Pope Calls on Catholics to Entrust Themselves to Our Lady, Prays for Peace in Ukraine

“Immaculate Virgin, I would have liked today to bring you the thanksgiving of the Ukrainian people for the peace we have long been asking the Lord for. Instead, I have yet to present to you the supplication of the children, of the elderly, of the fathers and mothers, of the young people of that tormented land. But in reality, we all know that you are with them and with all the suffering, just as you were beside the cross of your Son.“

Pope Francis visits the statue dedicated to the Immaculate Conception near Rome’s Piazza di Spagna Dec. 8, 2022. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez / CNA 

The statue of the Immaculate Conception sits atop a nearly 40-foot-high column.

It was dedicated Dec. 8, 1857, three years after Pope Pius IX promulgated a decree defining the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of Mary.

Since 1953, it has been customary for popes to venerate the statue for the feast day. Pope Pius XII was the first to do so, walking nearly two miles on foot from the Vatican.

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Rome’s firefighters are usually in attendance at the prayer, in honor of their role at the 1857 inauguration of the statue. The mayor of Rome and other officials also attend.

The statue is often adorned with homages of flowers hung in the form of wreaths around Mary’s outstretched arms and laid at the statue’s base.

The statue dedicated to the Immaculate Conception near Rome’s Piazza di Spagna. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez / CNA 

Before venerating the statue of the Immaculate Conception, Pope Francis on Thursday prayed the Angelus at midday at St. Peter’s Square. He then visited the Basilica of St. Mary Major, where he prayed before the famous icon known as the Salus Populi Romani — Mary, Protection of the Roman People.

In his midday address, Pope Francis spoke about the Gospel reading for the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. 

Pilgrims gathered for the Angelus prayer at St. Peter's Square, Dec. 8, 2022. Vatican News

In it, Luke the Evangelist recounts the Annunciation. The visit of the archangel Gabriel, Pope Francis said Dec. 8, reminded Catholics, “We sinners too have received an initial gift that has filled our life, a good greater than anything, an original grace, of which often, however, we are unaware.”

The pontiff invited the faithful to entrust themselves to Our Lady. He reminded Catholics that “Mary, the only human creature without sin in history, is with us in the battle, she is our sister and above all Mother.”