When the bouquet requires two grown men to carry it, you can imagine the recipient will be delighted! That's what Pope Leo presented to Our Lady on December 8, the feast of her Immaculate Conception, in keeping with the tradition of visiting the towering image of her at the Spanish Steps.
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The statue keeps vigil over the neighborhood, standing at some 40 feet. And since the days of Pope Pius XII, the popes have been bringing flowers to Our Lady at the Spanish Steps on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception.
John XXIII, in 1958, went to the Spanish Steps to lay white roses at the foot of the monument. This custom was continued by Popes Paul VI, John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis. Elected on May 8, Pope Leo XIV followed in the footsteps of his predecessors on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, celebrated on December 8.
It's also a beautiful moment for the Bishop of Rome to greet some of his flock, as Pope Leo did on Monday, saying hello especially to some elderly and infirm people.
Arriving in the popemobile at the foot of the majestic steps leading to the Trinità dei Monti church, the Pope paused in prayer before the great Column of the Immaculate Conception. This monumental work was erected in 1857, three years after Pius IX promulgated the dogma affirming that the mother of Jesus was preserved from original sin from the moment of her conception.
Leo XIV then took the time to greet the ecclesiastical and civil authorities of Rome, including the city's mayor, Roberto Gualtieri. He also turned to the sick, elderly, and poor who had come to pray with him. The Pope then departed in the popemobile.
On the morning of the feast day, as every year, the Rome fire brigade brought out their aerial ladder so that one of their own could place a wreath of white flowers on the right arm of the Virgin Mary statue.
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Pray with the Pope
Here is an Aleteia translation of the beautiful prayer the Pope offered:
Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Prayer of the Holy Father Leo XIV to Mary Immaculate
Hail, Mary!
Rejoice, full of grace,
of that grace which, like a gentle light, makes radiant
those upon whom God's presence shines.
The Mystery enveloped you from the beginning;
from your mother's womb it began to do great things in you
which soon required your consent,
that “Yes” that inspired many other “yeses.”
Immaculate, Mother of a faithful people,
your transparency illuminates Rome with eternal light,
your journey perfumes its streets more than the flowers we offer you today.
Many pilgrims from all over the world, O Immaculate,
have walked the streets of this city
throughout history and in this jubilee year.
A humanity that has been tested, sometimes crushed,
humble as the earth from which God formed it
and in which his Spirit of life never ceases to breathe.
Look, O Mary, at your many sons and daughters in whom hope has not been extinguished:
may what your Son has sown sprout in them,
He, the living Word who asks to grow still more in each person,
to take flesh, a face, and a voice.
May jubilee hope blossom in Rome and in every corner of the earth,
hope in the new world that God is preparing
and of which you, O Virgin, are like the bud and the dawn.
After the holy doors, may other doors now open
in homes and oases of peace where dignity may flourish again,
where nonviolence may be taught, where the art of reconciliation may be learned.
May the kingdom of God come,
the newness you hoped for so much and to which you opened yourself completely,
as a child, as a young woman, and as the mother of the nascent Church.
Inspire new insights in the Church that walks in Rome
and in the particular Churches that in every setting gather
the joys and hopes, the sadness and anguish
of our contemporaries, especially the poor,
and all those who suffer.
May baptism continue to produce holy and immaculate men and women,
called to become living members of the Body of Christ,
a Body that acts, consoles, reconciles, and transforms
the earthly city in which the City of God is being prepared.
Intercede for us, as we grapple with changes
that seem to find us unprepared and powerless.
Inspire dreams, visions, and courage,
you who know better than anyone that nothing is impossible for God,
and at the same time that God does nothing alone.
Set us on our way, with the haste that one day moved your steps
towards your cousin Elizabeth
and the trepidation with which you became an exile and a pilgrim,
to be blessed, yes, but among all women,
first disciple of your Son,
mother of God with us.
Help us to always be Church with and among the people,
yeast in the dough of a humanity that cries out for justice and hope.
Immaculate, woman of infinite beauty,
take care of this city, of this humanity.
Show them Jesus, bring them to Jesus, present them to Jesus.
Mother, Queen of Peace, pray for us!
