"All this began because 'they had no wine'. It could all be done because a   
   woman - the Virgin Mary - was attentive, left her concerns in God's hands and   
   acted sensibly and courageously. But there is a further detail, the best was to   
   come: everyone went on to enjoy the finest of wines. And this is the good news:   
   the finest wines are yet to be tasted; for families, the richest, deepest and   
   most beautiful things are yet to come. The time is coming when we will taste   
   love daily, when our children will come to appreciate the home we share, and   
   our   
   elderly will be present each day in the joys of life. The finest of wines is   
   expressed by hope, this wine will come for every person who stakes everything   
   on   
   love. And the best wine is yet to come, in spite of all the variables and   
   statistics which say otherwise. The best wine will come to those who today feel   
   hopelessly lost. Say it to yourselves until you are convinced of it. Say it to   
   yourselves, in your hearts: the best wine is yet to come. Whisper it to the   
   hopeless and the loveless. Have patience, hope, and follow Mary's example,   
   pray,   
   open your heart, because the best wine is yet to come. God always seeks out the   
   peripheries, those who have run out of wine, those who drink only of   
   discouragement. Jesus feels their weakness, in order to pour out the best wines   
   for those who, for whatever reason, feel that all their jars have been broken".   
    After his final blessing, the Pope transferred by car to the Colegio Javier of   
   the Society of Jesus, founded in 1856, and where there are currently 1560   
   students. The community is made up of 20 Jesuit fathers, with whom the Pope   
   lunched. Following a brief rest he returned to Quito to meet with the president   
   of the Republic.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Visit to the president of Ecuador and Quito Cathedral   
    Vatican City, 7 July 2015 (VIS) - The Pope spent the last part of his second   
   day in Ecuador in the capital, Quito, where he paid a courtesy visit to   
   President Rafael Correa at Carondelet Palace, the seat of the government. Built   
   in the late eighteenth century by the Spanish architect Antonio Garcia, it is   
   located in the historic centre of the city and owes its name to the governor   
   Francisco Luis Hector, baron of Carondelet, under whose mandate it was   
   constructed. During the colonial period it was known as the Royal Palace, but   
   according to legend Simon Bolivar, in admiration of its facade, changed its   
   name   
   in memory of the governor.   
    Upon arrival President Correa greeted the Pope with a warm embrace; they then   
   entered the Protocol Room where they spoke in private. The president   
   subsequently introduced his family to the Holy Father and gifts were exchanged.   
   Francis gave the Ecuadorian head of State a mosaic depicting the Virgin and   
   Child, a copy realised by the Vatican Museums mosaic laboratory of the image   
   from the Chapel of the Most Holy Sacrament of the Roman basilica of St. Paul   
   Outside-the-Walls, before which St. Ignatius of Loyola and his first followers   
   gave their religious vows on 22 August 1541, thereby originating the Society of   
   Jesus.   
    At the end of his visit, the bishop of Rome and the president appeared at the   
   balcony of Carondelet Palace to greet the crowd gathered in Plaza de la   
   Independencia. The Pope travelled on foot the fifty metres between the Palace   
   and the Metropolitan Cathedral of Quito, which invokes the Coronation of the   
   Virgin Mary. The Cathedral, completed in 1585, represents a combination of   
   styles, from the Gothic-Mudejar (Moorish) to Baroque and neo-Classical, and it   
   houses the remains of Antonio Jose Francisco de Sucre y Alcala, the Mariscal   
   Sucre (1795-1830), hero of South American independence.   
    The Holy Father entered the cathedral where he was received by the rector;   
   after greeting various sick and disabled people gathered inside, he prayed a   
   moment. Upon leaving, almost at night-time, he blessed the thousands of people   
   congregated in the square, setting aside the brief discourse he had previously   
   prepared, and addressed the following words to them:   
    "I give you my blessing, to each one of you, to your families, to all your   
   loved ones and to the great and noble Ecuadorian people, so that there may be   
   no   
   more difference, no more exclusion, so that no-one is discarded, so that all   
   may   
   be brothers, so that everyone is included and no-one is left out of this great   
   Ecuadorian nation. To every one of you and your families, I give my blessing.   
   But first, let us pray the Hail Mary together...".   
    "May the blessing of God Almighty, of the Father and of the Son and of the   
   Holy   
   Spirit, descend upon you and remain with you for ever. And please, I ask you to   
   pray for me. Good night, and see you tomorrow".   
    Today, 7 July, Pope Francis will meet the bishops of Ecuador and will   
   celebrate   
   Holy Mass in the Bicentenario Park in Quito. Later he will visit the Pontifical   
   Catholic University of Ecuador, where he will receive the keys to the capital   
   in   
   the Church of St. Francis and address those present. He will conclude the day   
   with a private visit to the Church of the Society of Jesus.   
    The following is the brief discourse the Pope had prepared, to be given   
   outside   
   Quito Cathedral:   
    "I have come to Quito as a pilgrim, to share with you the joy of spreading the   
   Gospel. When I left the Vatican, I passed the statue of Saint Mariana de Jesus,   
   who from the apse of St. Peter's Basilica keeps watch over the little street   
   which the Pope travels so often. I entrusted to her the fruits of this visit,   
   and I prayed that all of us might learn from her example. Her sacrifice and her   
   heroic virtue are usually represented by a flower, a lily. Yet, at St. Peter's   
   she holds a whole bouquet of flowers. Along with her own flower, she offers the   
   Lord, in the heart of the Church, your flowers, and the flowers of all the   
   people of Ecuador.   
    "The Saints call us to imitate them and to learn from them. This was the case   
   with St. Narcisa de Jesus and Blessed Mercedes de Jesus Molina, who were   
   challenged by St. Mariana's example. How many of you here today have known what   
   it is to be orphaned? How many of you have had to assume the responsibility of   
   looking after younger brothers or sisters, despite being young yourselves? How   
   many of you care daily with great patience for the sick or the elderly? Mariana   
   did just this, and Narcisa and Mercedes followed her example. It is not   
   difficult if God is with us. They accomplished no great feats in the eyes of   
   the   
   world. They simply loved much, and they showed this love in their daily lives,   
   touching the suffering flesh of Christ in others, in his people. Nor did they   
   do   
   this alone, they did it 'side by side' with others. All the work that went into   
   the building of this Cathedral was done that same way, our way, the way of the   
   native peoples, quietly and unassumingly working alongside one another for the   
   good of the community, without seeking credit or applause. God grant that, just   
   as the stones of this cathedral were carried by those who went before us, we   
   may   
   carry one another's burdens, and thus help to build up or heal the lives of so   
   many of our brothers and sisters incapable of doing it by themselves.   
    "Today I am here with you, and you have shared with me the joy which fills   
   your   
   hearts: 'How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good   
   tidings'. This is the beauty we are called to spread, like an aroma of Christ:   
   our prayer, our good works, and our sacrifices for those most in need. This is   
   the joy of evangelising and 'blessed are you if you do these things'.   
    "God bless you all".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Other Pontifical Acts   
    Vatican City, 7 July 2015 (VIS) - The Holy Father has appointed Bishop   
   Santiago   
   Silva Retamales, auxiliary of the diocese of Valparaiso, Chile, as military   
   ordinary for Chile.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
   For more information and to search for documents refer to the site:   
   www.visnews.org and www.vatican.va   
      
   Copyright (VIS):  the news contained in the services of the Vatican   
   Information Service may be reproduced wholly or partially by quoting   
   the source:  V. I. S. - Vatican Information Service.   
   http://www.vatican.va/news_services/press/vis/vis_en.html   
      
   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)