In the afternoon of the solemnity of the Inmaculada Concepción, Pope León XIV left the Vatican to preside over one of the most traditional gestures of Roman piety: the act of veneration to the Immaculate in the Plaza de España. At 3:30 p.m., the Holy Father began his journey to the Marian monument, as every December 8, in continuity with the practice of his predecessors.
A brief stop on Via Condotti
Before arriving at the place of the act, the Pope made a brief stop in front of the Iglesia de la Santísima Trinidad, where he received the greeting and homage from the Asociación de Comerciantes de Via Condotti, a customary gesture on this day that unites devotion and the daily life of the city.
After this moment, León XIV headed to the Plaza de España to carry out the traditional Atto di venerazione all’Immacolata, a public expression of filial love toward the Mother of God in the heart of Rome.
The Pope’s prayer: Mary, hope for a wounded humanity
Hail, O Mary!
Rejoice, full of grace,
that grace which, like a gentle light, makes radiant
those who reflect the presence of God.
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” which inspired many other “yeses.”
Immaculate, Mother of a faithful people,
your transparency illuminates Rome with eternal light,
your path 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 tried humanity, sometimes crushed,
humble like the earth from which God formed it
and in which He does not cease to blow His Spirit of life.
Look, O Mary, upon so many sons and daughters in whom hope has not been extinguished:
make germinate in them what your Son has sown,
He, the living Word who in each one asks to grow even more,
to take on flesh, face, and voice.
May the jubilee hope flourish 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 jewel and the dawn.
After the holy doors, may other doors now open
of homes and oases of peace in which dignity is reborn,
non-violence is taught, the art of reconciliation is learned.
May the kingdom of God come,
novelty that you so awaited and to which you opened yourself totally,
as a girl, as a young woman and as mother of the nascent Church.
Inspire new insights in the Church that walks in Rome
and in the particular Churches that in every context gather
the joys and hopes, the sorrows and anxieties
of our contemporaries, of the poor above all,
and of all who suffer.
May baptism still generate 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, faced 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 the way, with the haste that one day moved your steps
toward your cousin Elizabeth
and the trepidation with which you became an exile and 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,
leaven in the mass of a humanity that invokes justice and hope.
Immaculate, woman of infinite beauty,
care for this city, for this humanity.
Point it to Jesus, lead it to Jesus, present it to Jesus.
Mother, Queen of peace, pray for us!