Speech at the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth, January 5, 1964

Pope Paul VI.

Fifty years ago, from January 4 to 6, 1964, Pope Paul VI undertook the first modern papal journey – a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. (According to historians, the last pope before him to leave Italian soil was Pius VII in 1814, when Napoleon forced him to travel to Fontainebleau near Paris.)

Pope Paul VI's pilgrimage created a great stir – not only because he announced it only one month before it took place. It was the first pilgrimage of a pope to the Holy Land, during which Pope Paul VI met in Jerusalem with the Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras, with whom he later rescinded the mutual excommunication that their predecessors had pronounced nine centuries earlier in 1965.

A remarkable evidence of how strong the response to the pilgrimage was is the book The Apostolic Pilgrim, written about this pilgrimage by Fr. František Hobizal, which was published in our country in 1992. Immediately during the pilgrimage, Fr. František recorded available information and collected press clippings. In 1983, he wrote his book in three weeks. It was only published after nine years, following the change in political conditions in our country. On January 5 of this year, Pope Francis announced his intention to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land from May 24 to 26, 2014, during which he primarily wants to commemorate the historical meeting between Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras. Therefore, a part of the pope's journey will include an ecumenical meeting with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and all the Jerusalem representatives of Christian churches at the Holy Sepulchre. Pope Francis described his journey as a "prayer pilgrimage" and asked everyone to pray for this pilgrimage. As a reminder of Pope Paul VI's pilgrimage to the Holy Land, we present a translation of the beautiful meditation he delivered at the Basilica of the Annunciation to the Virgin Mary in Nazareth on Sunday, January 5, 1964.¹

Church on the Mount of Beatitudes.
According to tradition, here the Lord Jesus delivered the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5-7) and chose the twelve apostles (Luke 6:12-16)

Filial expression of reverence to the Virgin Mary, Mother of God and Mother of us all

Here in Nazareth, our minds will first turn to the Most Holy Virgin Mary:

• that we may show her our filial respect and devotion,
• that we may strengthen this devotion so that it may be true, deep, and unique, in accordance with God's plan: (after all, Mary) is Full of Grace, Immaculate, Ever-Virgin, Mother of Christ, and thus she is both our Mother and God's Mother, a woman taken into heaven, Blessed Queen, a model of the church, and our hope.

Then we will entrust to Mary our humble filial intention to strive always to honor and celebrate her with special reverence. With a reverence that will help us understand the great things that the Lord has done for Mary. With a special piety that ignites our most devout, pure, human, personal, and intimate feelings. With reverence that will elevate high before the whole world the example of human perfection and trust in her.

Next, when we want to honor her goodness and the power of her love and her intercession, we will present to Mary our requests for everything that weighs most heavily on our hearts:

• requests that she may keep in our souls sincere devotion to her;
• requests that we may, through knowledge, desire, trust, and effort, draw near to the purity of spirit and body, the purity of feelings and words, of art and of love; that purity which today’s world can only insult and diminish; that purity to which Jesus Christ binds one of his promises, one of the beatitudes – the promise of seeing God in radiance;
• requests that we may thus be brought to her, Our Lady, the lady of this house, and to her husband, kind and steadfast Joseph, to the intimate closeness of Christ, her human and divine Son Jesus.

Nazareth is our school

The Nazareth house is a school where we begin to understand the life of Christ: thus it is a school of the Gospel. Here we learn to see, listen, meditate, and deeply penetrate how great and mysterious strength is hidden in this very simple, very humble, and very beautiful revelation of God's Son. And perhaps we gradually learn to imitate it.

Here we truly acquire the way and the path to easily recognize who Christ is. Here we particularly understand how greatly we should be interested in what relates to his dwelling among us and what defines it: namely the places, the time, the customs, the language, the sacred rites, and everything that Jesus used to make himself known to the world.

All of this speaks here, everything means something. Everything (here) has a double meaning: one outer meaning, which can be perceived directly (by our) senses and ability to comprehend. This is perceived by those who look from the outside, who only study and assess the philological and historical form of the holy books. The Bible itself calls this "the letter."

This study is important and necessary, and yet, the one who becomes fixated on it remains in the dark. It can indeed deceive and lead to pride in knowledge, if one does not look at what is presented in the Gospel with a pure eye, with humility of spirit, with good intention, and with inner prayer.

The outer in the gospel conveys its inner content, that is, the revelation of truth, a reality that it presents and hides, namely, it communicates only to those who expose themselves to the beam of light. A beam, originating from the straightness of spirit, that is, of mind and heart – which is the subjective and natural condition that everyone should care for within themselves – and at the same time emerging from the unattainable, free, and undeserved stream of grace, which, due to the mystery of God’s mercy that governs humanity's fortunes, never fails (the person) – at least in a certain time and in a certain form. No, it does not fail any person of good will. In this lies the "spirit".

