Missionaries under the care of Mary, Pope says

Pope Benedict XVI presides over the canonization of seven saints on Sunday, Oct. 21, 2012. Credit: Marianne Medlin and Emily Hazelbach/EWTNNews.

Marking the celebration of Missions Sunday, Pope Benedict encouraged the faithful to entrust all missionaries to the guidance of Mary, Queen of all Saints.

In his Oct. 21 Sunday Angelus address following the canonization Mass of seven new saints, the Pope called on all “to entrust to the protection of the Virgin Mary all missionaries – priests, religious, and lay – that in every part of the world sow the good seed of the Gospel."

As he addressed the English-speaking pilgrims, “especially those from the Philippines, Canada and the United States of America,” the Pope encouraged them to draw inspiration from their newly-canonized countrymen.

“May the holiness and witness of these saints inspire us to draw closer to the Son of God who, for such great love, came to serve and offer his life for our salvation,” he said.

Those canonized Oct. 21 were Jacques Berthieu, Pedro Calungsod, Giovanni Battista Piamarta, Marìa Carmen Sallés y Barangueras, Marianne Cope, Kateri Tekakwitha, and Anna Schäffer.

Pope Benedict noted the Oct. 20 flooding of the Shrine of Lourdes in southwestern France which, after the overflow of the Gave river, has left the Grotto of the Apparition under roughly three feet of water.

The Pope also prayed for the Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelization, which will conclude its General Assembly in Rome on Oct. 28.