Benedict: Mary is supreme example of knowing and serving God

Munich, Germany, Sep 9, 2006 / 22:00 pm

Following a Mass at Munich’s New Fairgrounds, Pope Benedict XVI led the crowd of faithful in praying the Angelus, a prayer recalling the annunciation of God being made man in the womb of the Virgin Mary.  The Pope pointed out the great devotion the people of Bavaria have to Mary, the “supreme example,” of the attitude of seeing God at the center of life.

The Pontiff noted again the readings of the Mass, which call men and women to a recognition of God in their lives and to social action, and how Mary exemplified this behavior.

“Throughout her earthly life, (Mary) was the Woman who listened, the Virgin whose heart was open towards God and towards others. The faithful have understood this since the earliest centuries of Christianity, and therefore in all their needs and trials they have confidently turned to her, imploring her help and her intercession with God,” the Pope recalled.

The Pope mentioned the hundreds of churches and shrines dedicated to Mary, throughout Bavaria, noting in particular, Munich’s Column of Mary, which he visited the previous day, and the shrine of Altötting, where he will go tomorrow to dedicate a new Adoration Chapel.

The chapel is perfectly fitting at a Marian shrine, the Pope said, because it, “is an eloquent sign of Mary’s role: she is and remains the handmaid of the Lord who never puts herself at the centre, but wishes to guide us towards God, to teach us a way of life in which God is acknowledge as the centre of all there is and the centre of our personal lives.”