By LiCAS.news
PHILIPPINES – Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle has called on the Filipino faithful to make the newly elevated National Shrine of Our Lady of Aranzazu in the Diocese of Antipolo, a place of solidarity with people enduring suffering and loss.
In his homily on Aug 22, the feast of Mary’s Queenship, the cardinal said the shrine’s mission goes beyond honoring the Blessed Mother in devotion.
It must also accompany those who live amid the “thorns” of life — poverty, displacement, violence, and the pain of families still searching for their missing loved ones.
“The Shrine of Aranzazu must be a beacon not only of devotion but also of solidarity with those in suffering,” he said. “The Blessed Mother is there, her Son is there, Aranzazu.”
Tagle drew from the origins of the devotion in Oñate, Spain, where the image of the Virgin and Child appeared on a thorn bush.
He explained that this symbol points to Mary’s constant presence in places of hardship, and to the call for her devotees to also stand in such “thorny” places of society.
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