Homage to Mary, the Immaculate Conception

(December 09, 2009) Pope Benedict XVI on Tuesday observed a tradition by laying a floral homage at the statue of the Immaculate Conception in the centre of Rome, urging Christians to be sensitive to others, especially the lonely, scorned or exploited. “Do not be afraid, Jesus defeated evil, uprooted it, freeing us from its rule.” Mary passes on this message to Christian cities, giving everyone “peace and hope during the happy and sad moments of life.” This is how the Pontiff explained the sense of a traditional practice that each year since Pope Pius XII, every Pope has performed when he brings flowers and prays before the statue of the Immaculate Conception atop a tall column built in 1857 at the Spanish Square on the orders of Pope Pius IX. In his address, the Pope lamented what he described as a steady diet of news about evil in the world, saying it hardens hearts. He outlined the many problems of the city: the evil told and amplified by the media to the point of poisoning us and leading us to despair; the “perverse mechanism” of being exposed to public ridicule mixed with indifference as well as lack of respect and acceptance; the ‘pollution of the spirit”, which makes every encounter with others a superficial experience. “People become bodies and these bodies lose their soul, become things, faceless objects that can be exchanged and consumed.” On the other hand, the Pope said, “Mary Immaculate helps us rediscover and defend what is inside people.” She helps us “look upon them with mercy, love and infinite tenderness, especially those who are lonely, scorned or exploited.” The Pope thanked all those who respond to evil doing good rather complaining or recriminating. The dogma of the Immaculate Conception teaches that unlike all human beings, Mary was preserved from all stain of original sin from the first moment of her existence by a singular privilege and grace granted by God, in view of the merits of her son Jesus Christ.