Pope Leo XIV says "Let us allow peace to grow within us. It will blossom in the world" at Vigil Mass for the Nativity of Mary - FULL TEXT Homily

On the vigil of the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass at the Shrine of the Mother of Good Counsel in Genazzano, with the local Bishop saying Our Lady “points to Christ as the path to follow.” The Italian town is located around 40 kilometres from Rome, at 6:00 p.m. on Monday, the Pope celebrated Mass at the Basilica on the eve of the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. He made a private visit to Genazzano on 10 May 2025, two days after his election as Bishop of Rome. His visit is an expression of his devotion to Our Lady, who—as he wrote in the shrine’s guestbook while entrusting his Magisterium to her—has accompanied him throughout his life “with her maternal presence, her wisdom and the example of her love for her Son, who is always the centre of my faith. The way, the truth and the life.” 

HOLY MASS OF THE NATIVITY OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
FULL HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS POPE LEO XIV
in Genazzano, Sanctuary of the Mother of Good Counsel
Monday, September 7, 2026
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Dear brothers and sisters,

As you will recall, already "in the first days of my pontificate I felt the duty and a profound desire to draw near to Genazzano, to the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Counsel, who throughout my life has accompanied me with her maternal presence, her wisdom, and the example of her love for her Son, who is always the center of my faith" ( Dedication in the Shrine's guestbook , May 10, 2025). I am joyfully here again, to celebrate with you the Vigil of the Nativity of the Most Holy Virgin and to entrust to the Child Mary whatever is still being born in this poor yet magnificent humanity: fragile as a sprout, but a sign of God's faithfulness. Yes, Mary is the dawn of a different day, of our world finally freed from evil. And we are here, near her, around the Altar from which salvation comes to us and transforms us, children in the Son. Let us ask her for her Good Counsel, to welcome the divine Word, guard it within us and bring it to light through courageous and wise decisions, decisions of authentic conversion.

Dearest ones, in this place of ancient Augustinian presence, I will return to the biblical pages just proclaimed with the help of Saint Thomas of Villanova, an Augustinian friar and bishop who, dedicating his life to serving the poor, deeply penetrated the truth of faith. He was able to see the paradox of Mary's smallness and, so to speak, marginality, made central to the economy of salvation. Let us ask ourselves: what must the birth of a girl have been like in the time of Joachim and Anne? Saint Thomas delves deeply: "I have often reflected," he writes, "and I have asked myself why the evangelists, who spoke so extensively of Saint John the Baptist and the apostles, tell us so succinctly the story of the Virgin Mary, who surpasses all others in her experience and her personal stature. Why, I ask, have we not been told about the manner of her conception, her birth, her education, her habits, the virtues that adorned her, what human relationship she had with her son, how she related to him, how she lived with the apostles after his ascension? All these things were important, and the faithful would have read them with singular devotion, and they would have pleased the common people. Oh, evangelists, I turn to you! Why have you deprived us of such great joy with your silence? Why have you omitted such joyful, so long-awaited, so pleasant details? ( Complete Works VII, 266,8).

We find in these words an important suggestion for our faith: to question Scripture and its authors, to discuss the text and to dialogue with the witnesses of Revelation, as with friends. We are, in fact, "fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God" ( Eph 2:19), and from Mary herself we learn the intelligence that converses with God, that asks questions (cf. Lk 1:34) and interprets events, guarding them and connecting them in the heart (cf. Lk 2:19, 51). The Gospel according to Matthew, however, seems to prove St. Thomas of Villanova right with its silence. We have heard it: it reports Mary's presence, but not a word. And yet, the simple existence of Mary – and of the Son in her – moves the entire story: that of Joseph and his entire household. Mary's presence causes a leap in the genealogy, like an unexpected novelty, capable of modifying not only expectations, but also the predictable behavior of a man. What Joseph hears, what he decides, and what he does, in effect, is a response to God and to Mary's presence, to her absolute difference, which transcends all possible discourse and storytelling. In Mary, salvation finds a home: God with us!

Our Saint Thomas also writes: «Well, regarding these reflections of mine to which I referred, on why a book has not been written on the deeds of the Virgin, as has been done for the deeds of Paul, […] the only thing that comes to mind is that it was so because it pleased the Holy Spirit, and that the evangelists, by impulse, remained silent about her, for the simple reason that the glory of the Virgin, as we read in the psalm, was all in her (cf. Ps 44:14 Vulg.), and could be imagined rather than described, and that, as a summary of her story, what is expressed in the title is sufficient: that Jesus was born of her. What else do you want to know? What else do you seek in the Virgin? It is enough for you to know that she is the Mother of God» ( ibid. ).

Dear brothers and sisters, we feel dizzy before this Mystery: it is impossible to get used to it! We celebrate the birth of a child called to become the Mother of her Creator, the Mother of God who saves. And yet, she is born simply a child, like the daughters and granddaughters we hold in our arms. Today we have for her noble and lofty titles, of Lady and Queen, but God's way has been and remains simpler and more silent, yet no less powerful and transformative. It is the way of Jesus himself, "the firstborn among many brethren" ( Rom 8:29). Well, like Mary, we too are "predestined to be conformed to the image of the Son" ( ibid. ): by grace, certainly, but desiring and preferring his path, his choices, his journey to other ways. In Jesus Christ, God has chosen the humblest historical conditions and the humblest of creatures to manifest the uniqueness of his Kingdom, in which arrogance has no place and omnipotence is creation, service, and care for life.

St. Thomas of Villanova then adds: "Let your imagination run wild, broaden the bounds of your understanding, and paint in the depths of your soul a young woman who is most pure, most prudent, most beautiful, most devout, most humble, most gentle, full of every grace, most rich in sanctity, adorned with all the virtues, embellished with all the charisms, absolutely pleasing to God; amplify her as much as you can, imagine as much as you are capable" ( ibid. ). St. Thomas invites us to this wonderful exercise of imagination. And he observes: "The Holy Spirit did not describe her in writing, but waited for you to paint her interiorly" ( ibid ., VII, 266,9). Dear brothers and sisters, it is precisely so: in contemplative prayer, what the world does not tell us about, but already exists, takes shape; what is still invisible, yet within itself has a new kind of strength. This is not a question of fantasy, but of prophecy. We need it, in times of destruction and uncertainty, to see God's work and serve it.

In tiny Bethlehem, the prophet Micah sensed the rise of a King of peace, thanks to whom we could finally dwell on earth in safety (cf. Micah 5:1-4). And today, in the Collect, turning to little Mary, we asked that "the celebration of her birth may increase our peace." Yes, dearest ones, we want to imagine peace—to broaden the boundaries of understanding and paint it in our souls—to recognize that it already exists, to welcome it and serve it. It is the gift of God, the breath of the Risen One, the work of the Holy Spirit. Let us allow peace to grow within us. It will blossom in the world. And the Mother of Good Counsel will accompany us in this mission.