Pope Leo XIV at a New Year\u2019s Eve prayer service reflected on God\u2019s divine plan of salvation for the world \u2014 and the hope of ordinary people.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe world moves forward in this way, propelled by the hope of so many simple people \u2014 unknown to the world but not to God \u2014 who, despite everything, believe in a better tomorrow, because they know that the future is in the hands of the One who offers them the greatest hope,\u201d the pope said in St. Peter\u2019s Basilica on Dec. 31.<\/p>\n
Leo presided over first vespers (evening prayer) in anticipation of the Jan. 1 solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. The liturgy included hymns, Psalms, readings from Scripture, and the singing of the \u201cTe Deum,\u201d a Latin hymn of thanksgiving from the early Church.<\/p>\n
In his homily, the pontiff spoke about God\u2019s plan versus the plans the world makes.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn our own time we feel the need for a wise, benevolent, merciful plan \u2014 one that is free and liberating, peaceful and faithful, like the plan that the Virgin Mary proclaimed in her canticle of praise: \u2018From generation to generation his mercy is upon those who fear him\u2019 (Lk 1:50),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
But, Leo noted, the world is enveloped in other plans: \u201cStrategies aimed at conquering markets, territories, spheres of influence \u2014 armed strategies, cloaked in hypocritical rhetoric, ideological proclamations, and false religious motives.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, the holy Mother of God sees things with God\u2019s eyes, the pope continued. She knows that \u201cwith the power of his arm the Most High scatters the schemes of the proud, casts the mighty from their thrones and lifts up the lowly, fills the hungry with good things and sends the rich away empty.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pope Leo XIV presides over first vespers (evening prayer) in St. Peter\u2019s Basilica on Dec. 31, 2025, in anticipation of the Jan. 1 solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. | Credit: Vatican Media<\/p>\n
The Holy Father referenced the words of the Apostle Paul in Galatians 4, that \u201cwhen the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children.\u201d<\/p>\n
The apostle presents the mystery of Christ as \u201ca great plan for human history,\u201d Leo said. \u201cA mysterious plan, yet one with a clear center, like a lofty mountain illuminated by the sun in the midst of a dense forest: This center is the \u2018fullness of time.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
On the vigil of the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, he emphasized Mary\u2019s motherhood and her role in the revelation of the great mystery and paradox of \u201ca God who is born of a virgin.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pope Leo XIV presides over first vespers (evening prayer) in St. Peter\u2019s Basilica in anticipation of the Jan. 1 solemnity of Mary, Mother of God on Dec. 31, 2025. | Credit: Vatican Media<\/p>\n
\u201cThe mother of Jesus is the woman with whom God, in the fullness of time, wrote the Word that reveals the mystery,\u201d he said. \u201cHe did not impose it; he first proposed it to her heart, and once her \u2018yes\u2019 was received, he wrote it with ineffable love in her flesh,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThus God\u2019s hope became intertwined with Mary\u2019s hope,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Pope Leo pointed out that the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, concludes the Octave of Christmas and \u201cspans the passage from one year to the next and extends over it the blessing of the One \u2018who is, who was, and who is to come\u2019 (Rv 1:8).\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe liturgy of the first vespers of the Mother of God possesses a singular richness, deriving both from the dizzying mystery it celebrates and from its placement at the very end of the solar year,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Recalling that the Church is at the end of the Jubilee Year 2025, he added that the \u201cTe Deum\u201d prayer, to be sung at the end of the liturgy, \u201cseems to expand so as to give voice to all the hearts and faces that have passed beneath these vaults and through the streets of this city.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pope Leo XIV visits the Nativity scene in St. Peter\u2019s Square on Dec. 31, 2025. | Credit: Vatican Media<\/p>\n
\u201cWe thank God for the gift of the jubilee, which has been a great sign of his plan of hope for humanity and for the world. And we thank all those who, during the months and days of 2025, have worked in service to the pilgrims and to make Rome more welcoming,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat can we wish for Rome?\u201d he continued. \u201cThat it may be worthy of its smallest ones: of children, of elderly people who are alone and frail, of families who struggle most to make ends meet, of men and women who have come from afar hoping for a dignified life.\u201d<\/p>\n
After the prayer service, Pope Leo visited the Nativity scene in St. Peter\u2019s Square, a papal custom, while the Swiss Guard Band gave its annual Christmas concert.<\/p>\n
He then personally greeted the band and some of the people gathered in the square.<\/p>\n
Pope Leo celebrates First Vespers of the Feast of Saint Mary, Most Holy Mother of God and Te Deum of Thanksgiving on New Year\u2019s Eve in St. Peter\u2019s Basilica, emphasizing in his homily the paradox of \u201ca God born of a virgin, blessing the passing of one year to the next with Him,\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/nKFQuNCDgh<\/p>\n
Acest articol a fost publicat ini\u021bial de CNA.<\/p>\n