Pope Francis' Prayer During Veneration of Immaculate Conception Statue

From there, the Pope went to Piazza di Spagna for the traditional act of veneration of the Immaculate Conception.

Arriving at Piazza di Spagna around 4:15 pm, the Holy Father carried out the Act of Veneration of the Immaculate Conception.

Below is a translation of the composed prayer that the Holy Father recited this year during the Act of Veneration of the Immaculate Conception in Piazza di Spagna.

* * *

THE HOLY FATHER’S PRAYER

Oh Mary, our Mother,

Today the people of God in celebration

venerate the Immaculate,

always preserved from the contagion of sin. Accept the gift I offer

on behalf of the Church in Rome

and throughout the world.

Knowing that You, our Mother, are completely free from sin

gives us great comfort.

Knowing that evil has no power over You,

fills us with hope and fortitude

in the daily struggle that we must fulfill against the threats of the evil one.

But we are not alone in this struggle, we are not orphans, because Jesus, before dying on the cross,

has given You to us as a Mother.

We, therefore, despite being sinners, are your children, sons of the Immaculate,

called to the holiness that shines through You

by the grace of God from the beginning.

Animated by this hope,

we pray today for Your maternal protection for us, for our families,

for this city, for the whole world.

May the power of God's love,

that preserved You from original sin,

through Your intercession, free humanity from every spiritual and material slavery,

and make us win, in hearts and in events, God's plan of salvation.

May grace prevail in us, Your children, over

pride and we can become merciful

as our heavenly Father is merciful.

In this time that leads us

towards the feast of the Nativity of Jesus,

teach us to go against the tide:

to divest ourselves, to lower ourselves, to give ourselves, to listen, to be silent,

to decentralize ourselves,

to make room for the beauty of God, the source of true joy.

Oh Immaculate, Our Mother, pray for us!

[Translation by Junno Arocho Esteves]