12:58 pm  |  VALLETTA, MALTA, Apr 18, 2010 (CNA/EWTN News).- Together with the faithful in Floriana's Granaries Square, the Holy Father prayed the Regina Coeli in Malta on Sunday. Before the recitation of the Marian prayer with thousands of Maltese on Sunday, he acknowledged Malta’s particular devotion to Mary and presented a special gift to Our Lady of Ta' Pinu.

The prayer took place just after Sunday morning Mass celebrated in the same square, the largest on the island. For the celebration, a painting of the Virgin was brought to the square from the island of Gozo for the occasion from the Shrine of Our Lady of Ta' Pinu.

Recalling the Maltese tradition of trust in the Blessed Virgin Mary for protection and prayer intentions, the Holy Father recognized the "great fervor" with which the people of Malta express their devotion to the virgin.

11:34 am  |  VALLETTA, MALTA, Apr 18, 2010 (CNA/EWTN News).- Our relationship with God provides “the key to our happiness and our human fulfillment," Pope Benedict XVI said at Mass on Sunday. Noting that nothing can take God's place, he urged the people of Malta not to be tempted by the influences of the world but to pass on their inheritance of faith to their children and all visitors.

The Granaries Square in Floriana was the scene for the Sunday morning Mass. The capacity of the square is 10,000 people, but some media reports estimated the crowd at 40,000.

Praising the Maltese for their ability throughout history to discern and accept the best things foreigners had to offer, he urged them to continue to exercise their great discernment as "not everything that today's world proposes is worthy of acceptance by the people of Malta."

10:10 am  |  ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE, Apr 18, 2010 (CNA/EWTN News).- Speaking to journalists aboard the flight to Malta on Saturday afternoon, Pope Benedict offered insight into his reasons for choosing to travel to the Mediterranean island. He also sent a message of hope to the Church, saying that "shipwrecks" can provide a new start in life and that the wounds of the Church can be healed through the Gospel.

The Holy Father offered an instructional catechesis while listing the essential reasons for his visit to Malta.

The 1,950th anniversary of St. Paul's shipwreck, he said, provided an occasion to throw "light on the important figure of the Apostle to the Gentiles and his message." This message, the Pope added, can be seen in its essence in St. Paul's words to the Galatians:"Faith expressed in charity."

07:40 am  |  WASHINGTON D.C., Apr 18, 2010 (CNA).- A federal judge’s ruling that the National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional had no legal basis and was not in keeping with American traditions of expressing “dependence on the Almighty,” critics said.

On Thursday U.S. District Judge Barbara B. Crabb in Madison, Wisconsin declared unconstitutional a 1988 federal law giving the president the authority to designate the first Thursday in May as the National Day of Prayer.

Her decision came in response to the case filed by the Madison-based atheist group Freedom from Religion Foundation, which argued it was unconstitutional because it endorses school prayer.