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POPE-IMMACULATE Dec-8-2005 (460 words) xxxi
Continuing tradition, pope prays at Marian statue in Rome
By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service
ROME (CNS) -- Continuing a tradition, Pope Benedict XVI went to the center of Rome Dec. 8 to pray at the foot of a statue of Mary.
Located near the Spanish Steps in a crowded district of upscale shops, the statue was erected to commemorate Pope Pius IX's formal declaration in 1854 of the dogma of Mary's Immaculate Conception.
Local businesses, the Rome city council and a variety of families and groups leave flowers at the base of the statue on the Dec. 8 feast of the Immaculate Conception, while Rome firefighters use a truck and ladder to hang a flower wreath from Mary's outstretched arm.
Pope Benedict offered a huge basket of pink roses draped with a white and yellow ribbon -- the Vatican colors.
"Carrying with me the worries and hopes of humanity today, I place them at the feet of the heavenly Mother of the Redeemer," the pope said.
Pope Benedict rode through the crowded streets near the statue standing in the back of a convertible. As the evening drew near and temperatures dropped, he wore a short red cape trimmed with white fur.
The pope told the crowd that this year's feast day is especially important because it marks the 40th anniversary of the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council.
He said that in closing the council Pope Paul VI placed the trust of the church in Mary for the "fruitful application of the council's decisions."
Pope Paul's trust, he said, was well founded.
Pope Benedict thanked Mary and turned to her with prayers inspired by the last chapter of "Lumen Gentium," the council's Dogmatic Constitution on the Church.
Addressing Mary, he prayed, "You who embraced the divine will without reservation, you who consecrated all your energies to the person and work of your son teach us to ponder in our hearts and meditate in silence on the mysteries of the life of Christ as you did."
Praying to Mary who stayed with Jesus through his suffering and death on the cross, Pope Benedict said, "Make us always feel how close you are to us at every moment of our existence, especially in times of darkness and of trial."
Praying to Mary who was with the apostles on the feast of Pentecost, he said, "Help us persevere in the faithful following of Christ."
Finally, the pope said the faithful echo the prayer of the council in asking Mary to intercede with Jesus so that all people, "whether they are honored with the title of Christian or whether they still do not know the savior, may be happily gathered together in peace and harmony into one people of God for the glory of the most holy and undivided Trinity."
END
Copyright (c) 2005 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed.
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