(ANS – Vatican) – During the Mass for the canonization of martyrs Peter To Rot and Bishop Ignatius Choukrallah Maloyan, religious sisters Maria Troncatti, Vincenza Maria Poloni, and Carmen Rendiles Martínez, and lay people Bartolo Longo and José Gregorio Hernández Cisneros, Pope Leo XIV emphasized the importance of prayer and faith in order to live in the hope of God’s Providence: “When we are crucified by hatred and war, there is no sorrow that God does not console.”
“When we hear the cry of those in need, are we witnesses to the Father’s love, as Christ was to all? He is the humble one who calls the powerful to conversion, the just one who makes us just, as today’s new saints attest: not heroes or champions of some ideal, but authentic men and women.”
With these words, Pope Leo XIV presented the testimony of the seven new saints canonized today, 19 October, during Mass celebrated in the square in front of St Peter’s Basilica. The gazes of the saints, depicted on the banners hanging in the Vatican Basilica, look out over St Peter’s Square, filled with around 70,000 faithful from every corner of the world. The celebration began with Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, who, accompanied by the postulators, presented to the Pope the biographies of the seven figures raised to universal veneration. The relics of the new saints were also present in the square, including the Rule written by Sister Vincenza Maria Poloni, together with the image of the Mother of Good Counsel.
Faithful friends of Christ
In his homily, Leo XIV recalled the seven new saints as “faithful friends of Christ,” whose lives illuminate the Church. Two of them, Armenian Archbishop Ignatius Choukrallah Maloyan and Papuan catechist Peter To Rot, were martyrs for the faith, while others were missionaries and evangelizers, such as Sister Maria Troncatti, a Salesian missionary who devoted herself to the Shuar indigenous people in Ecuador.
Some are charismatic founders of religious institutes, such as the Italian Sister Vincenza Maria Poloni, founder of the Institute of the Sisters of Mercy of Verona, and the Venezuelan Sister Carmen Rendiles Martínez, founder of the Congregation of the Servants of Jesus. Finally, two lay people distinguished themselves for their dedication to the least among us: Bartolo Longo, promoter of the Rosary and benefactor of the poor, and José Gregorio Hernández Cisneros, a Venezuelan doctor known as ‘the doctor of the poor.’
They all spread the light of Christ
Despite their different eras, histories and contexts, Leo XIV highlighted that these new saints share the ability to “keep the lamp of faith burning, becoming themselves lamps that spread the light of Christ.” The Pope urged the faithful to trust in their intercession to face the trials of life and reiterated that the call to holiness is universal, within everyone’s reach.
Faith: Bond of Love between God and Man
Central to the Pope’s homily was a reflection on the value of faith and prayer, inspired by the question posed by Jesus in the Gospel of the day: “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”For Leo XIV, this question reveals what is most precious in God’s eyes: “Faith is the bond of love between God and man. Without faith, the earth would be populated by creatures without a Father, without salvation.”
The Pope explained that faith excels over all material and cultural goods, not because these are to be despised, but because “without faith they lose their meaning.”
An Invitation to Hope and Action
Without faith, Leo XIV continued, “we cannot hope for salvation. The freedom of all would be defeated by death, and our desire for life would fall into nothingness.” However, Christ’s questions are an invitation to hope and action: “This faith sustains us in our commitment to justice and frees us from fatalism, because we believe that God saves the world out of love.”
Prayer that Nourishes Faith
To grow in faith, Leo XIV emphasised the importance of prayer: “As we do not tire of breathing, so let us not tire of praying! As breathing sustains the life of the body, so prayer sustains the life of the soul.” The Pope explained how the parable of the judge and the widow in the Gospel shows the importance of persistence in prayer, which becomes an example of hope in tribulations.
Temptations in the Face of Faith
Recognizing the challenges of faith, Leo XIV mentioned two temptations: the scandal of evil, which leads us to doubt God’s mercy, and the claim that God must act according to our desires. However, Christ himself frees us from these temptations, entrusting himself to the Father even in the moment of the Passion with the words, “Thy will be done.”
Christ is with Us in Suffering
Finally, Leo XIV offered a message of consolation: “When we are crucified by pain, hatred, and war, Christ is already there, on the cross for us and with us. There is no cry that God does not console; there is no tear that is far from his heart.” He concluded by reminding us that those who reject God’s mercy cannot be merciful to others, while those who welcome peace as a gift become capable of giving it to the world.
A Call to Holiness
The celebration of the canonization of these seven new saints is not only a moment of celebration, but an invitation to live the faith authentically, nourishing it with prayer and transforming it into works of love and justice: ”The Lord listens to us and transforms us, so that we may become instruments of his peace.”
Source: Vatican News