While the world hopes and prays for Pope Leo XIV’s full recovery from lung cancer, one source of comfort is the distinctly Marian thread running through the unfolding events surrounding his health crisis.
It begins, in a sense, with his recent visit to Lourdes. As far as we know, the Holy Father wasn’t aware at the time that he was ill. In his homily there during Mass on Sept. 27, he spoke about how the “the miracle of Lourdes … can awaken the joy of hope in the very midst of suffering and hardship,” explaining how the Blessed Mother “heals our outlook and changes our hearts,” giving us peace.
“Sustained by the prayers of the sick and the love of our Mother, walk with confidence into the future,” he said. “Do not be afraid of the storms of the world, for the holy Mother of God watches over your journey, she shelters the Church beneath her mantle of tenderness and, as the radiant Morning Star, guides your steps, so that with joy she may bring you to new birth in the very life of her Son Jesus.”
Pope Leo XIV presides at Holy Mass at the Prairie of the Shrine of
