Since 2012, and with great intimate motivation and missionary spirit, Father Martin Barta has been fulfilling the apostolate of writing for this Bulletin, which connects us with the situation of the suffering Church and creates union among us, as brothers and sisters of the same ecclesial family. This family and each one of us say «thank you». Thank you for leading us along the paths of that charity that bears fruit on the stem of faith and spreads the fragrance of Christ. We have learned to see the Church as the living Body of Christ and, therefore, like Veronica, to wipe the Savior’s holy bloody face in the sufferings of his Church. Dear Father Martin, we wish you to grow constantly in your priestly identity at the school of Mary Most Holy, that is, in the true service of charity, because all of us, although in different ways, are, at heart, beggars of divine mercy.
As we bid farewell to Father Martin, we would like to extend a fraternal welcome to the new International Ecclesiastical Assistant, Father Anton Lässer. Father Anton, a member of the Passionist Order, is well known and appreciated in the German-speaking countries, where he has been rendering valuable priestly service, mainly in theological formation in the academic field, as well as in various fields of pastoral work.
In a few days, at the end of the traditionally Marian month of May, we will celebrate the Feast of the Visitation of Mary. The Blessed Virgin, moved by the Holy Spirit, set out and, filled with ineffable joy, hastened to visit her cousin Elizabeth and offer her service. It is not difficult to imagine the overflowing joy that our heavenly Mother harbored in her heart and her great desire to pass it on. After a long and arduous journey through the mountainous region, she entered Zechariah’s house and greeted her cousin: «And it came to pass, as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child [little St. John] leaped in her womb. Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit» (Lk 1:41). That house was transformed by the presence of Jesus and Mary.
Mary’s greeting worked the transformation, because it filled Elizabeth with the Holy Spirit; and through her prophetic voice, as from an inexhaustible fountain, He made a torrent of divine gifts flow over her cousin. Because where the ‘full of grace’ arrives, everything is flooded with joy. Before this beautiful Marian feast, a masterpiece of the Holy Spirit that we celebrate on Pentecost Sunday, I wish with all my heart to convey to Father Martin, also on behalf of all our readers and benefactors, my best and fraternal wishes, so that he may bring everywhere the peace and joy of the Gospel of Jesus. And to Father Anton I wish that on his «visits» to Königstein and to the various Offices and National Delegations of our Foundation he may carry with him the flame of the Holy Spirit. May the Virgin Mary be with you!
Cardinal Mauro Piacenza