Pope Leo XIV says "Jesus alone comes to save us" - "I invite you to" Take Time "to speak to Jesus in the secret of your heart and to love Him more"

NATIONAL PILGRIMAGE OF ALTAR SERVERS
ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE LEO XIV

in the Vatican's Clémentine Room on Monday, August 25, 2025
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In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Peace be with you!
Dear Altar Servers, from all over France, Hello!
I welcome you to Rome, and I am very happy to meet you, with all those accompanying you: lay people, priests, bishops, whom I greet warmly.
You know that this year is special: it is a “Holy Year” – which only occurs every 25 years – during which the Lord Jesus offers us an exceptional opportunity. By coming to Rome and crossing the Holy Door, He helps us to “convert,” that is, to turn towards Him, to grow in faith and in His love, to become better disciples so that our life may be beautiful and good under His gaze, in view of eternal life. It is therefore a great gift from Heaven that you are here this year! I invite you to seize it by living intensely the activities that are proposed to you, but above all by taking the time to speak to Jesus in the secret of your heart and to love Him more and more.

His only desire is to be part of your life to illuminate it from within, to become your best and most faithful friend. Life becomes beautiful and happy with Jesus. But He awaits your response. He knocks at the door and He waits to enter: “ I stand at the door and knock; "If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and have supper, I will be with him and he with me " ( Rev 3:20). To be "close" to Jesus, the Son of God, to enter into his friendship! What an unexpected destiny! What happiness! What consolation! What hope for the future!

Hope is precisely the theme of this Holy Year. Perhaps you sense how much we need to hope. You are certainly hearing that the world is in trouble, facing increasingly serious and worrying challenges. You or those around you may be affected by suffering, illness or disability, failure, the loss of a loved one; and, in the face of this trial, your heart is filled with sadness and anguish. Who will come to our aid? Who will have pity on us? Who will come to save us? Not only from our sorrows, our limitations, and our faults, but also from death itself?

The answer is perfectly clear and has echoed throughout history for 2,000 years: Jesus alone comes to save us, and no one else: because He alone has the power – He is God Almighty in person – and because He loves us. Saint Peter said it forcefully: “ There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we can be saved ” ( Acts 4:12). Never forget this word, dear friends, engrave it in your heart; and put Jesus at the center of your life. I hope that you leave Rome closer to Him, more determined than ever to love Him and follow Him, and thus better equipped with hope to travel the life that opens before you. This hope will always be, in difficult moments of doubt, discouragement and storm, like a solid anchor, cast toward heaven (cf. Heb 6:19), which will allow you to continue on the journey.

There is certain proof that Jesus loves us and saves us: He gave his life for us by offering it on the cross. Indeed, there is no greater love than to lay down one's life for those one loves (cf. Jn 15:13). And this is the most wonderful thing about our Catholic faith, something that no one could have imagined or hoped for: God, the creator of heaven and earth, wanted to suffer and die for us creatures. God loved us to the point of death! To accomplish this, He came down from heaven, He humbled Himself to us by becoming man, and He offered Himself as a sacrifice on the cross, the most important event in the history of the world. What do we have to fear from such a God who loved us to this extent? What more could we hope for? What are we waiting for to love Him in return as He deserves? Gloriously risen, Jesus is alive with the Father, he now takes care of us and communicates his imperishable life to us.

And the Church, from generation to generation, carefully preserves the memory of the death and resurrection of the Lord, to which she is a witness, as her most precious treasure. She guards it and passes it on by celebrating the Eucharist, which you have the joy and honor of serving. The Eucharist is the Treasure of the Church, the Treasury of Treasures. From the first day of her existence, and then for centuries, the Church has celebrated Mass, from Sunday to Sunday, to remember what her Lord did for her. In the hands of the priest and at his words, “this is my Body, this is my Blood,” Jesus still gives his life on the Altar, He still sheds his Blood for us today. Dear Altar Servers, the celebration of the Mass saves us today! It saves the world today! It is the most important event in the life of the Christian and in the life of the Church, because it is the meeting where God gives himself to us out of love, again and again. The Christian does not go to Mass out of duty, but because he needs it, absolutely!; the need for the life of God who gives himself without return!

Dear friends, I thank you for your commitment: it is a very great and generous service that you render to your parish, and I encourage you to persevere faithfully. When you approach the Altar, always bear in mind the grandeur and holiness of what is being celebrated. Mass is a moment of celebration and joy. How, indeed, can one not have one's heart filled with joy in the presence of Jesus? But Mass is, at the same time, a serious, solemn moment, imbued with gravity. May your attitude, your silence, the dignity of your service, the liturgical beauty, the order and majesty of your gestures, bring the faithful into the sacred grandeur of the Mystery.

I also hope that you will be attentive to the call that Jesus might address to you to follow him more closely in the priesthood. I am speaking to your consciences as young, enthusiastic, and generous people, and I am going to tell you something that you must hear, even if it should worry you a little: the lack of priests in France, in the world, is a great misfortune! A misfortune for the Church. May you, little by little, from Sunday to Sunday, discover the beauty, the happiness, and the necessity of such a vocation. What a marvelous life is that of the priest who, in the heart of each of his days, encounters Jesus in such an exceptional way and gives him to the world!

Dear Altar Servers, thank you again for your visit. Your numbers and the faith that dwells within you are a great comfort, a sign of hope. Persevere courageously, and bear witness to those around you of the pride and joy that serving the Mass gives you.

I wholeheartedly impart to you, your companions, your priests and your families, the Apostolic Blessing.

THANKS!