Marian Solidarity

At a shrine, God’s pilgrim people gather in the Lord’s presence. Similar to a church, a shrine is a type of icon of God’s dwelling with his people, with the Church, with the individual believer.

A Marian shrine is a place for an encounter with God. There, as in the mystery of the Incarnation, Mary is present. She is the dwelling place of God, the throne of Wisdom, the living temple of the Holy Spirit, the one who encountered the Lord in a unique way.

Marian shrines usually have their origins in some extraordinary person or event that makes a particular place a center of devotion and pilgrimage. The history of the event and the remembrance of Mary’s intercession at this place make a shrine a privileged way of encountering Mary’s presence.

Shrine: Place of Worship

The liturgy, which is the principal goal of pilgrimage to a Marian shrine, should be exemplary for the quality of the participation, the fidelity to the rite, the richness of the content, and the beauty of the ceremonies. Pilgrims to Marian shrines should participate in a full program of liturgical celebrations and devotions.

Christian tradition brings Marian devotion and the Eucharist together; this connection is based on "the reality itself of the incarnation of the Word of God and the unique role exercised by Mary in the economy of salvation, by Mary who conceived the Lord and gave Him as gift to all people." Every Eucharist is celebrated within the communion of the saints, in which Mary occupies the principal role.

Eucharistic celebrations at Marian shrines should reveal the fullness of the paschal mystery, communion with the universal Church, and the presence of Mary in word and symbol.

Shrine:Focus of Culture

In addition to being a place of worship, a Marian shrine is a center to foster cultural development. The history, tradition, and art of a shrine contribute to the via pulchritudinis and to the contemplation of God’s beauty revealed in Mary. Pilgrims should be provided with materials on the historical, artistic, and pastoral significance of the shrine.

Marian shrines are natural centers for explaining the conciliar teaching on Mary and for demonstrating the Marian dimension of the life of faith.

Shrine: Center for Promoting the Sense of Vocation

Every vocation is a conscious and free response of a person to a gift of God. A Marian shrine is a sign of this mysterious relationship between God’s call and the person’s response. A shrine is a place for announcing and celebrating the mystery of vocation within the Church. Mary’s reception of the angel’s message and her response of quot;Fiat" are the model for every vocation.

Mary is the woman called to collaborate in God’s work. She is the virgin totally consecrated to the Lord. She is the wife and mother in a family in which God’s promises to his people were fulfilled. Marian shrines are special places for discerning the meaning of vocation, the feminine, consecrated life, the family.

Shrine: Hearth of Charity

Works of charity which give expression to the Lord’s concern for the poor, as recalled in Mary’s Magnificat, should be part of a Marian shrine. The mother of Jesus was always attentive to those in need (John 2,2-10).

In all parts of the world, Marian shrines have established and maintained hospitals, schools for the poor, homes for the retired. The sick should be welcomed at a Marian shrine, and special services and assistance provided for them. Shrines should contribute to seeking solutions to problems of contemporary society and to alleviating suffering caused by chemical dependency, AIDS, homelessness, old age.

Shrine: Center of Ecumenism

In Christian history, Mary’s role and Marian devotion have caused much controversy and have been cited as reasons for the division of the churches. Marian shrines should courageously assume a role of promoting ecumenical prayer, meeting, and discussion. They should be attentive to the ecumenical dialogue and aware of the complexity of the issues. Rightly understood, Christ’s mother, the mother of all people, the first disciple of Christ, is a motive for union of all Christians. Marian sanctuaries are places of prayer for the unity of all people. The Marian Year commemorates the twelfth centenary of the II Council of Nicaea, the millennium of Christianity in Kievan Russ, the sixth centenary of the conversion of Lithuania. In celebrating these events, Marian shrines promote the union of faith and prayer with the members of these churches.

–taken from the Marian Library Newsletter (Summer, 1998)

Did You Know?

* John Paul II has made 95 foreign apostolic trips, traveling a total of 928 days and 723,187 miles, over three times the distance to the moon.

* John Paul has delivered more than 3,000 speeches as Pope and during his trips he has spent more than 11 percent of his pontificate outside of Rome.

