Pope Leo XIV at Mass says "Let us not conform to the world's mentality. Let us continue to love, to give, to forgive, offering ourselves "as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God" for Our Lady of the Lake in Castel Gandolfo

On the Feast of Our Lady of the Lake, Pope Leo XIV presided over an evening Mass, on the 29th of August at the Church of Maria Santissima del Lago in Castel Gandolfo.   On the altar of the church consecrated by Saint Paul VI in August 1977.  Pope Leo XIV, set sail— for the traditional boat procession, becoming the first Pope in history to do so—on the waters of Lake Albano. 

HOLY MASS AND PROCESSION OF THE “Our Lady of the Lake”
FULL HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS POPE LEO XIV
Church of Maria Santissima del Lago (Castel Gandolfo)
Saturday, August 29, 2026
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Dear brothers and sisters, I am happy to celebrate with you the Feast of Our Lady of the Lake, as some of my Predecessors have already done in the past: Saint Paul VI , who hoped for and supported the construction of this church dedicated to Mary and consecrated it, and Saint John Paul II , who wished to recall her memory here and renew her message.

The Liturgy of the Word offers us texts that harmonize well with this traditional event.

In the first reading, the prophet Jeremiah speaks to us of his irresistible need to respond to the call he has received: "You seduced me, O Lord," he says, "and I let myself be seduced [...]. In my heart there was something like a burning fire [...]; I tried to contain it, but I could not" ( Jer 20:7, 9). God revealed to him that He had known him and chosen him from his mother's womb (cf. ibid. 1:5), and that He loves his people with an eternal love (cf. ibid. 31:3); He had spoken to him of his plan of salvation, and he could no longer remain silent. He feels an irrepressible urge to bring his message to everyone, even though he knows this will mean saying and doing things that many will not like, encountering suffering and misunderstanding, to the point of becoming "a laughingstock all day long" (v. 7). But love drives him to act for the good of his people, uncompromisingly, to the very end.

This is what Jesus also teaches us in the Gospel. He recently fed five thousand men with five loaves and two fish (cf. Mt 14:15-21), and then another four thousand with seven loaves and a few small fish (cf. Mt 15:32-38). Now, beyond the success achieved with those gestures, he explains to his disciples the Messianic meaning of what he has accomplished: he reveals to them that he will have to "go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised" ( Mt 16:21).

Jesus explains how, after the many miracles he has performed, he will definitively manifest his glory: by freely sacrificing his life (see John 10:17-18) and offering himself on the cross as broken bread. And he specifies that anyone who wishes to continue his mission must do the same: "If anyone would come after me," he tells us, "let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me" (v. 24).

Jesus thus reveals that only love saves. The love God showed us by becoming man, dying and rising for us, and, in response, the love with which we too humbly offer ourselves to Him and to our brothers and sisters: in the faithful constancy of daily charity as well as in the most extraordinary gestures, even to the point of martyrdom, as sadly happens even today to many Christians in various parts of the world.

St. Augustine said that "the joy of the reaper [...] demonstrates the intention of the sower" ( Sermo 330 , 2), and we wish to make his sentiments our own: with God's help, we wish to spread the seeds of his infinite charity everywhere in the world, without tiring, without measure, so that today and always someone may rejoice in reaping its fruits.

Unfortunately, not everyone understands the beauty, goodness, and concreteness of this dream of the Creator; indeed, many think it is a utopia. To turn the other cheek (cf. Mt 5:39)—they say—is for losers; to give in the face of rejection is naive; to forgive without limits (cf. Mt 18:21-22) is for the weak. This is not surprising. Even Peter found it difficult to accept this new and different way of thinking (cf. Mt 16:22). But Jesus remains categorical: only the path of love is the path of life.

Let us not delude ourselves. Hatred and violence bring nothing good, but only destruction and death, always, even when they are a response to injustices suffered. We see it every day, from the small things of our domestic life to the great scene of the world. Everything confirms what Jesus taught us: "Whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it" ( Mt 16:25).

Dear brothers and sisters, we so desperately need life, hope, serenity, and peace—in ourselves, in our cities, among peoples and nations. Therefore, whatever the wound, whatever the offense, let us not allow evil to disfigure our humanity and corrupt our hearts! Let us not conform to the world's mentality (cf. Rom 12:2). Let us continue to love, to give, to forgive, offering ourselves "as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God" (v. 1), to preserve and foster, in ourselves and in others, the infinite dignity of the divine image we bear in our souls. And let us not be discouraged if it is difficult: our strength is in the Lord, and with his help all things are possible (cf. Phil 4:13).

The rite of the procession on the lake, which we will shortly celebrate, also reminds us of this. It evokes another miracle of Jesus, which occurred shortly before the events we have heard about, when the Master, on the Sea of ​​Galilee, reached the frightened disciples by walking on the water and led them to shore, calming the storm (see Mt 8:23-27). Precisely when they were most frightened, at the mercy of contrary winds, he urged them to have faith, to pray, to find peace and, together with Him, to continue sailing toward their desired destination.

With this faith, this evening, we participate in the Eucharist. On the Altar, we offer ourselves, along with the bread and wine. And the Lord unites our offerings with his, consecrates them, and gives them back to us, transformed into his Body and Blood, so that we may share them as nourishment for the journey. Then, like the disciples, we will leave the shore together, carrying with us the image of Mary, our model and guide, to carry along the shores of the lake the blessing we have received.

These are simple gestures, with which we renew our trust in God and our filial devotion to his Most Holy Mother. And they are all the more evocative because they are made possible—as Saint Paul VI loved to recall —by the care with which the small community that lives here safeguards this place of peace throughout the year, so that during solemn moments all of God's people can gather there, just like Mary, who welcomed the Son of God made man into her womb and into her home in Nazareth, so that his salvation could reach all.

Thus this place of Marian devotion also becomes a sign of how the Church strives, day by day, to make us all one body, in prayer, in sentiments, in resolutions, in the orderly and unanimous development of our being together, and a symbol of the love with which the Lord, through his Most Holy Mother, wanted to draw close to us as one of us, to the point of merging with the great crowd of our humanity (cf. Homily on the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary , 15 August 1977).

Let us then gather together this evening around Jesus and Mary, around the Son and the Mother, to be, united, not only on the lake, but in all the nights of the world, a reassuring reflection of God's presence, and an irresistible echo of his love that invites us to love.