The mantle of Saint Martin

“We are here tonight with you, Holy Father, as representatives of the consecrated, and also of the lay people, who are heralds of the Gospel”, said Archbishop Stanislav Zvolenský of Bratislava, at the beginning of the meeting. “We have come here, of course with our weaknesses, defects, imperfections. But we are here — he emphasized — above all like children who yearn for the words of the father. May you feel at home, in the midst of all of us”! The Pope’s presence, he said, “makes us feel the universality and unity of Mother Church”. And, addressing Pope Francis, the Archbishop said, “we perceive your love for the poor, for those in the peripheries, who have been left behind, abandoned, discarded ... And it is precisely in this perspective that we, in a new way, try to think of the examples of our saints, such as Saint Martin, Patron of this cathedral, who did not hesitate to share his cloak with a poor man”.