The First Message of Pope Leo XIV
Our Lady of Pompeii and Mary's Closeness to Us!
Yesterday we heard the words Habemus Papam. Thanks be to God for providing us a shepherd. I am writing this about 24 hours later. After the joyful news, my parish staff and I went to visit a parishioner who lives in a veterans home an hour away. I was away from my desk and not able to write my thoughts. Maybe that was for the good. Of course there was a flurry of writings and hot takes initially. A little distance, gives us time to let it sink in. As I read and reflect over the pope’s homilies throughout this papacy, these reflections might be delayed. I hope you will understand and appreciate the reflections anyways.
For starters, let’s reflect on the choice of his name- Pope Leo XIV. Pope Leo XIII has always been a favorite of mine. Many people look to Leo XIII’s encyclical “Rerum Novarum.” Yes, it is good. And I think we all should re-read it now. But what I love about Pope Leo XIII is that he wrote yearly rosary encylicals during the month of September, to prepare us for month of the Holy Rosary. I wrote a piece on them years ago- https://catholicexchange.com/pope-leo-xiiis-lessons-on-the-rosary/ I hope that isn’t too audacious of me, but I plan to write the Holy Father soon and ask him to continue the tradition of his namesake predecessor.
Pope Leo XIV’s opening remarks from the loggia can be found here.
He greeted everybody with the words “Peace be with you,” reminding us that these are the words of the risen Jesus. I’ve been told that the new pope has been a pilgrim to the alleged apparition site of Medjugorje, where the Queen of Peace has visited. As Jesus wishes us peace, and as the Cardinals before the conclave exhorted prayers for peace, how fitting he says these words. May peace reign on earth. May the Queen of Peace interceded for us.
The Holy Father said, “So, let us move forward, without fear, together, hand in hand with God and with one another other!” Whenever I hear the word fear, I’m always reminded of the words of the angel Gabriel to Mary, “Be not afraid Mary.” While he doesn’t make a Marian connection here, I do, and for all of us as pilgrims in this life, we walk hand in hand with our mother, who leads us to Jesus. With Jesus and Mary, we truly can move forward without fear.
The day of Pope Leo’s election was a momentous day in Church history. For one, it was the anniversary of the apparition of St. Michael to Pope Leo XIII as I understand it. Secondly, it was the birthday of Archbishop Fulton Sheen and the Cure of Ars, St. John Vianney. As the Holy Father concluded his remarks, he told the whole church that it was the memorial of Our Lady of Pompeii. This is what he said:
Today is the day of the Prayer of Supplication to Our Lady of Pompeii. Our Mother Mary always wants to walk at our side, to remain close to us, to help us with her intercession and her love. So I would like to pray together with you. Let us pray together for this new mission, for the whole Church, for peace in the world, and let us ask Mary, our Mother, for this special grace: Hail Mary...
This is a title of Mary associated with the rosary devotion and is a special place in Italy of veneration of Mary. We call upon Mary under many titles. Her most tender names to all Christians is Mother. She is the Virgin of Nazareth. Mary walks by our side he says. There is a Spanish hymn that says, “Ven con nosotros, al caminar, Santa Maria ven.” Come walk with us Holy Mary. Perhaps this line of his comes from that hymn given his Peruvian background.
She walks by us and remains close to us. We all have sensed the nearness of Mary at some point in our life when we called out to her with our Aves. She has helped us and she loves us. Finally, the special grace he asks for and concludes with is for peace in the world, invoking the intercession of Mary with the Ave Maria. How beautiful! The simple statement, let us ask Mary, our Mother, for this special grace, is almost a nod to Mary’s mediation of grace, that she, as mother of her son and mother of the Church can obtain this grace for the church and the world.
I think we have ourselves another Marian pope. I think we would be hard pressed not to have a Marian pope. I look forward to following his Marian references and seeing what he can teach us about Mary! I’ll keep following along, and hope you will too!
And the saints too!
He quoted St. Augustine in his opening remarks- “With you I am a Christian, and for you I am a bishop.” A nod to his love of St. Augustine as a son of St. Augustine, since he is/was an Augustinian order priest.