(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis prayed the Regina coeli with pilgrims gathered in St
Peter's Square on Monday. The focus of his remarks before the traditional Eastertide
prayer of Marian devotion was twofold: the reality of the resurrection and of Christ's
grace; the need for us to cooperate with that grace so that it can become effective
in our lives and in the world. Below, please find Vatican Radio's English language
translation.
************************************************
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
Happy Easter to you all! Thank you for coming today, in such large
numbers, to share the joy of Easter, the central mystery of our faith. Let us pray
that the power of the resurrection of Christ might reach everyone - especially those
who suffer - and every place that is in need of trust and hope.
Christ has
conquered evil fully and finally, but it is up to us, to people in every age, to embrace
this victory in our lives and in the realities of history and society. For this reason
it seems important to point out that today we ask God in the liturgy: “O God, who
give constant increase to your Church by new offspring, grant that your servants may
hold fast in their lives to the Sacrament they have received in faith.” (Collect for
Monday in the Octave of Easter).
Indeed, the Baptism that makes us children
of God, and the Eucharist that unites us to Christ, must become life. That is to say:
they must be reflected in attitudes, behaviors, actions and choices. The grace contained
in the Easter Sacraments is an enormous source of strength for renewal in personal
and family life, as well as for social relations. Nevertheless, everything passes
through the human heart: if I allow myself to be reached by the grace of the risen
Christ, if I let that grace change for the better whatever is not good in me, [to
change whatever] might do harm to me and to others, then I allow the victory of Christ
to affirm itself in in my life, to broaden its beneficial action. This is the power
of grace! Without grace we can do nothing – without grace we can do nothing! And with
the grace of Baptism and Holy Communion, we can become an instrument of God's mercy
– that beautiful mercy of God.
To Express in our lives the sacrament we have
received: behold, dear brothers and sisters, our daily work – and, I would say, our
daily joy! The joy of being instruments of the grace of Christ, as branches of the
vine which is Christ himself, inspired by the sustaining presence of His Spirit! We
pray together, in the name of the dead and risen Lord, and through the intercession
of Mary Most Holy, that the Paschal mystery might work deeply in us and in our time,
in order that hatred give way to love, lies to the truth, revenge to forgiveness,
sadness to joy.