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Here is Aleteia's translation of the prayer that Pope Francis prayed before the statue of Mary Immaculate in Piazza di Spagna in Rome on December 8, the usual date of the Immaculate Conception. (The feast is liturgically celebrated on December 9 in 2024 in many local Churches, so as to not coincide with the 2nd Sunday of Advent).
While he makes specific references to the situation in Rome in preparation for the Jubilee, his reflections apply to all of us.
The Pope’s prayer
Immaculate Virgin,
Mother, Immaculate Mother,
today is your feast day, and we gather closely around you.
With the flowers we offer you, we wish to express
our love and gratitude;
but you see and are grateful for, above all, those hidden flowers
which are our prayers, our sighs, and also our tears,
especially the tears of the least and the poor.
Look upon them, Mary; look upon them.Our Mother, Rome is preparing for a new Jubilee
which will be a message of hope for humanity,
tried by crises and wars.
This is why there are construction sites everywhere in the city:
this — you know — causes not a few inconveniences,
yet it’s a sign that Rome is alive,
that Rome is renewing itself, that Rome is trying to adapt to needs,
to be more welcoming and more functional.But your Mother's gaze sees beyond that.
And I seem to hear your voice
which with wisdom tells us, “My children,
these works are good, but be careful:
don’t forget the worksites of the soul!
The real Jubilee is within:
Inside, inside your hearts,” you say,
“inside family and social relationships.
It is within you that you must work to prepare
the way for the Lord who comes.”
And it’s a good opportunity
to make a good Confession
and ask for forgiveness for all our sins.
God forgives everything, God always, always forgives.Immaculate Mother, we thank you!
This recommendation of yours is good for us.
We need it so much, because without wanting to,
we risk being totally caught up
in organizing, in the things we need to do.
And then the grace of the Holy Year,
which is a time of spiritual rebirth,
a time of forgiveness and social liberation —
this Jubilee grace may not come to us well;
it might be somewhat stifled.
But here, the Mayor is preparing so that
everything during this commemoration, in this Holy Year,
will turn out well. We pray for the Mayor who has so much work.Surely, Mary, you were present
in the synagogue in Nazareth,
that day when Jesus preached
to the people of his hometown for the first time.
He read from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me;
for this he has anointed me
and has sent me to bring the glad tidings to the poor,
to proclaim deliverance to the captives
and sight to the blind;
to free the oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor” (Lk 4:18-19).
Then he sat down and said, “Today this Scripture
which you have heard has been fulfilled” (v. 21).
And You, Mother, You were there in the midst of the astonished people.
You were proud of Him, of Your Son,
and at the same time you foresaw the drama
of closed hearts and envy, which breeds violence.
You went through this drama,
as you always do, with your Immaculate Heart
filled with the love of the Heart of Jesus.
Mother, deliver us from envy:
may we all be brothers and sisters who love each other.
With no envy. Envy, that ugly, morbid vice,
which ruins us from within.And even today, Mother, you repeat to us:
“Listen to Jesus, listen to Him!
Listen to Him, and do what He tells you” (see Jn 2:5).
Thank you, Holy Mother! Thank you, because still,
in this time poor in hope,
you give us Jesus, our Hope. Thank you, Mother.
