Angelus Message of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI Sunday, 10 September 2006, Munich,
“Neue Messe”
Dear Brothers and Sisters!
Before concluding our
Eucharistic celebration with the solemn blessing, let us recollect ourselves by praying
the Angelus. In reflecting on the readings of the Mass, we have realized how necessary
it is – both for the lives of individuals and for a serene and peaceful coexistence
with others – to see God as the centre of all there is and the centre of our personal
lives. The supreme example of this attitude is Mary, Mother of the Lord. Throughout
her earthly life, she was the Woman who listened, the Virgin whose heart was open
towards God and towards others. The faithful have understood this since the earliest
centuries of Christianity, and therefore in all their needs and trials they have confidently
turned to her, imploring her help and her intercession with God.
As a witness
to this, here in our Bavarian homeland there are hundreds of churches and shrines
dedicated to Mary. They are places to which countless pilgrims come flocking throughout
the year, to entrust themselves to her maternal love and concern. Here in Munich,
in the heart of the city, rises the Mariensäule, before which, exactly 390 years ago,
Bavaria was solemnly entrusted to the protection of the Mother of God. And yesterday,
in this same place, I too implored once more the blessing of the Patrona Bavariae
upon this city and upon this land.
And how can we not think in a special way
of the shrine of Altötting, where I shall go tomorrow on pilgrimage? There I will
have the joy of solemnly inaugurating the new Adoration Chapel which, precisely in
that place, is an eloquent sign of Mary’s role: she is and remains the handmaid of
the Lord who never puts herself at the centre, but wishes to guide us towards God,
to teach us a way of life in which God is acknowledge as the centre of all there is
and the centre of our personal lives. To her let us now address our prayer. /Fine