Pope Leo XIV presides over Holy Mass at the pontifical parish of St. Thomas of Villanova in Castel Gandolfo, on the occasion of the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Before the celebration, the Pope spent a long time greeting the faithful gathered along the barriers in Piazza della Libertà, shaking hands, blessing people and collecting letters. In the homily, recalling Pius XII's teaching (1950) that "Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed into heavenly glory in body and soul," the Pope contrasted the aesthetic standards of the consumerist world with true spiritual beauty, which does not hide the signs of time but illuminates them with love: "love is man's most beautiful ornament: love that transfigures, transforms, ennobles, lifts up." He pointed to this beauty in the eyes of tired but happy parents, in grandparents devoted to their grandchildren, in young people who choose the good, and proposed Mary as "Mother, guide, travelling companion and protector on the way to Heaven." The Choir of the Gandolfina Music Academy performed, among other pieces, the "Magnificat" and the "Tu es Petrus" by Giuseppe Mele, composed for the Pope.