Surely here, in this school, we understand why it is necessary to maintain spiritual discipline if someone wishes to follow the teachings of the Gospel and be a disciple of Christ.
Oh, how we would gladly return to our (earliest) childhood and once again entrust ourselves to this humble yet so noble Nazareth school! How fervently we would desire to renew our striving for true wisdom of life and penetrate into divine truths!

However, we sit here only as pilgrims and are forced to give up our desire to continue here in that never-ending education in understanding the Gospel. Nevertheless, we will not depart without hastily taking away from the Nazareth residence at least brief teachings.

First and foremost, this house teaches silence. May the highest respect for silence be revived within us: for it is an admirable and necessary state of mind, especially for the hectic and tumultuous life in our time, when so many noises, clamor, and uproar attack us!

Oh, that Nazareth silence, teach us to be collected and to live the inner life, always ready to listen to good inspirations and the guidance of true teachers! Teach us how necessary and precious are preparation, study, meditation, personal and inner order of life, and prayer that only God sees in secret!

Moreover, here we recognize how important home and family life is. May Nazareth teach us what a family is, what its community in love should be like, how great is its simple and austere beauty, how sacred and untouchable its character is! Let us learn from Nazareth how sweet and irreplaceable education in the family is. Let us be taught how enormous a mission the family naturally has in the social order.

And here we also learn about work. Oh, Nazareth dwelling, home of “the carpenter’s son,” how we would like to (understand and) highlight the indeed strict yet redemptive law of human effort and labor here! Here we would like to renew the awareness of the dignity of work and remind that work cannot have an end in itself. It should be a free and noble activity, but this – more than from its economic yield – arises from the values it aims for. Finally, we would like to greet from this place all workers in the world and show them their great example, their Divine Brother, the prophet of all their rightful demands – Christ, our Lord.

We hear the echo of Christ's words

Thus let our minds move away from Nazareth and continue through these Galilean mountains, which provided the natural environment and adornment of the voice of our Master and Lord. We lack (the) time and (the) strength to once again affirm his divine message intended for the whole world at this moment.

Yet, we will not give up looking towards the nearby Mount of Beatitudes, summarizing and culminating the evangelical sermon, and striving to hear the echo of that sermon which reverberates through this mysterious atmosphere and reaches us.

It is the voice of Christ declaring the New Law, that new law which includes and transcends the Old Law and brings human behavior to the pinnacle of perfection. An important motive in human action may be (some) inclination that influences (how the human uses his) freedom. In the Old Law, the law of fear prevailed. In the practical life of every age – including our own – (the governing force) is instinct and interest. In Christ, whom the Father lovingly gave to the world, the law of love prevails. He himself taught us to listen out of love; and that through his self-giving.

Saint Augustine teaches us: “God gave smaller commandments to the people who still needed to be bound by fear, and through his Son (he gave) greater commandments to the people who were already suitable to be liberated by love” (love that gives; charitas).²

Christ, in his gospel, gave the world the highest goal and the greatest strength for action (of man) and thus also for his freedom and progress: namely, love. No one can surpass it, no one can conquer it, no one can replace it. His gospel is the key to life. The human being reaches its highest level in the word of Christ. And human society finds its most suitable and strongest cohesion in him.

We believe, Lord, in your word, we want to follow it and live by it.

Now we want to listen to the echo that resonates in our souls, in the souls of contemporary people of the twentieth century. Here are the lessons that, it seems, this word gives us.

Blessed are we if we – poor in spirit – can free ourselves from the deceptive reliance on material wealth and are able to direct our desires first toward spiritual and religious wealth. And if we respect and love the poor as brothers and as living images of Christ.

Blessed are we if, raised in the spirit of the meekness of the strong, we can renounce the sad power of hatred and vengeance. And instead of terrifying with weapons, we prefer generous forgiveness, alliances in freedom and work, victories achieved through goodness and peace.

Blessed are we if we do not take selfishness as the determining rule of our lives and pleasure (as the measure) of its meaning. But if we can discover in moderation the energy, in pain the source of redemption, in sacrifice the peak of greatness.

Blessed are we if we choose rather to be oppressed than to oppress others, and if we continually crave greater and greater justice. Blessed are we if, for the sake of God's kingdom, we can now and always forgive and fight, work and serve, suffer and love.

We will not be ashamed forever.³

And as if we were today again hearing His voice. Back then it was stronger, gentler, and more fearsome: it was divine.

But by wishing to hear at least this echo of the Master's words, we – I believe – become his disciples and truly gain new wisdom, new value.

(The translation was contributed by
Jaroslava Kučerová, Sister Magdalena Šmídová, OSU, and P. Gorazd, O.Carm.
The book by František Hobizal contains loose quotations from the address on pages 54–56.)

In addition to the Annunciation recalled by the basilica, Nazareth is also the place where Jesus grew up (as Pope Paul VI reflected on) and after which he was named (Mark 1:24) and where his neighbors and acquaintances denied him faith (Mark 6:1–6).