole is part of the Pope's pilgrimage for the Jasna Góra jubilee.

This stop is made at St. Anne's Hill, near which is Kamien Slaski, the birthplace of St. Jacek, Blessed Czeslaw and Blessed Bronislawa of Odrowaz — figures who are very dear to me and have been connected with me since my early youth. St. Jacek and Blessed Bronislawa are buried in Krakow, and Blessed Czeslaw is the Patron Saint of Wroclaw.

3. We find ourselves, therefore, in a land which in the past was, almost in a special way, marked by signs of holiness . My greeting goes to the Pastors present here, of the Church in the Diocese of Opole and in the Metropolis of Wroclaw. However, allow me, venerable and dear Brothers in the Episcopate, to recall first of all those who were your immediate Predecessors . Indeed, it is difficult for me not to recall, as the silver jubilee of my episcopal consecration approaches, those who, on 28 September 1958 in the Royal Cathedral of Wawel, laid their hands on my head, transmitting to me in the sacrament of the episcopate the Holy Spirit and the apostolic succession. They were, together with Archbishop Eugene Baziak of venerable memory, Metropolitan of Leupoli, Cardinal Boleslaw Kominek of venerable memory, from 1972 Metropolitan of Wroclaw, and Bishop Franciszek Jop of venerable memory, from 1972 the first residential Bishop of the Diocese of Opole.

In remembering the deceased who have just left us, I extend a heartfelt greeting and welcome to the living. First of all, I greet the Metropolitan of Wroclaw and the second Bishop of Opole, Bishop Alfons Nossol, who is a true son of this land. I also greet the three auxiliary Bishops of Opole: Waclaw, Antoni and Jan. I also greet the Chapter and all the clergy of the Church of Opole, and with them the male and female religious families. I extend special greetings to the Franciscan Fathers , who for many generations have cared for the shrine on Mount Saint Anne, carrying out pastoral service for the many pilgrims.

Together with the hosts, I cordially greet all the ecclesiastical and lay visitors from Silesia and various parts of Poland, and especially the representatives of the Episcopate. Among them are six Cardinals: Cardinal Volk, Cardinal Krol, who presided over the celebration here this morning, replacing the Pope; Cardinal Meisner, Cardinal Casaroli and our Polish Cardinals: the Cardinal Primate and the Cardinal Metropolitan of Krakow. In addition to these, there are many Bishops, my dear Brothers, who have come from outside Poland. I cannot fail to greet the representatives of the Catholic Athenaeums from various parts of Poland. Their presence is due to the fact that the Athenaeums love their Bishop very much. They love him because he himself is an eminent theologian. He also loves them, but he knows how to orient himself in such a way that his love for the Athenaeums and for science does not disturb his love for the diocese of Opole, but rather develops it.

4. We find ourselves here on Mount Saint Anne, before this "fullness of time", as Saint Paul proclaims in his Letter to the Galatians. We have just heard the words of this Letter as a reading for Vespers: "... When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman..." ( Gal 4:4).

On Mount St. Anne this central truth of the history of salvation is brought into particular relief: the "Woman who gave birth to the Son of God" is found, together with that Son, in the arms of her own Mother : St. Anne. This is expressed in the image of St. Anne "Samotrzecia", which here, in the main shrine of Silesia and the town of Opole - only a hundred years newer than Jasna Góra - has been venerated and surrounded by love for centuries by the various generations.

This love and veneration are directed towards the mystery of the incarnation. From the Gospels of Saint Matthew and Saint Luke, we know well that the Son of God, having become man through the work of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin of Nazareth, also has his own human genealogy . The genealogies of the evangelists list first of all the male ancestors of Jesus Christ. But in the figure of Saint Anne "Samotrzecia" the maternal line is highlighted above all : the Mother and her own Mother. The Son of God became man because Mary became his Mother. She herself, however, learned to be a mother from her own mother.

The cult of Saint Anne, through the genealogy of motherhood, is inserted into the very mystery of the incarnation . It is introduced into this "fullness of time", which was fulfilled when "God sent forth his Son, born of a woman".

