This past Monday at the Vatican, Pope Francis met with Pope Matthias I of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. In welcoming the patriarch, Francis made numerous references to the poverty, suffering and martyrdom of Christians throughout parts of Africa. Francis also called for reconciliation and forgiveness, as the long Christian story invites repentance for the sins of suspicion, pride and even bloody divisions.
But at the end of Francis' formal address, he invoked the Virgin Mary, praying the words of a liturgical hymn from the Ethiopian Church. This gracious pope, leaping over the things that divide!
O Virgin,
wellspring of the fountain of wisdom,
bathe me in the streams of the Gospel of Christ your Son.
wellspring of the fountain of wisdom,
bathe me in the streams of the Gospel of Christ your Son.
Defend me by his cross,
cover me with his mercy,
gird me with his clemency,
renew me with his unction
and surround me with his fruits.
Amen.
Amen.