* He has written 13 encyclicals, canonized 452 Saints and held eight consistories naming a total of 201 cardinals.

* He has presided over 1,009 weekly general audiences in the presence of more than 16 million pilgrims.

Christ is our peace

"Christ is our peace; he has made the two into one people" (cf. Eph 2,14).

At the dawn of the new millennium, which began with so much hope but is now threatened by dark clouds of violence and war, the words of the Apostle Paul which we listen to this Christmas are a powerful ray of light, a cry of trust and optimism. The Divine Child born in Bethlehem brings in his little hands as a gift the key to peace for mankind. He is the Prince of Peace! This is the joyful news which echoed that night in Bethlehem, and which I wish to reaffirm before the world on this blessed day.

Let us listen once more to the words of the angel: "I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people; for to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord" (Lk 2,10-11).

On this day the Church echoes the song of the angels and repeats their astonishing message, which first amazed the shepherds on the hills above Bethlehem.

"Christ is our peace!"

Christ, "the babe wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in the manger" (Lk 2,12), is indeed our peace. A helpless Newborn Child in a lowly cave restores dignity to every life being born, and brings hope to those overcome by doubt and discouragement. He has come to heal life’s wounds and to restore meaning to death itself. In that Child, meek and defenceless, crying in a cold and bare cave, God has destroyed sin, and planted the seed of a new humanity, called to bring to fulfilment the original plan of creation and to transcend it through the grace of redemption.

"Christ is our peace!"

Men and women of the third millennium, you who hunger for justice and peace, accept the message of Christmas, which today rings out around the world! Jesus was born to strengthen the bonds uniting individuals and peoples, to make them all, in himself, brothers and sisters.

He came to break down "the dividing wall of hostility" (Eph 2: 14) and to make one family of all mankind. Yes, we can repeat with certainty: Today, in the Incarnate Word, peace is born! Peace to be implored, for God alone is its source and guarantee. Peace to be forged in a world in which peoples and nations, burdened with so many and such varied difficulties, hope for a new humanity united not just by economic interests but by the unceasing effort to bring about a society that is more just and supportive.

Let us hasten like the shepherds to Bethlehem, let us pause in adoration in the cave, and gaze upon the Newborn Redeemer. In him we can recognize the face of every little child who is born, of whatever race or nation: the little Palestinian and the little Israeli; the little American and the little Afghan; the child of the Hutu and the child of the Tutsi… whoever the child is, to Christ each one is special. Today my thoughts go to all the children of the world: so many, too many are the children condemned from birth to suffer through no fault of their own the effects of cruel conflicts.

Let us save the children, in order to save the hope of humanity! This is what we are urgently called to do by that Child born in Bethlehem, the God who became man, to give us back the right to hope.

Let us beg from Christ the gift of peace for all who are suffering as a result of conflicts old and new. Day after day, I bear in my heart the tragic problems of the Holy Land; every day I think with anxiety of all those who are dying of cold and hunger; every day there reaches me the desperate cry of those who, in so many parts of the world, call for a fairer distribution of resources and for gainful employment for all.

Let no one lose hope in the power of God’s love! May Christ be the light and support of those who believe and work, sometimes in the face of opposition, for encounter, dialogue and cooperation between cultures and religions.

May Christ guide in peace the steps of those who tirelessly devote themselves to the progress of science and technology. May these great gifts of God never be used against respect for human dignity and its promotion! May God’s holy name never be used as a justification for hatred! Let it never be used as an excuse for intolerance and violence! May the gentle face of the Child of Bethlehem remind everyone that we all have one Father.

"Christ is our peace"!

Brothers and Sisters, who are listening to me, open your hearts to this message of peace, open your hearts to Christ, the Son of the Virgin Mary, to the One who became "our peace"! Open them to the One who takes nothing away from us except our sin, and who gives us in return the fullness of humanity and joy.

And You, the Child of Bethlehem whom we adore, bring peace to every family and town, to every nation and continent. Come, God made man! Come to be the heart of the world renewed by love! Come where the fate of humanity is most in peril! Come and do not delay! You are "our peace" (Eph 2,14)!

(©L’Osservatore Romano – 2 january 2002)