Pope Leo XIV led the Angelus prayer from St. Peter's Square, commemorating the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. He spoke about the moment when Saint Helena found the piece of the cross and encouraged the faithful to look at it as a sign of hope for salvation.
POPE LEO XIV
God saved us by revealing Himself to us, offering Himself as our companion, teacher, healer, and friend, even to the point of becoming for us the Bread broken in the Eucharist. And to carry out this work, He used one of the most cruel instruments of death ever invented by man: the cross. This is why today we celebrate its exaltation.
At the end of the Angelus, St. Peter's Square filled with birthday wishes for the pontiff, who turned 70 years old today. Among the crowd, expressions of affection were heard, like this one:
Oh, I’m going to throw him lots of kisses and lots of congratulations! Congratulations, Pope Leo XIV, may our Lord God enlighten you, may you always be our hope, and may you always keep the whole world in your prayers.
And that wasn’t all—songs were also sung:
POPE LEO XIV
Thank you all very much!
After that, Pope Leo gave his blessing to those present, who greeted him by raising signs with birthday wishes.
BAM
Trans. CRT
