Shrine Basilica of Our Lady of Health Vailankanni

My friends, here is the time we celebrate with such great fervor and, as the Holy Spirit says, the time of favor from the Lord (Is 61:2; Lk 4:19), the season of salvation, peace and reconciliation; a time that was so ardently longed for in former days with urgent desires and longings on the part of the prophets and patriarchs of old and which, at last, was seen by righteous Simeon with overflowing joy (Lk 2:25f.). And since the Church has always celebrated it with such great fervor, we too should spend it in a religious fashion, addressing praise and thanksgiving to the eternal Father for the mercy he has manifested in this mystery. Because it is relived by the Church each year, we are always being exhorted to recall the memory of such love towards us. This teaches us, too, that Christ's coming has not only benefited those who were living in the days of the Lord but that its power was to be passed on to us as well – at least, if we want to receive the grace it has won for us by means of faith and the sacraments and to direct our lives according to this grace by our obedience to it.

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"Blessed are the eyes that see what you see"

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