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The fall day of Recollection sponsored by the Legion of Mary, Quincy Curia, was held at
Father Louis Schlangen's home near Loraine, Illinois on Thurday, September 18, 2008.
Father Lou gave a talk on the homily of Pope Benedict XVI given September 15th at Lourdes,
France during the Holy Father's visit in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the apparitions
there.
The Pope's remarks were given at the Mass on the feast of Our Lady of Sorrow, for those
who suffer and are struggling. The Holy Father offered a reflection on the smile of Mary, who
he called the "teacher of love".
He said that the smile of Mary is for all; but it is directed quite particularily to those who suffer,
so that they can find comfort and solace therein. He said, " that to seek Mary's smile is not
an act of devotional or outmoded sentimentality, but rather the proper expression of the living
and profoundly human relationship which binds us to her whom Christ gave us as our
Mother." Benedict XVI continued: "The endurance of suffering can upset life's most stable
equilibrium, it can shake the firmest foundations of confidence, and sometimes even leads
people to despair of the meaning and value of life."
"There are struggles that we cannot sustain alone, without the help of divine grace. When
speech can no longer find the right words, the need arises for a loving presence: we seek
then the closeness not only of those who share the same blood or are linked to us by
friendship, but also the closeness of those who are intimately bound to us by faith."
"I would like to say, humbly", the Pope proposed, "to those who suffer and to those who
struggle and are tempted to turn their backs on life: Turn toward Mary!" "To seek this smile",
he said, "is first of all to have grasped the gratuitousness of love; it is also to be able to elicit
this smile through our efforts to live according to the word of her Beloved Son, just as a child
seeks its mother's smile by doing what pleases her."
The complete text of His Holiness's homily can be found on Zenitenglish@zenit.org. Type in
the subject line zeo080915.
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