Feast Of Mary's Assumption Gives Us Hope For The Future, Pope Says

16-August-2011 -- Catholic News Agency

VATICAN CITY, August 15 (CNA/EWTN News) - Pope Benedict XVI reflected on the Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary on Aug. 15, saying that the celebration gives Christians hope of a future united with Christ, both in this life and in heaven.

"This feast," he said, "tells us that we too will be with Jesus in the joy of God and invites us to have courage, to believe that the power of the Resurrection of Christ can work in us as well."

From his summer residence at Castel Gandalfo, just south of Rome, the Pope celebrated Mass in the morning on Monday and later led the Angelus prayer at noon.

He remarked during his homily that the feast day serves to inspire the faithful to evangelize modern society and helps "make us men and women who every day try to live as resurrected, carrying the light of goodness into the darkness of evil in the world."

He also reflected on the daily reading from the Gospel of Luke, where the Blessed Mother travels to visit her cousin St. Elizabeth, who is overjoyed that the "mother of her Lord" would come to her.

"Mary comes into the house of Zechariah and Elizabeth, but does not enter alone. She enters carrying in her womb the child in which God himself became man."

The Pope said that the evangelist Luke highlights the significance of Elizabeth, her husband Zechariah and the baby in her womb, John the Baptist, waiting for Mary's arrival.

"Zechariah and Elizabeth and the infant John the Baptist are, in fact, the symbol of all the righteous of Israel, whose heart, full of hope, awaits the coming of the Messiah," he said.

Pope Benedict observed that the Holy Spirit then opens the eyes of St. Elizabeth to recognize that Mary is the new Ark of the Covenant since she carries the Son of God within her very self.

When Elizabeth exclaims, "look, the moment your greeting reached my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy," St. Luke uses the term "skirtan" which translates to "bounce."

This, the Pope explained, is the same term used to describe the holy dance of King David in front of the Ark of the Covenant when it was returned to Israel in the Old Testament book of Second Samuel.

"John the Baptist in the womb is dancing before the ark, like David," he said. "Mary is the New Ark of the Covenant, before which the heart leaps for joy at the Mother of God in the world."

Men and women today, the Pope said, are also the recipients of God's love and must do as Mary did - accept Christ in faith, be enlightened and guided by his word and follow him every day.

Before praying the Angelus at noon, Pope Benedict observed that the Feast of the Assumption is celebrated by Christians of both the Eastern and Western Church and that the dogma of the Assumption was proclaimed in 1950.

After the prayer, he greeted those gathered at Castel Gandolfo in several languages, including English.

"May the example and prayers of Mary, Queen of Heaven, inspire and sustain us on our pilgrimage of faith," he told pilgrims, "that we too may attain the glory of the Resurrection and the fulfillment of our hope in her Son's promises."

Over 130,000 Youth Enjoy Days In The Diocese Across Spain

16-August-2011 -- Catholic News Agency

MADRID, SPAIN, August 15 (CNA/EWTN News) - Madrid is hosting World Youth Day but all of Spain is joining in the celebration. More than 130,000 young people from across the world are in Spain's 65 dioceses, before the international gathering begins on Aug. 16.

"The Days in the Dioceses are a great way to prepare for WYD," said program organizer Javier Igea on August 11.

The young pilgrims from 137 countries are being offered free accommodation by each diocese in either schools, parishes, sports centers or homes. Each day the pilgrims meet with young local Catholics for prayer and worship at the shrines and religious sites held dear by each region.

So while French pilgrims in the north-eastern Diocese of Oviede are making a pilgrimage to the shrine of La Virgen de Covadogna, Italian pilgrims in nearby Galicia are visiting the tomb of the Apostle St. James in Santiago de Compostela.

Meanwhile, the city of Avila, famed for its connection to the 16th century St. Teresa of Jesus, hosted a retreat entitled "Teresa of Jesus: Rooted and built up in Christ." The retreat culminated in a sound and light show on the evening of Aug. 13.

The visiting pilgrims are also being offered historical tours, non-religious cultural activities as well as free time to themselves.

"We participated in WYD at Rome in 2000 and lived the Days in the Dioceses, welcomed by families in the city of Imola," said Patricia and George, a young married couple from Guadalajara, near Madrid. They are currently hosting three pilgrims from California.

"This WYD in Madrid is an opportunity for us to give back what we received 10 years ago and for the pilgrims who will come to have a chance to live the experience of living with a host family."

Organizers say they are insistent that cost not be a barrier to participation. That means that 230 Haitian pilgrims are being financially supported in their visit to the historic region of La Mancha, just 40 minutes south of Madrid.

The "Days in the Dioceses" initiative was begun in 1997 at World Youth Day in Paris as a way of allowing all of France to participate in the event. It has since been replicated at each subsequent World Youth Day.

15-August-2011 -- Catholic News Agency

Pope Offers Special Indulgence To World Youth Day Pilgrims

VATICAN CITY, August 12 (CNA/EWTN News) - Pope Benedict XVI has declared that pilgrims to World Youth Day in Madrid will be able to obtain a special indulgence while attending the event.

"We are very happy because the Holy Father reinforces with this decision the penitential meaning of World Youth Day in Madrid," communications director Rafa Rubio told CNA on Aug. 11.

The indulgence will allow young people to draw closer to God and grow in their friendship with Christ, Rubio added.

An indulgence is the means by which the Catholic Church - with the authority of Jesus Christ - rescinds the temporal consequences of sins that have already been forgiven in confession.

Indulgences replaced the severe penances imposed in the early Church and can be either "plenary" or "partial," which respectively rescind all or part of the punishment caused by sin.

The Pope's intentions were announced Aug. 11 in a decree from the Apostolic Penitentiary in Rome, the Vatican body responsible for issues related to the forgiveness of sins.

The Penitentiary explained that the Latin-language edict "grants a plenary indulgence to the faithful who attend the occasion of 'World Youth Day XXVI' in Madrid in a spirit of pilgrimage." A partial indulgence can also be gained by "everyone, wherever they are, who prays for the spiritual purpose of this meeting and for its happy outcome."

In order to receive the plenary indulgence it states that Madrid pilgrims must go to confession, receive Holy Communion and pray for the intentions of Pope Benedict.

The partial indulgence is available to those "wherever they are" during next week's events if "with contrite hearts, they lift up their prayers to God the Holy Spirit, to the end that He might urge the young to charity and that He might give them the strength to announce the Gospel with their own lives."

The decree also explains that the indulgences were requested by Cardinal Antonio Rouco Varela of Madrid, as he wanted "young people to receive the desired fruits of sanctification" from World Youth Day in his home city.

Finally, it asks that all priests in Madrid next week make themselves available as confessors for the young pilgrims.

World Youth Day is a series of events running from Tuesday, August 16 to Sunday, August 21. The Pope will arrive on the evening of Thursday, August 18. He will preside at a total of nine events culminating in Sunday Mass at Cuatro Vientos Airport. The latest estimate is that one million young people will descend upon the Spanish capital during the week.