"The most beautiful flower to sprout from the Word of God is the Virgin Mary"

Watch a short video here: http://www.h2onews.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=22397&catid=53&Itemid=14

A large crowd of faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square to recite the Angelus with the Pope on this second Sunday of Advent. Referring to the day’s Gospel passage, the Pope recalled how the evangelist Luke warns that the Gospel is not a legend, but the history of a true story, and that Jesus of Nazareth is a historical figure inserted in a specific context.

The second item worthy of note, then said the Pope, is that after this historical introduction, the subject becomes the Word of God, presented as a force that descends from above. And he concluded:

“Dear friends, the most beautiful flower to sprout from the Word of God is the Virgin Mary. She is the beginning of the Church, the garden of God on earth. But while Mary is the Immaculate -- as we celebrate her the day after tomorrow -- the Church is in constant need of purification, because sin undermines all its members. There is a constant and ongoing struggle within the Church between the desert and the garden, between sin which dries up land and grace that irrigates it so it can produce abundant fruits of holiness. Let us therefore pray to the Mother of the Lord to help us in this time of Advent, to ‘straighten’ our paths, and be led by the word of God.”

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