Pope makes invitation on this feast day: Visit Mary, if you have a chance

Pope Francis has a specific invitation for this feast of the Assumption: “On this day dedicated to Our Lady, I urge those who have the opportunity to visit a Marian shrine to venerate our heavenly Mother.”

The Pope is dedicated to this form of devotion. For example, before and after his trips, he stops in to see Our Lady at the Basilica of St. Mary Major.

VATICAN MEDIA | AFP

In mentioning the idea after praying the midday Angelus this August 15, he suggested two particular images in that church:

Many Romans and pilgrims go to Saint Mary Major to pray before the Salus Populi Romani. There is also the statue of the Virgin Queen of Peace, placed there by Pope Benedict XV.

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Finally, the Holy Father made another appeal for peace, particularly in Ukraine:

Let us continue to invoke the intercession of Our Lady, so that God might give the world peace, and let us pray in particular for the Ukrainian people.