Pope re-consecrates Uruguay to Mary on its patroness’ feast day
By Kielce Gussie
On his last day in Uruguay, Pope Leo XIV presided over Mass in the Cathedral Basilica of Florida Square, part of the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Thirty-Three.
In his homily, he expressed his joy at being “a pilgrim” at the shrine where, he said, he is able to “share in the faith and the tenderness with which the Uruguayan people have looked at the Mother of God for generations.” The Pope also entrusted everyone present to Mary’s protection.
Intimately connected to Mary
Turning to the readings for the day, he underlined two women who received the same blessing: Judith and the Virgin Mary. For Judith, “O daughter, you are blessed by the Most High God above all other women on earth” (Jud 13:18), and Mary, “Blessed are you among women” (Lk 1:42).
When Judith helped liberate the Israelites, the people celebrated God’s work through her.
Pope Leo reflected on the significance of hearing these readings at the National Shrine, as the image of Our Lady of the Thirty-Three has ties to an important moment in Uruguay’s history. In 1825, those who were fighting to free the country turned to Mary, praying in front of the image and entrusted the future of the nation to her. The wooden carving of the Virgin Mary, believed to have arrived in the area in the 18th century, is tied to thirty-three people who helped fight for Uruguay's independence.
“That gesture reminds us that the history of peoples, too, cannot be fully understood without reference to God,” he explained. Therefore, from the founding of the nation, Uruguay has always had an intimate connection with Mary. While times, circumstances, and even the relationship between Uruguayans and faith have all changed, Mary remains.
Women’s role in sharing the faith
“While Mary accompanied the history of this people, at the same time in so many homes other women preserved the faith and passed it on to their children.”
The Pope at the example of mothers who are the first to teach their children about prayer, prepare them for the sacraments, and instruct them on living out Christian charity. Grandmothers are also examples of living out the faith.
The names of women have always been “inscribed” into Uruguay’s history of faith, through the lives of saints: Saint María Francisca Rubatto, Blessed Martyrs Dolores and Consuelo Aguiar-Mella.
While most of this history was never written down, generations of families—mothers, grandmothers, godmothers, religious sisters, or catechists—helped pass down the faith.
“We may not remember every word they said to us, but we do remember how they prayed, how they spoke of the Lord and with what conviction they lived out what they taught us.”
Pope Leo called on everyone to remember and thank these women. Moreover, he underscored how some of them carried on the faith without the support of their families and how they “carry a very specific sorrow.”
“You taught your children to pray, and today they no longer do so. You used to attend Mass together, and it has been years since they entered a church. You spoke to your grandchildren about God, and now you do not know if those words left a mark. Sometimes you wonder if you did something wrong or if it was all futile.”
Here, the Pope raised the example of Saint Monica, who, for years, prayed for a son who seemed to be moving farther and farther away from God.
“Mothers and grandmothers: never tire of passing on the faith,” Pope Leo urged. “Preach with your lives as well as with your words. Insist on prayer, love, and hope; insist on them in season and out of season.”
Faith has a genuine place
Then, he turned to the men – fathers and grandfathers. He challenged them to imitate Saint Joseph, so that their children and grandchildren can “see that the faith occupies a genuine place in the lives of the men in your family.”
The Scripture called on God’s people in the Old Testament to hold the faith in their hearts and teach it to their children—at every moment of their lives. God held a central place in decision-making and conversation. “In this way, children learned that the faith they received from their parents was also what their parents lived by.”
Today, bishops, priests, and consecrated people are also called to support families in this task.
Consecration to Mary
Sharing our faith means bringing others to Christ, and Mary is a great example of this. When she is praised, Mary shifts the attention to God.
Her greatness stems from her relationship with Christ as she welcomes him, lives by him, and brings others to him. “An encounter with the Master is the goal of all evangelization and of all authentic Marian devotion,” Pope Leo said.
On the feast day of the Patroness of Uruguay, Our Lady of the Thirty-Three, he encouraged everyone to bring the entire people before the Lord. Looking at the example of Mary, the Pope challenged them not to wait for people who have moved away from the faith.
“People of Uruguay: you must set out on the journey! You must enter people’s homes once more, draw near to them, listen to their questions and bring them to Christ!”
Closing his homily, the Pope renewed the nation’s consecration to Mary, “to entrust this land and all who live in it to her protection and to implore God that, through her powerful intercession, he may thwart the works of the evil one and preserve beloved Uruguay from whatever might lead it away from Christ.”
Offering a Golden Rose as a sign of veneration and filial love, he asked that it remind Mary’s children of their call to imitate her by loving Christ as she loved him.
