Chers pèlerins, présents en ce moment à Chartres sur le parvis et dans la cathédrale, Chers pèlerins, anges gardiens, unis spirituellement à notre pèlerinage,
Chers amis nous regardant en ce moment sur notre site internet,
Je voudrais remercier Mgr Christory, évêque de Chartres, pour son accueil chaleureux.
Merci Monseigneur d’avoir célébré le Salut du Saint Sacrement hier soir à Gas. Je saisis cet instant pour vous féliciter pour votre ordination épiscopale toute récente et je vous assure des prières de tous les pèlerins de Notre Dame de Chrétienté.
Je remercie également le Cardinal Sarah, préfet de la Congrégation pour le culte divin et la discipline des sacrements, d’avoir honoré notre pèlerinage de sa présence. Merci, Eminence, d’avoir visité le bivouac de Gas hier soir. J’espère que vous transmettrez au Vatican notre amour de l’Eglise, la ferveur et l’enthousiasme de nos pèlerins.
Enfin, je remercie le Sanctuaire de San Giovanni Rotondo d’avoir autorisé l’ostension des reliques de Saint Padre Pio pendant notre pèlerinage dans les cathédrales de Paris et Chartres. Cette ostension est un grand et rare événement. Nous célébrons en 2018 le cinquantenaire du rappel à Dieu du Padre Pio et le centenaire de ses stigmates.
Enfin, comment ne pas vous remercier, chers amis de Notre Dame de Chrétienté, membres de l’organisation. Sans votre dévouement, celui de vos familles, le pèlerinage n’existerait pas et il est chaque année plus complexe à organiser. Nous avons besoin de bonnes volontés demain pour que le pèlerinage continue.
Je m’adresserai maintenant à nos amis pèlerins étrangers.
I would like to thank the Capuchin friars from the Shrine of San Giovanni Rotondo for having given permission for the exposition of the relics of Padre Pio on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the death of Saint Padre Pio and of the centenary of his stigmata.
As Benedict the Sixteenth said, “The relics of the saints are traces of that invisible but real presence which sheds light upon the shadows of the world.”
We have a very particular devotion to Saint Padre Pio, the great saint of the twentieth century, given by God to make us better understand prayer, the meaning of sin and of sacrifices, the Holy Mass, the Sacrament of Penance, the meaning of obedience, and devotion to the Blessed Virgin.
To assist at the Mass of Padre Pio was a great grace to understand better what the Mass and the Sacrament of the Eucharist is.
Saint Padre Pio used to climb Calvary, when he celebrated his Mass; he physically suffered the Passion of Our Lord, notably through his stigmata. The Holy Mass was brought to light by the way that he celebrated it.
Let us listen to the words of John Paul the Second in two thousand and two: “The Mass of Padre Pio was an extraordinary catechesis on the value and importance of the Eucharistic sacrifice.”
The Mass of Padre Pio was the Tridentine Rite, the Extraordinary Form, with Padre Pio having obtained special permission in nineteen sixty-five to continue to celebrate it.
It is quite moving to say that, for the first time in fifty years, Padre Pio is being reunited through his relics—here on the Chartres pilgrimage—with the Mass of his whole life.
Because of the lack of basic catechetical knowledge, too many Catholics today do not know any more what the Mass is. We are witnessing nowadays a real “apostasy of the Eucharist”.
Saint Padre Pio embodies the link between sacrifice and mercy, between the Sacraments of the Eucharist and of Penance, between the Mass and the Confessional.
Padre Pio was a great confessor, a true “apostle of the Confessional”, to repeat the recent words of Pope Francis at Pietrelcina and San Giovanni Rotondo.
Padre Pio would often spend practically the whole day in the Confessional, with—among many of his charisms—that of reading souls, always good and just, sometimes severe, for one should not mock the Good Lord.
A confession with Padre Pio brought about the peace of the soul and a confidence in the Divine Mercy. I hope that you may find this consolation during your pilgrimage.
I shall conclude these few words on Padre Pio, man of prayer, by quoting Benedict the Sixteenth: “Like all great men of God, Padre Pio had himself become prayer, soul and body. His days were a living rosary, that is, a continuous meditation and assimilation of the mysteries of Christ in spiritual union with the Virgin Mary.”
Dear pilgrims, Be strong and generous like Saint Joseph, the saint of difficult times, of humility and of perseverance.
Ask Saint Padre Pio to protect us, to grant us love for the Holy Mass, faith in God’s Goodness, and the thirst for prayer.
Have a good return journey; come back in good numbers in two thousand nineteen; set up chapters of Guardian Angels where you live.
Next year the theme will be “The peace of Christ in the Kingdom of Christ”.
Le thème de l’année prochaine sera “La paix du Christ par le règne du Christ ”, ce sont les premiers mots de l’encyclique Quas Primas de Pie XI sur la royauté sociale de Jésus Christ.
Notre Dame de la Sainte Espérance, convertissez-nous !
Jean de Tauriers,
Président de Notre Dame de Chrétienté