On Easter morning, Mary became the mother of a Risen Son; His luminous face is reflected in hers.
With these meditations, Benedict XVI introduced the midday Regina Caeli today, after concluding a Mass in the park of San Giuliano at Mestre. The Pope was today and Saturday in the region of Venice.
Speaking of the Queen of Heaven, he said that "with the dawn of Easter she became the Mother of the Risen One and her union with him is so profound that there where the Son is present, the Mother cannot fail to be present."
"In her the luminous face of Christ is reflected," he affirmed. "If we follow her with docility, the Virgin will lead us to him."
He continued, "Let us invoke Mary Most Holy, who supported the first witnesses of her Son in preaching the Good News, that she might also today support the apostolic efforts of priests; make the witness of those in religious life fruitful; animate the daily work of parents in the first transmission of the faith to their children; illuminate the path of young people so that they might walk confidently in the way traced by their fathers; fill the hearts of the elderly with hope; comfort the sick and all of the suffering with her nearness; assist the work of numerous laypeople who actively collaborate in the new evangelization, in parishes, in associations, [...] in the movements, which, in the variety of their charisms and their action, are a sign of the richness of the ecclesial fabric."
"I encourage everyone to work with the true spirit of communion in this great vineyard in which the Lord has called us to work," the Pope concluded. "Mary, Mother of the Risen One and of the Church, pray for us!"
