The meditation was led by a nun; the Pope led the procession from the Paul VI Hall to St Peter’s Basilica, carrying the Cross. Cardinals, bishops and priests walked behind him, followed by lay personnel. These two images encapsulated the Holy See’s Jubilee and characterised Leo XIV’s homily, which focused on the coexistence of the Marian and Petrine poles as constitutive elements of the Church and the Holy See. “The fruitfulness of the Church is the same fruitfulness as Mary’s; it is realized in the lives of her members to the extent that they relive, in miniature, what the Mother lived, namely, they love according to the love of Jesus”, the Pope remarked at the beginning of his homily.
“All the fruitfulness of the Church and of the Holy See depends on the Cross of Christ. Otherwise, it is only appearance, if not worse”,
said Leo XIV. The Holy Father went on to quote from “a great contemporary theologian”, Hans Urs von Balthasar: “If the Church is the tree that grew from the tiny mustard seed of the cross, this tree is destined to produce mustard seeds in turn, and therefore fruits that repeat the shape of the cross, because it is precisely to the cross that they owe their existence.”
“The best way to serve the Holy See is to strive for holiness,
each according to his or her particular state of life and the work entrusted to him or her”, the central statement of the homily: “The Holy See is holy as the Church is holy, in her original core, in the very fabric of her being. The Apostolic See thus preserves the holiness of its roots while being preserved by them.” “But it is no less true that it also lives in the holiness of each of its members”, said the Pontiff: “For example, a priest who personally carries a heavy cross because of his ministry, yet every day goes to the office and tries to do his job to the best of his ability with love and faith, this priest participates and contributes to the fruitfulness of the Church. Similarly, a father or mother of a family who lives in a difficult situation at home, with a child who is cause for concern or a sick parent, and continues his or her work with commitment, that man or woman are fruitful with the fruitfulness of Mary and of the Church.”
“The Holy See experiences in a very special way the coexistence of the two poles; the Marian and the Petrine”,
the Holy Father outlined: “It is precisely the Marian pole, with its motherhood, gift of Christ and of the Spirit, that ensures the fruitfulness and holiness of the Petrine pole.” “In the Upper Room, thanks to the maternal mission she received at the foot of the cross, Mary is at the service of the nascent community: she is the living memory of Jesus and, as such, she is the center of attention that harmonizes differences and ensures the unity of the disciples’ prayer. But he himself, in truth, is the first to be supported by Mary in his ministry. In the same way, Mother Church supports the ministry of Peter’s successors with the Marian charism.”
“Maintain the momentum between the past and the future, as the harmony between them is a powerful source of hope.”
With this invitation, Sister Maria Gloria Riva of the Nuns of Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament opened the day of the Jubilee of the Holy See in Paul VI Hall. “Today, we risk either dwelling nostalgically on a past that no longer exists — which can lead to a traditionalism frequently disconnected from the present — or racing towards a future that has yet to unfold, succumbing to a delusional vision that cannot offer genuine solutions to today’s problems,” remarked Sister Riva.
“In our fast-paced world, progress can be a great resource, but it can also pose a great danger,” she said, mentioning Giorgio de Chirico’s painting “The Return of the Prodigal Son”, to illustrate the fact that
“we don’t run as we should when we don’t know where we’re going”
as we are taught by Saint Augustine. “To hope is to uphold a truth that respects life from conception to its natural end, that respects the dignity of every person regardless of gender, religion, or nationality, and that respects the customs and cultures of every people — our great universal treasures,” said Sister Riva.
She pointed out that the quote from Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky, “Beauty will save the world”, is often misused, adding that “Prince Myshkin, in the renowned Russian novel The Idiot, actually poses a dramatic question: which beauty will save the world? The Prince finds himself facing Holbein’s ‘Dead Christ’, a dramatic painting in which Jesus is depicted life-size with sunken eyes and limbs showing signs of necrosis. So the question is serious: which beauty will save us? Will the beauty of the cross save the world? Or the beauty of defeat?”
“Yes, the cross can still save us — the cross that is embraced and offered,” said the nun. “We have been through challenging years marked by scandals and controversies, but we can still triumph with this great sign. This magnificent defeated beauty will be our salvation.”
The Madonna of Port Lligat, painted by Salvador Dalí after the atomic bombings, is the last work of art mentioned by Sister Riva, who described it as “a symbol of the tragedy arising from the combination of science and technology, when ethics are disregarded.” The Holy Virgin, painted in the likeness of Dalí’s wife Gala, is telling us that “Mary protects us in our failures and in our potential, just as she protects the Child she embraces. The merciful womb of Mary and the infant Jesus are represented by open panels like Jubilee Doors of hope.”
