Vatican City, Jun 1, 2012 / 10:20 am
The Virgin Mary’s docility to the will of God should remind everybody that the Lord has a plan for each of us, Pope Benedict XVI said at the conclusion of a Rosary vigil to mark the end of May.
“The Magnificat is the hymn of praise that rises from humanity redeemed by divine mercy, rises from all the people of God; at the same time it is a hymn which denounces the illusion of those who believe they are lords of history, arbiters of their destiny,” he said May 31 at the shrine to Our Lady of Lourdes in the Vatican Gardens.
“In contrast, Mary has God at the center of her life, she abandoned herself, confident in his will, in an attitude of humble obedience to his loving plan.”
Mary was chosen “to be the temple that carries the Word, God made man,” the Pope said, because of her “poverty of spirit and humility of heart.”
Pope Benedict was joined several thousand pilgrims who had made their way to the grotto in candlelit procession while reciting the Rosary and singing Marian hymns. The annual vigil is a rare opportunity for the public to walk relatively free through the Vatican Gardens. The final destination of the pilgrimage was the Vatican’s replica of the grotto at Lourdes in France.