Pope Francis: "If we want to be Christian, we must be Marian."

On the evening of Friday, May 12, 2017, in Fatima, Portugal, in celebration of the 100^th anniversary of the apparitions of Our Lady, Pope Francis, quoting the words of Paul VI, greeted the pilgrims of Fatima with these words: "If we want to be Christian, we must be Marian."

The Holy Father then addressed the crowd who came to pray at the feet of the statue of Mary, in the Chapel of the apparitions. This 19^th apostolic journey is the first one to Portugal. The Pope said it was "a pilgrimage of hope and peace." During this Marian vigil, he talked about the meaning of the figure of Mary:

"Who is Mary? A teacher of the spiritual life, the first to follow Jesus on the ‘narrow way’ of the cross by giving us an example, or a Lady “unapproachable” and impossible to imitate?” She is “a sweet and caring mother …who gave a human face to the Son of the Eternal Father."

When people pray the Rosary, "the Gospel enters anew into the life of individuals, families, peoples and the entire world.” Indeed, "if we want to be Christian, we must be Marian; in a word, we have to acknowledge the essential, vital and providential relationship uniting Our Lady to Jesus, a relationship that opens before us the way leading to him.”

Aleteia