Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Jul 28, 2013 / 08:19 am
Following the closing Mass of World Youth Day, Pope Francis held Mary up as the model for the life of Christians, because of her desire to bring Jesus her son to the world.
"On receiving the grace of being the Mother of the Incarnate Word, she did not keep that gift to herself," Pope Francis said during his Angelus address July 28 on Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana beach.
"She set off, she left her home and went in haste to help her kinswoman Elizabeth, who was in need of assistance; she carried out an act of love, of charity, of practical service, bringing Jesus who was in her womb."
Pope Francis began his remarks by thanking Archbishop Orani Tempesta of Rio de Janeiro as well as all the World Youth Day pilgrims "for all the joy you have given me in these days."