“Every time there is a problem, whenever we seek her aid, Mary does not delay, she comes to us!”

We have recited the Rosary, a very beautiful and vital prayer; vital because it connects us with the lives of Jesus and Mary. We meditated on the Joyful Mysteries, which remind us that the Church can only be a house of joy. This Chapel of the Apparitions is a beautiful image of the Church: welcoming and without doors. Indeed, the Church has no doors in order that everyone may enter. Here, in this place, we must insist that everyone can enter, because this is the Mother’s house, and a mother’s heart is always open to all her children, everyone, everyone, everyone, excluding no one.

We are here [as pilgrims], under Mary’s maternal gaze; we are here as the Church, Mother Church. Pilgrimage is a particularly Marian trait, because the first one to go on pilgrimage after the annunciation of Jesus, was Mary. As soon as she heard that her elderly relative – although already advanced in years – was pregnant, Mary ran out. That is a somewhat free translation, for the Gospel says she “went with haste”; yet we could say she ran out, ran eagerly to help, to be present.

Mary has many titles, but we can think of another that we could add to them: “Our Lady who runs”, every time there is a problem; whenever we seek her aid, she does not delay, she comes to us, she hastens. She is “Our Lady of haste”. Do you like that? Let us say it all together: Our Lady of haste. She hastens to be near to us; she hastens because she is our Mother. Bishop Ornelas told me that the Portuguese word [for haste] is apressada. That is how Mary accompanies Jesus throughout his life; and she does not draw back after the Resurrection, but accompanies the disciples, waiting for the Holy Spirit. She also accompanies the Church that begins to grow after Pentecost. Our Lady of haste and Our Lady who accompanies.

She always accompanies, never taking pride of place! Mary’s gesture of welcoming is twofold: she first welcomes and then points to Jesus. Mary does nothing in her life except point to Jesus: “Do whatever he tells you”; follow Jesus.

These are the two gestures of Mary, let us reflect on them well. She welcomes all of us and she points to Jesus, and she does this in something of a hurry, with haste, apressada. Our Lady of haste, who welcomes us all and directs us to Jesus.

Pope Francis, August 5, 2023 - Address during the recitation of the Holy Rosary with sick young people, on the occasion of the WYD

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