MEETING WITH THE CHILDREN OF ROME
HOMILY OF THE HOLY FATHER BENEDICT XV
30 July 1916
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It is only right and natural that at Our invitation addressed to
all the children of Europe on this day, the anniversary of a mournful
event, with so many of us fervently approaching together the sacred
Eucharistic Meal, that we correspond first with the Children of
our Rome.
Closest to the heart of the Vicar of Christ, they come from nearby
and sense very well what is needed, they are aware of the aspirations,
and the sorrows; native-born citizens of Rome, they feel at their
tender age the pulsing of the heart of the world that is the Holy
See; descended from fortunate parents who are of our Faith, they
carry in their veins the blood of Tarcisius, that brings their heart
toward the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar in which lives every reason
of their faith and traditions.
We’re grateful to you, signor Cardinal, to have given Us
this day the satisfaction to be able to contemplate this select
and large group of children, from every Altar of the Meal of the
Invisible God that have come now to Us, the visible continuation
of the authority and the Person of Christ: We see the spirit of
candor and love, which brings us the warmth of the Divine Love in
their simple hearts, and we hear unlocked in their greeting to Us
from their uncontaminated lips, resounding still now that Supreme
Prayer, that of the Universal Communion we wish to join.
Many times we have sadly asked if perhaps it is not a deformed
version of the spirit of Christian mortification which is suggested
in the condition of these times, far from the battle fields, but
not far from the horrors of war, lives the human society, too. And
unfortunately we must respond with sadness, which a second time,
seconds the words of the Scriptures: Every land is desolate –
it appears painted on the faces along with the recollections of
the penance from many tragedies, since adults do not want to leave
the attractions of the worldly life.
The well-being of the human race is shaken, but don't despair,
however, of the companionship of Him who feels the emotions of the
people – we look for refuge in our thoughts as we hope that
the compassion and goodness of the Divine Father will make Him consider
the penance of the adults, and the innocence of the young children.
Therefore, We call to you Children, to gather all the love of your
parents with which to form your future, and to gather especially
the love of the Father of the Faithful, and make sweet the bitterness,
which constitutes Hope.
Looking at you, beloved Children, we see all the children that
today in every part of the world receive the Eucharistic Food. We
see in thousands of faces the same image of God, reflected in the
pure mirror of your candid souls, and marked by that with such an
omnipotence, that comes from your supplicating lips.
Omnipotence, in the first place, is the daughter of your innocence,
because in the presence of God, the prayer of a heart which has
always been pure has greater effect than those of a heart made pure
through penance.
Omnipotence, in the second place, is the companion of your weakness,
since The Author of All has chosen to confound the powerful of the
world, by “the weak ones of the world.”
If this serves to render your innocence and your frivolity powerful,
how much more effective does it render your completely unique predilection
which brings you to Jesus?
And who ever hugs Jesus Christ, if not a child? And who, if not
they, could choose a life that would not impede one from getting
close to him? And who is it we are to resemble in order to enter
into Heaven? Who proclaims never to have despised, and who says
without any great inhibition in its way, to stay with the Heart
and do not offend your soul? In other words – this is some
of the reason why Jesus gave the destiny and the authority of the
children to be much the same as a Crown Prince who is destined to
be the Heir, not of the reign of the world but of the Crown of the
Reign of Heaven: “in their grasp is the reign of Heaven”.
They have in the heavens, in which they reign, assistants to interpret
their prayers close to the Throne of God, like on earth there are
assistants who take the requests of Kings to other Kings. These
assistants, in other words, their Angels, do not need to be introduced
to the Lord, because they always are before the Face of the Father.
And it is to such omnipotence We are entrusted, O Children, so
that on the anniversary of mournful memories, We have given you
the invitation to come forward to the Celestial Meal.
This great motive which inspires Our invitation, your parish priests
and your instructors, under the wise guidance of our Cardinal Vicar,
is meant to give you a sign in proportion to your intelligence.
So that for your entire life you will have carved into your soul
the memory of this moment, and always have the memory of what you
have heard from the mouth of the Vicar of Christ, know also from
Us, O Children, that for two long years, men who were like you,
innocent and lovable, are no longer innocent and lovable –
they are torn to pieces and massacred. Your heart, mild by nature
and docile like the one of Christ, your fantasy and imagination
are sheltered from such horrid scenes, and cannot comprehend the
size of the tragedies that man causes man.
