Pope gives Angelus address for Solemnity of the Assumption: Mary’s life was ‘a pilgrimage of hope with her Son’

Pope Leo XIV gave a special Angelus address Aug. 15 for the Solemnity of the Assumption, encouraging the faithful to look up to the Blessed Mother, she who “shines as an icon of hope,” while traveling along the uncertain and difficult roads of life. 

Speaking from the Piazza della Libertà at Castel Gandolfo about an hour from the Vatican, the Pontiff wished everyone a happy feast day and began the Angelus address — which he usually only gives on Sundays — by quoting about the Blessed Virgin Mary from Lumen Gentium, a Dogmatic Constitution on the Church from Vatican II. 

“The Mother of Jesus in the glory which she possesses in body and soul in heaven is the image and beginning of the church as it is to be perfected in the world to come,” he quoted. “Likewise, she shines forth on earth, until the day of the Lord shall come, a sign of certain hope and comfort to the pilgrim people of God.”

Continuing, Pope Leo emphasized that the Blessed Mother has had a special role for centuries. 

“Mary, who the risen Christ carried body and soul into the glory, shines as an icon of hope for her pilgrim children throughout history,” he said. 

Verses from the great poet Dante’s Paradiso come to mind, he added, as the last canto describes Our Lady as “the living fountain-head of hope,” meaning, “the living spring, gushing with hope.” 

This reflection is especially timely in 2025, as the Catholic Church is celebrating the Jubilee Year of Hope with the theme, “Pilgrims of hope,” he noted. 

“Pilgrims need a goal that orients their journey: a beautiful and attractive goal that guides their steps and revives them when they are tired, that always rekindles in their heart a desire and hope,” he said. “On the path of life, our goal is God, infinite and eternal Love, fullness of life, peace, joy and every good thing. The human heart is drawn to such beauty and it is not happy until it finds it; and indeed it risks not finding it if it gets lost in the middle of the ‘dark forest’ of evil and sin.”

The Pontiff also reflected that it is a grace that “God came to meet us” by assuming human nature, and then Christ returned to Heaven as both God and man. 

“It is the mystery of Jesus Christ, who became flesh, died and rose for our salvation. Inseparable from him, is also the mystery of Mary, the woman from whom the Son of God has taken flesh, and of the Church, the mystical body of Christ,” he said. “It concerns a unique mystery of love, and thus of freedom.”

He explained that Mary said “yes,” believing in the Lord’s word, just as Jesus said “yes.”

“All of her life has been a pilgrimage of hope together with her son, the Son of God, a pilgrimage which, through the Cross and Resurrection, has reached the heavenly homeland, in the embrace of God,” he concluded. “For this reason, while we journey forward, as individuals, families and communities, especially when the clouds come and the road seems difficult and uncertain, let us lift our gaze, let us look at her, our Mother, and we will rediscover the hope that does not disappoint.”

After leading the Angelus prayer, Pope Leo also spoke out against the violence in the world, noting that Our Lady suffers as a mother “for the evils that afflict her children, especially the little ones and the weak.” 

The apparitions and messages from Our Lady throughout the centuries have confirmed this, he added. 

The dogma of the Assumption was proclaimed during World War II by Pope Pius XII, who encouraged meditating on Mary’s example to understand the value of human life and against ideology that sows discord among men. 

“How timely these words remain! Even today, sadly, we feel powerless before the spread of violence in the world — a violence increasingly deaf and insensitive to any stirring of humanity,” Pope Leo said. “Yet we must not cease to hope: God is greater than the sin of human beings. We must not resign ourselves to the prevalence of the logic of conflict and of arms. With Mary, we believe that the Lord continues to come to the aid of His children, remembering his mercy. Only in this mercy can we return to the way of peace.”

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