This miracle encouraged them to have confidence in God, Pope Francis said. With that miracle God surprised them, for he "who created us in infinite Love always surprises us," he underlined.
At the Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida, he said, as well as in every heart devoted to Mary, we can find hope "embodied in the experience of spirituality, generosity, solidarity, perseverance, fraternity, joy, these values which in turn sink their roots deeper into the Christian faith."
At the beginning of April the Pope had sent a letter to Brazil's president apologizing for his inability to visit the country in 2017.
President Michael Temer had invited Pope Francis to visit Brazil for the 300th anniversary of the Marian apparition, and in 2013, Francis had expressed the desire to visit during the anniversary if possible.
In his video message, Francis reiterated how he would have liked to be with the people of Brazil during this jubilee year, saying that unfortunately, "the life of a Pope is not easy."
Instead he nominated Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, vice-dean of the College of Cardinals, to be his papal delegate for the Oct. 12 celebrations. "To him I entrusted the mission to ensure the Pope's presence among you!" he said.
Though not able to be physically present, he expressed the wish that his affection be felt by the people of Brazil, devoted to the Mother of God.
Closing his message, the Pope thanked the Brazilian people for their prayers, especially at Mass, asking them to continue to pray for him, knowing that he is praying for them as well.
Brazil, he continued, needs men and women who, full of hope and faith, "witness that love, manifested in solidarity and in sharing, is stronger and brighter than the darkness of selfishness and corruption."
"Together, near or far, we form the Church, the People of God," he said. "Every time we work together, even if in a simple and subtle way, for the announcement of the Gospel, we become, like Mary, authentic disciples and missionaries."
Hannah Brockhaus is Catholic News Agency's senior Rome correspondent. She grew up in Omaha, Nebraska, and has a degree in English from Truman State University in Missouri.