Pope Leo XIV presided over the Mass on September 7, 2026, for the Vigil of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary at the Shrine of the Mother of Good Counsel in Genazzano, Italy. In his homily, the pontiff stated that in Jesus Christ God chose the most humble conditions to manifest His Kingdom, where arrogance has no place. Leo XIV called for an end to arrogance and urged Catholics to be builders of peace in "times of destruction and uncertainty."
The Pope challenged the faithful to practice a "wonderful exercise of imagination" in contemplative prayer, clarifying that this is not fantasy but prophecy. Leo XIV invoked the writings of Saint Thomas of Villanova, a friar and Augustinian bishop, to reflect on the silence of the evangelists regarding the details of Our Lady's life.
The Eucharistic celebration was marked by the inauguration of a painting depicting the Pope in prayer before the image of the Virgin, integrating Leo XIV into the gallery of his predecessor pontiffs. This connection of the Pope to the shrine dates back to his entry into the Order of Saint Augustine in the Augustinian province of Chicago, dedicated to the Mother of Good Counsel, and grew in the early 1980s through frequent visits as a young student in Rome.
The Marian shrine, which dates back to the 13th century, gained its current configuration after the miraculous appearance of an image of the Virgin on a construction wall on April 25, 1467. The devotion was validated over the centuries with pilgrimages from various popes, including Urban VIII, Pius IX, John XIII, and John Paul II.