5. And He sent Him... "to redeem them that were under the Law, that we might receive adoption as sons" ( ibid : v. 5).

You know well, dear pilgrims, that from 25 March of this year, that is, from the Solemnity of the Annunciation, which is also the liturgical feast of the mystery of the Incarnation, the extraordinary Jubilee of the Year of the Redemption began in the entire Church . In fact, just as in 1933 the Church celebrated the Jubilee commemorating the 1,900 years that have passed since the Redemption of the world, so this year commemorates the 1,950 years that have passed since that salvific Event.

In this way, our Jubilee of Jasna Góra, celebrated in Poland, takes place in a certain way in that universal Jubilee of the entire Church. And the point of reference of this Jubilee of the Redemption is precisely that "fullness of time" when "God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, to redeem those who were under the law...": that he might redeem the whole human race from sin — "that we might receive adoption as sons".

You who make pilgrimages to Mount Saint Anne, meditate this year with deep faith on the mystery of that "birth of a woman" which gave rise to our Redemption. And seek to penetrate with special hope the inscrutable treasures of the Redemption , which the Church opens this Year before the entire People of God, so that they may obtain forgiveness and reconciliation from it. Strive, then, to obtain the forgiveness of sins, and also the remission of temporal punishments, since this is possible through a suitable interior disposition. Seek also to achieve reconciliation: above all an ever deeper reconciliation with God himself, in Jesus Christ and through the work of the Holy Spirit, and at the same time reconciliation with men, both near and far, present in this life and absent. This earth, in fact, always needs a multiple reconciliation , as I said today in Wroclaw, referring to the work of Saint Hedwig.

6. On Mount Saint Anne we also remember with veneration those who in this land did not hesitate in their time to sacrifice their lives on the battlefield, as is witnessed by the Monument to the Silesian Insurgents , which stands here. Mount Saint Anne also holds in its memory these people. At the same time, the very heart of the shrine is the memory of all those who, from generation to generation, came here to "receive the adoption of sons": divine filiation. To live this divine Life which at the price of Christ's Sacrifice became a gift for all men. To build, on the supernatural ground of sanctifying Grace, an honest and noble human life: a life worthy of the Christian, whether in the domestic home, in the place of agricultural or industrial work, or in all aspects of society.

"This is the proof that you are sons, because God has sent the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying out, 'Abba! Father!'" ( ibid . v. 6).

Here, on Mount St. Anne, entire generations of pilgrims have come and continue to come to learn this invocation. To learn the prayer that then penetrates human life, permeates it and shapes it according to God. And this prayer, uniting parents and children, grandparents and grandchildren side by side, at the same time creates the deepest bond between generations . Has not the great divine and human heritage survived in this century from the time of the Piasts: from the time of St. Hedwig and Ladislaus of Opole, the founder of Jasna Góra?

7. The figure of Saint Anne of Samothrace makes us aware that the Son of God became man through the work of the Holy Spirit and, at the same time, through the genealogy of human generations. May this figure be for you, dear brothers and sisters, a constant source of inspiration in your daily life, in your family and in society. Pass on to one another, from generation to generation, together with prayer , the entire spiritual heritage of Christian life.

As a pilgrim today on Mount Saint Anne, and also as the first Pope to be born of Poland, I wish to confirm and consolidate this heritage . It has survived here for so many generations. May it continue to do so. May the radiance of Mount Saint Anne develop all that which had its beginning in the Redemption accomplished by Jesus Christ, Son of Mary; all that which is inserted into our souls by the Sacrament of Baptism and confirmed by Confirmation; all that which is constantly renewed through Penance and finds its sacramental fullness in the Eucharist.

In remembrance of my presence in this land, I also wish to crown the venerated image of the Mother of God in the cathedral of Opole .

Sons and Daughters of this land!

Do not cease to live this faith, according to which God sent His Son born of a woman... so that we could receive the adoption of sons, divine filiation!

Sons and Daughters of this land!

Do not cease to remain in the divine filiation that we received from Jesus Christ crucified and resurrected through the work of the Holy Spirit!

Sons and Daughters of this land!

Never cease to cry out — in the language that was that of your ancestors — never cease to cry out to God: "Abba! Father! "

Copyright © Dicastero per la Comunicazione - Vatican Publishing House