Angelus
ShareOn Sunday, 8 September 1985, Feast of the Birth of the Virgin Mary, the Holy Father recited the Angelus at Eschen-Mauren.
Dear brothers and sisters!
As we now recite the Angelus Domini, united with so many faithful throughout the world, this Marian prayer takes on a special meaning on this day. September 8 is, in the liturgical calendar of the Church, the feast of the birth of Mary, precisely nine months after the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Mother of God, on December 8. In determining these two days of celebration, the Church has taken into account the natural time of a human pregnancy. These nine months of the development of man in the body of the mother are thus venerated and sanctified in a special way.
In the mother's womb, incipient human life, made to flourish by the creative power of God in mysterious collaboration with the life-giving power of man and woman, is, from the first moment of conception, a good that has the right to special protection. Even the mother herself, who carries in her heart the child who is born and developing, deserves great respect, veneration and esteem. I ask, on this day of the feast of the birth of Mary, that the child who is being formed in the mother's body be recognized as a man in all respects and that the future mother be shown loving and sensitive respect and consideration.
Say yes to human life in all its phases! You are rightly committed to the protection of the environment, plants and animals! Say yes to human life with even greater conviction, to that life which in the hierarchy of creation is in first place among all the created realities of the visible world! Save the unborn man from the threat of the born man, who claims the right to touch and kill the life of a child in the mother's womb!
The great joy that we as believers feel at the birth of the Mother of God, and which we solemnly express today, includes, at the same time, a great demand for all of us: we must be happy in principle when a child is formed in a mother's womb and when it then sees the light of the world. Even when the newborn brings difficulties, sacrifices, limitations and burdens, it must always be welcomed and feel protected by the love of its parents. The responsible man and above all the faithful will be able to find - also with the help of others - a solution worthy of man even in difficult situations. He himself will mature in overcoming these problems and will gain a clearer view of the value and dignity, the meaning and purpose of human life.
May Mary, the dawn of salvation, who gave birth to Christ, the sun of justice, obtain for you, through her maternal splendor, this clear gaze, which man so greatly needs in today's world. The celebration of her birth is for us a celebration of life. Trusting in her intercession, let us now recite the prayer to Mary . . .
© Copyright 1985 - Vatican Publishing House
Copyright © Dicastery for Communication - Vatican Publishing House
