Prayer to the Virgin of the Pillar (10 October 1984)

On Wednesday 1984, in the Basilica of the Virgin of the Pillar, the Holy Father offered this prayer.

In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Merciful and eternal God: look at your pilgrim Church, which is preparing to celebrate the fifth centenary of America’s evangelization. You know the paths that the first apostles of this evangelization went through. From the island of Guanahani to the forests of the Amazon.

Thanks to the seeds of faith they threw, the number of your children has grown largely in the Church, and saints so many distinguished as Toribio of Mongrovejo, Pedro Claver, Francisco Solano, Martin de Porres, Rosa da Lima, Juan Macas and many other unknown people who lived with heroism their Christian vocation, have flowered and flourish on the American continent.

Accept our praise and gratitude for the many children of Spain, men and women who, abandoning everything, have decided to dedicate themselves entirely to the cause of the Gospel.

Their parents, some present here, asked for the grace of Baptism for them, educated them in the faith, and you granted them the inestimable gift of the missionary vocation. Thank you, Father of kindness.

Sanctify your Church so that she may always be an evangelizer. Confirm in the Spirit of your apostles all those, bishops, priests, deacons, men and women religious, catechists and seculars, who dedicate their lives, in your Church, to the cause of our Lord Jesus Christ. You have called them to your service, now make them perfect co-workers of your salvation.

May Christian families ed intensely their children in the faith of the Church and in the love of the Gospel, so that they may be seedbed of apostolic vocations.

Put your gaze, Father, even today on the young and call them to walk behind Jesus Christ, your son. Give them readiness in response and perseverance in your following. It give all of them the value and strength to accept the risks of a total and definitive commitment.

Protect, O almighty Father, Spain and the peoples of the American continent.

Look propitious at the anguish of those who suffer hunger, loneliness or ignorance.

May you recognize in them your favorites and give us the strength of your love so that we can help them in their needs.

Virgin of the Pillar: from this sacred place gives strength to the messengers of the Gospel, comforts their families and maternally accompanies our journey towards the Father, with Christ, in the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Copyright 1984 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

Dicastery for Communication - Libreria Editrice Vaticana