At Castel Gandolfo, Pope Leo XIV celebrated Holy Mass for the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

True beauty in the signs of love

“The glorification of Mary in body and soul teaches us that our true beauty does not consist in concealing the signs of passing time, but in showing, impressed even upon our flesh, the signs of the love that never ends (cf. 1 Cor 13:8).”

With these words, Pope Leo XIV addressed the faithful during the Eucharistic concelebration at the Pontifical Parish of Saint Thomas of Villanova in Castel Gandolfo on Saturday morning, 15 August, the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Concelebrating the Mass with Pope Leo were Archbishop Petar Rajič, Prefect of the Papal Household, the Bishop of Albano, Bishop Vincenzo Viva, the parish priest, Fr Tadeusz Rozmus, the Rector Major of the Salesians, Fr Fabio Attard and the Procurator General, Fr Pierfausto Frisoli.

Among those attending the concelebration were Andrea Tamburelli, Director of the Pontifical Villas and Fr Gabriele Gionti S.J., Deputy Director of the Vatican Observatory.

At the conclusion of Mass, the Pope presented the parish with a chalice; the gift was received by Fr Tadeusz. From the early hours of the morning, around two thousand faithful were present, most of them gathered in front of the church in Piazza della Libertà, to await the arrival of the Pontiff and listen to his words.

Following the celebration, the Pope went out onto the church steps to greet the faithful. He then returned to his residence in the Apostolic Palace for the recitation of the Angelus, during which he referred to the two iconographic traditions through which artists over the centuries have depicted the mystery of Mary’s Assumption into Heaven. In particular, he recalled the more ancient tradition of the “Dormition” of the Mother of God and the more recent one, subsequently developed in the West, showing us instead the full figure of the Virgin Mary standing in heaven, enveloped in light and often surrounded by angels and saints.