Words at the End of the Candle Procession (14 August 1983)

On Sunday, 14 August 1983, at the end of the Candle Procession, the Holy Father spoke these words in front of the Lower Basilica of Lourdes, reflecting on the difficulties of living the Faith.

1. On this still night we keep watch. And in this way we are waiting for the celebration of Mary's glory. We pray. No longer each one in secret, but as an immense people on the march following the resurrected Jesus Christ, illuminating one another, dragging one another, supporting each other in faith in Christ Jesus, in his words that are light to our hearts. Jesus tells us: "Have your lamps burning" ( Luke 12:35): the lamp of faith, the lamp of prayer! May our prayers unite to rise to God, like the flame of our candles; to offer Him, with Mary, a fervent thanksgiving; and also to raise together an immense supplication.

Each person brings personal intentions here, for their own salvation, their family, their community, for their country. This is good. Tonight we put together all these desires, to entrust them to our Father in heaven, through Mary. And we extend these intentions to the entire world and the entire Church, looking for what corresponds to God's will and not just ours.

Yes, all over the world! May everyone have a place in our prayer, these men and women who, in any part of the earth, suffer because of hunger or other scourges, the destruction of war, the displacement of populations; those who are victims of political or non-political terrorism that kills the innocent without scruples, of hatred, of various oppressions, of injustices of all kinds, kidnapped, kidnapped, tortured, condemned without guarantee of justice; all those who suffer intolerable attacks on their human dignity and fundamental rights, which are part of their just freedom of thought and action, humiliated in their legitimate national aspirations. So that the attitude of those responsible changes and the victims receive comfort and courage! We also think about the moral misery of those who are drawn into corruption of all kinds. We also ask for those who experience serious difficulties due to their immigration status, unemployment, illness, illness, loneliness. It is Christ, the Son of man , who suffers in them. If I do not dwell on these human miseries, it is because I have often had the opportunity to talk about them.

Likewise, we Christians take special consideration in our prayers to the spiritual needs of the universal Church, known to all of us and about which I have often spoken: conversion, the transmission of faith, the sanctity of consecrated souls, the vocations, the propagation of Christian homes... But there is a particularly evident spiritual anguish, on which we will now focus our attention and our prayer: it is that of those who suffer because of their faith . We who can, here, express our faith and prayer without any hindrance, let us not forget these brothers and sisters! And above all in this sanctuary in Lourdes, to which Christians around the world have had their eyes turned ever since the Virgin Mary made hope shine! As Pope, bringing concern for all the Churches and frequently informed of their situations, I invite you to meditate with me on this mystery of the persecution of believers, taking up, with Mary, the words of Jesus.

2. "Blessed will you be when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of slander against you for My sake. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in Heaven" ( Mt. 5, 11 -12).

This Beatitude, the last of the eight indicated by the Gospel of Matthew, I want to pronounce before You, O Mother of Christ and Mother of the Church, here, in Lourdes. And in pronouncing it, I wish to gather in your presence all who , wherever they are in the world, suffer persecution "for the sake of Christ", all who are "hated for the sake of His name" (cf. Mc 13 , 13).

3. On many occasions Christ spoke of persecution to his disciples. He did not hide from them that persecution would often become the price of the testimony (cf. Lk . 21, 13) that they would give before men.

Let us let some of the Master’s words resonate at this time, which contain the true gospel of persecution:

"They will hand you over to the courts and be flogged in the synagogues; and you will appear before governors and kings for My sake, to bear witness before them... But whoever endures to the end will be saved" ( Mk 13, 9- 13). However, "do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul " ( Mt. 10, 28).

These are words taken from the Gospels of Mark and Matthew.

The Gospel of Luke , in turn, having recalled those who are hated, expelled, insulted because of the Son of Man (cf. Lc . 6, 22-23), clarifies: "When they take you to the synagogues, to the magistrates and to the authorities, do not worry about what you will say in your defense, for the Holy Spirit will teach you, in the moment, what you should say" ( Luke 12, 11-12).

4. We also read in the Gospel of John :

"If the world hates you, know that it hated Me rather than you.

"...you are not of the world, but I chose you from the world, therefore the world hates you... A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you ... But they will do all these things to you for My name's sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me" ( John 15:18-21).

"I tell you this so that you may have peace in Me. In the world you will have tribulation. But have confidence: I have overcome the world " ( John 16, 33).

