Pope Leo XIV on Aug. 15 called on Catholics to look to Mary, the Mother of God as an example of “true beauty,” with the Holy Father pointing to her youthful appearance in sacred art as a sign of “love that never ends.”
The Holy Father delivered the homily during Mass at the Pontifical Parish of Saint Thomas of Villanova in Castel Gandolfo, directly adjacent to the papal summer residence there. The small chapel was full for the 10 a.m. liturgy of the solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
In his homily reflecting on Mary’s assumption into heaven, Leo noted that “many works of art depict her as a beautiful young woman physically rising from the earth toward the heavens at the end of her earthly life.”
These depictions of a youthful Mary at the end of her life offer a contrast with “our experience of what the passing of years does to us,” the pope said. He asked rhetorically: “What do we have in common with the beautiful young woman depicted on the altarpieces of our churches?”
Mary’s glorification, the pope said, “teaches us that our true beauty does not lie in hiding the signs of aging, but in revealing the signs of love that never end, and are even impressed on our flesh.”
The pope said this sign of faith invites Catholics to “reexamine many of the aesthetic standards, predominantly hedonistic and consumerist in nature, that the world imposes on us.”
He contrasted those who look aged but who radiate “serenity, kindness and peace” with those who “are perhaps outwardly attractive but hard and cold at heart.”
“It is easy to see where true beauty lies and where, on the other hand, there is still a need for conversion, forgiveness and healing,” he said.
Love “is humanity’s most beautiful adornment,” the pope said. He urged Catholics to “follow the light of the Risen Lord” in part by “looking to Mary, whom God has crowned with glory in body and soul.”
In remarks during his midday Angelus after the Mass, Leo said viewing a depiction of Mary being assumed into heaven “allows us to contemplate our ultimate destiny” as followers of Christ.
He described the Blessed Mother as “a sign of hope and consolation” for the faithful and he invoked her blessing on “those communities that are particularly in need of consolation,” including the faithful in Ukraine and Russia, as well as those suffering from the recent earthquake in Colombia.