«Regina Coeli» visit to Aquileia and Venice May 8, 2011
Benedict XVI
San Julián Park – Mestre, May 8, 2011
During the pastoral visit to Aquileia and Venice, before the “Regina Coeli” prayer, Benedict XVI has asked to invoke the Virgin to support and “strengthen the work of numerous lay people who actively collaborate in the New Evangelization” and among them he has remembered the Neocatechumenal Way.
“Dear Brothers and Sisters,
At the end of this solemn Eucharistic Celebration, let us turn
our gaze to Mary, Regina Caeli. At the dawn of Easter, she became the
Mother of the Risen One and her union with him is so profound that wherever the
Son is present the mother cannot be absent. In these splendid
places of yours, a gift and a sign of the God’s beauty, so many Shrines,
churches and chapels are dedicated to Mary! In her is mirrored the
luminous face of Christ. If we follow her with docility, the Virgin will
lead us to him. During the Easter Season, let us be won over by
the Risen Christ. The new world of love and peace, which
is the deep aspiration of every human heart, begins in him. May the Lord
grant to you, inhabitants of these lands rich in a long
Christian history, to live the Gospel on the model of the early Church
— in which “the company of those who believed were of one heart
and soul” (Acts 4:32). Let us invoke Mary Most Holy, who supported
the first witnesses of her Son in proclaiming the Good News,
that she might sustain today too the apostolic labour
of priests; make the testimony of men and women
religious fruitful; enliven the daily work of parents in the first transmission
of the faith to their children; illuminate the path of young people so that they may walk
with confidence on the path marked out for them by the faith of their forefathers; fill the
hearts of the elderly with hope; comfort the sick and all those who are suffering with her closeness;
assist the work of the many lay people who actively
collaborate in the new evangelization, in
parishes and associations, such as the Scouts and Catholic Action
which are so deeply rooted and present in these lands, in the movements
which, in the variety of their charisms and activities, are a sign of the
richness of the ecclesial fabric — I have in mind such groups as the Focolare movement,
Communion and Liberation and the Neocatechumenal Way, to
mention but a few. I encourage everyone to work with the true
spirit of communion in this great vineyard in which the Lord has called us
to work. Mary, Mother of the Risen One and of the Church, pray
for us!”