The Pope Talks About the Rosary and More at His Sunday Angelus

The Pope at yesterday Angelus

Thanks to the Ratzinger forum for the translation and pic. I am having a related post as to the the Pope's Homiles next.





Here is a translation of the Holy Father's words at the noonday Angelus today - his first from the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican since July.

Dear brothers and sisters, This first Sunday of October offers us two reasons for prayer and reflection: the commemoration of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Rosary which we celebrate today, and missionary commitment, to which this month is specially dedicated.

The traditional image of Our Lady of the Rosary shows Mary who carries the Baby Jesus in one arm, and with the other, offers a rosary to St. Dominic. This significant iconography shows thatthe Rosary is a means offered by the Virgin to contemplate Jesus and, in meditating on his life, to love and follow him even more faithfully. It is the message that Our Lady has left behind in her many apparitions.

I think, in particular, of her apparitions in Fatima 90 years ago. To the three shepherd children Lucia, Jacinta and Francisco, presenting herself as 'The Lady of the Rosary', she recommended insistently that the rosary be recited daily to obtain an end to the war [First World War]. We too wish to comply with the maternal request of the Virgin, committing ourselves to recite the Rosary for peace in our families, among nations and in the entire world. We know that true peace is disseminated wherever men and institutions open themselves to the Gospel.

The month of October helps us to remember this fundamental truth through a special inspiration which tends to keep alive the missionary fervor in every community, and to support the work of those - priests, religious and laymen - who work on the frontiers of the Church's mission. With special care, we are preparing to celebrate on October 21, the World Day of Missions which will have the theme "All the churches for all the world". The proclamation of the Gospel remains the first service that the Church owes to humanity - to offer the salvation of Christ to the man of our time, who has been humiliated and oppressed in so many ways, and to orient, in the Christian sense, the cultural, social and ethical transformations which are going on in the world.

This year, another reason impels us to a renewed missionary commitment: the 50th anniversary of the encyclical Fidei donum by the Servant of God Pius XII, which promoted and encouraged cooperation among churches for the mission ad gentes. It also gives me pleasure to recall that 150 years ago, 5 priests and a layman from the Istituto di Don Mazza of Verona left for what is the Sudan today. Among them was St. Daniel Comboni, future bishop of central Africa and patron of its peoples, and whose liturgical memory we mark on October 10.

Let us entrust all our missionaries to the intercession of this pioneer of the Gospel and to the countless missionary saints and blessed ones, and to the maternal protection of the Queen of the Holy Rosary. May Mary help us to remember that every Christian is called on to announce the Gospel with words and with his life.

After the Angelus prayer, he said:
I am happy to greet the young people who in the past few days have animated the fourth edition of the Mission of Rome called "Jesus at the center." I congratulate you, dear friends, because you have brought the word of God's love through the streets, to hospitals and schools of the city. Missionary experience is part of Christian formation, and it is important that adolescents and youth can live it at first hand. Continue to bear witness to the Gospel every day, and commit yourselves generously to the further missionary initiatives of the Diocese of Rome.

I address a special greeting to the thousands of young people gathered in the Basilica of St. Paul outside the walls, where they are taking part in a Holy Mass celebrated by Cardinal Fiorenzo Angelini, on the occasion of the Third Sports Festival with the theme "Sport, Friendship, Prayer".
Dear young people, you have come from all of Lazio region for this important appointment. May you always know how to unite sport, friendship and spiritual life...

In English, he said:
I extend heartfelt greetings to the English-speaking visitors here today. In this month of October, dedicated to the Holy Rosary, we ponder with Mary the mysteries of our salvation, and we ask the Lord to help us grow in our understanding of the marvellous things he has done for us. May God fill you with his love and may he grant you and all those dear to you his blessings of joy and peace.