5. Christ, therefore, prepared his disciples for persecution. And, therefore, they were victims of them from the moment they began to carry out the mission entrusted to them. Already in Jerusalem , the Apostles and those who believed in Christ suffered persecution. The first three centuries of the existence of Christianity in the Roman Empire constituted a period of persecution, the first of which broke out in Rome , during the time of Nero, in the 60s. Among the numerous victims, this persecution affected the Apostles Peter and Paul. Until the beginning of the 4th century, bloody persecutions were repeated regularly. The Church was born on the Cross of Christ and grew in the midst of persecution .

This was how it began in Roman antiquity.

And so it was later. Over the centuries, in different places, persecutions against the Church broke out, and those who believed in Christ gave their lives for their faith and suffered the worst tortures.

The martyrology of the Church has been written from century to century.

6. Today, the day of my pilgrimage to Lourdes, I would like to embrace with the thought and heart of the Church all those who suffer persecution in our time. I would like to understand them all, through the heart of the Church, with the maternal Heart of the Mother of God whom the Church venerates as its Mother and as Queen of martyrs.

Persecutions for the faith are sometimes similar to those written in the Martyrology of the Church in past centuries. They take various forms of discrimination against believers, and the entire Church community. These forms of discrimination are sometimes applied at the same time as the right to religious freedom and freedom of conscience, and this also both in the legislation of different States and in documents of an international nature.

7. Is it necessary to individualize?

In the persecutions of the first centuries, the usual penalties were death, deportation and exile.

Today, to prison, concentration or forced labor camps, expulsion from one's homeland, other less marked but more subtle penalties are added: no longer bloody death , but a kind of civil death ; not only segregation in a prison or camp, but the permanent restriction of personal freedom or social discrimination.

Today there are hundreds and hundreds of thousands of witnesses to the faith, often ignored or forgotten by public opinion, whose attention is absorbed by different facts; they are not often known except by God alone. They endure daily deprivation, in the most diverse regions of each continent.

These are believers forced to meet in hiding, because their religious community is not authorized.

These are bishops, priests and religious, who are prohibited from exercising their holy ministry in churches or public meetings.

These are dispersed nuns, who cannot lead their consecrated lives.

These are generous young people, prevented from entering a seminary or a place of religious formation to fulfill their own vocation there.

These are girls who are not given the opportunity to dedicate themselves to a common life devoted to prayer and charity towards their brothers and sisters.

These are parents who are denied the possibility of providing their children with an education inspired by their faith.

These are men and women who work manually, intellectually or in other professions, who, simply because they profess their faith, are in danger of being deprived of a suitable future for their professions or studies.

These testimonies add to the serious and painful situations of prisoners, internees and exiles, not only among the Catholic faithful and other Christians, but also among other believers (cf. Encyclical Redemptor hominis , n.17). They constitute a praise that continually rises to God, from the sanctuary of his consciences, as a spiritual offering, undoubtedly pleasing to God.

8. This should not make us forget other difficulties in living the faith. They do not come only from external restrictions on freedom, from the oppression of men, from laws or from governments. They can also result from dispositions and currents of thought that are contrary to evangelical customs and that exert a strong influence on all members of society; or it is still a climate of materialism. or religious indifferentism that suffocates spiritual aspirations, or a fallacious and individualistic conception of freedom, which confuses the possibility of choosing, whatever it may be to favor the passions, with the desire to fulfill one's human vocation in the best way, the their spiritual destiny and the common good. This is not the freedom that grounds human dignity and promotes the Christian faith (cf. Redemptor hominis , n. 12). Believers who are immersed in such environments also need great courage to remain lucid and faithful, to use their freedom well. For them too, we need to pray. Fear, says Jesus, those who may lose their soul (cf. Mt. 10, 28).

9. In every era of its history, the Church has devoted particular attention and thought, a special love to those who "suffer for the sake of Christ".

There was continuous thought and constant concern for them on the part of the Church.

Our meeting today, at the feet of the Immaculate Mother of Christ, in Lourdes, allows us to give a particular expression to this long-lasting thought. We pray for all who, anywhere and in any way, are persecuted because of their faith.

We remember the words of Christ himself.

I hope these brothers and sisters find inspiration and strength in these words! May the Holy Spirit be with them , He who illuminates the spirits and diffuses heroic strength in the hearts of the confessors of faith. In a certain sense, in the eyes of God, they are those who shine like so many lights scattered throughout the world, and from whom the Church receives vigor in a mysterious way. May they all retain inner peace and truly Christian strength of spirit! May the sense of dignity that arises through inner fidelity to conscience and truth be consolidated in them ! May the Lord give them the grace of forgiveness granted to His persecutors and of love towards their enemies!

O Mother of Christ, who is at the foot of the Cross of your Son, remain close to all those who, in today's world, suffer persecution! May your maternal presence help them to endure suffering and achieve victory through the Cross!

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