Perhaps, some among you have heard someone recount having lived
through the conflict, your father, a brother, a stranger who you
heard speaking through the walls, who left for the war, and then
became – which God did not want! – wounded, a prisoner,
lost. But there is more which escapes you, fortunately, the comprehension
of the tremendous spectacle; it is enough for your intellect to
be able today to understand the idea, when you are older you will
understand more of the meaning of the story, you are being today
an unconscious spectator of the gloomiest tragedy of human hatred
and human insanity; and to verify to you in this most terrifying
episode, that God, in mysterious and infinite council, can never
use his arm to remain on a sinful society.
We, on the contrary, Father of all the Faithful, We in our Heart,
have the repercussion and concentration of the sorrows and the cries
of all of Our children, We by now have suffered almost two years,
exhorting and praying.
If up until now we did not succeed with Our exhortation to dispose
the army, We invite you to try and search for Reason and for Justice,
in order to end this dishonorable slaughter. And like one hanging
onto a board in a shipwreck, we have resolved to have recourse again
to the invocation of The Divine Omnipotence of your innocence.
Perhaps – we thought – tired, if not placated, by
the hard retributions of the constant memory of His children, perhaps
God will be affected by the cry of the innocent, which is the cry
of Justice, like the Justice that was the cry of His Son, the Redeemer
of the world.
Perhaps - we said - the prodigy of the Son of Agar will be renewed
at the foot of the Altar, sentenced to die in solitude, condemned
and exiled with his mother. Agar lost all hope, and resigned to
perish, “God heard the voice of the boy, from the place wherein
he Is,” (Gen. XXI: 17) and then an Angel called Agar from
Heaven, and said to her: “Don’t worry”, God hears
the invocation of the children, “God hears the voices of the
children, from the place wherein they are”, from the altar,
entrusted to their innocence the message of hope and of well-being.
Stretch out your hand, O beloved and omnipotent children, to the
Vicar of Christ, and give the consolation of the incomparable victory
of your precious prayers.
Do your parents, your brothers and sisters, and all the adults
of your family respond to your humble demands?
Yes, they do what you ask; because it is irresistible, and for
God, the way that you speak to him and ask, is also irresistible,
and will be your example, to your loved ones, of who you all are.
You know what it is We want. We want that the human society stop
the hate and the massacres, and, after being of the wickedness of
Cain, to convert, to be like Abel in the activities of peace, good
works and forgiveness.
In what way will we do this? In a way in which We do not formulate
projects, because for the theme we will have Our children, all equally
loved by Us, a proposal of unequaled power to succeed.
We today count on reaffirming our solemn commitment, and by it
we receive the fulfillment from the Omnipotent of that which He
is, God of Justice, God of Mercy and of Pardon. He will arrange
from Above the plans of humanity, and the economy of providence,
wise and indulgent of the human generations, will be more conducive
to the ultimate good.
While you are today, O Children, in this Rome, of the entire world,
many are in places of sadness, too vast and too painful, where Iron
and Fire reign, be before God Our Messengers of Peace. An Only Son,
by the Splendor of His Grace, moved the Heart of God: One Child
Alone placed in the arms of the navigator of the warship Albuquerque
near the Cape of Good Hope, could alter the direction away from
the storm and save the ship: a thousand children, millions of children,
are they not moving the Heart of Jesus Today?
Be, yes, be, O Delightful Ones, imitators of the children of the
Hebrews, go to meet with the Triumphant Lord. Bringing the Olive
Branch they, with childlike decorum, will offer to the King of Peace
glory, laude and honor, prayerful Hosannas to the Son of David.
Also, you will lift the Olive branch, the symbol of a forgotten
path, to be fore-runners, Standard-Bearers, imploring, by speaking
with the Author of Peace.
And as the God of the sons of the Hebrews saved them from death
by the sign of the red blood on the doors of their houses, to you,
to your family, to the entire world save above all the flowing of
more blood, a substance which is infinitely precious, that bathed
the Cross of the Divine Son, and which today, after the Mystical
Banquet, reddens your lips, symbol at once of the Redemption and
of the Pardon, which is able to be given only by Jesus.
The Benediction of God hastens the realization of this solemn commitment,
which comes more from the heart than from the lips.
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