During his visit to the Laurentino Cemetery he stopped at the “Garden of the Angels” and met a father who experienced this drama. He dedicated the video with the intention of prayer for the month of November to parents who have lost children. “Visiting cemeteries renews our faith in Christ who died, was buried and rose again for our salvation.”
Rome () – In silence and prayer in the Garden of Angels, the area of the Laurentian cemetery where the graves of children unborn due to serious malformation or voluntary abortion are located, Pope Francis lived this morning on the day of the Commemoration of the Dead, before the mass that was concelebrated in this third cemetery of the Italian capital. The Pope placed a bouquet of white roses before the tombstone and stopped before the crosses with the names of the unborn children that the parents want to remember here. Francesco also briefly met one of them, Stefano, who was waiting for him in this part of the cemetery.
During the mass, in the presence of a hundred people and presided over at the altar by the pontifical master of ceremonies, Mons. Diego Ravelli – the pontiff did not deliver the homily today, but replaced it with another prolonged moment of silence. The Pope had already spoken of the drama of parents who see their children die in the video containing the prayer intention for this month of November and was released a few days ago.
“What can you say to parents who have lost a child? How to console them? – ask there -. There are no words. Think about it: when one spouse loses the other, the other becomes a widow or widower. A child who loses one of his parents is an orphan. There is a word to say this. But for a father who loses a child, there is no word. “It’s such a pain that there isn’t even a word.”
“Words of consolation, sometimes, are banal or sentimental and are of no use – Pope Francis continues in the video -. To offer comfort to these parents who have lost a child, we must listen to them, be close to them with love, responsibly attending to their pain, imitating the way in which Jesus Christ consoled the afflicted. And these parents, sustained by faith, can certainly find comfort in other families who, after having suffered such a terrible tragedy, have been reborn in hope.”
Instead, he dedicated the short prayer that was read at the end of this morning’s celebration to the meaning of the day of commemoration of the dead. “By visiting the cemetery, the resting place of our deceased brothers and sisters – he said – we renew our faith in Christ who died, was buried and rose again for our salvation. Mortal bodies will also awaken on the last day, and those who have fallen asleep in the Lord will be associated with Him in triumph over death.”
“Console those who suffer the pain of separation – the Pope prayed before the final blessing – with the certainty that the dead live in You and that also the bodies, entrusted to the earth, will one day participate in the Easter victory of your Son. You, who have placed the Blessed Virgin Mary as a luminous sign on the path of the Church, through her intercession sustain our faith, so that no obstacle makes us deviate from the path that leads to You, who are the glory that has no end.” .
Add Comment