VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Hundreds of participants in the Jubilee of People with Disabilities sang “Salve Regina” (Hail, Holy Queen) in honor of Mary but also in the full knowledge that the hymn was written by a man with severe disabilities.
Archbishop Rino Fisichella, the chief organizer of the Jubilee 2025 events, welcomed the participants to St. Peter’s Square April 29 for a moment of prayer and catechesis.
With interpreters signing in a variety of languages, the archbishop told the story of Hermann, a boy born to a noble family in 1014 with a cleft palate and cerebral palsy. His parents, unable to care for him, entrusted him to a Benedictine abbey in Germany.
Although he could not speak or write when he arrived, the monks welcomed him with affection and taught him Latin, Greek, mathematics, music and even Arabic, the archbishop said.
“Do you know why I told you this story,” the archbishop asked. “Because Hermann (Blessed Hermann of Reichenau) wrote the ‘Salve Regina.’”
Hermann, he said, “experienced what true hope and true faith were and love for Mary, the mother of mercy.”
“You are at the heart of the church,” the archbishop told the pilgrims with disabilities. And as full members of the church, they must contribute, he said.
“In weakness, you need to find your vocation in the church,” he said. “Weakness is an instrument that helps one love even more. Take your disability and make it the strength of love that gives even more.”
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