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Pope Francis celebrated Mass in Vartanàns Square in Gyumri, Armenia, on Saturday morning, Vatican Radio reports.

In his homily, the Holy Father recalled the devastation, giving thanks “for all that has been rebuilt,” and focused on three “stable foundations” on which to build the moral and spiritual future of the nation: memory, faith, and merciful love.

The first foundation, he said, is “memory:” to “recall what the Lord has done in and for us” and that “He has chosen us, loved us, called us and forgiven us.” “The memory of a people” like those in Armenia, also needs to be preserved the Pope added. “Even in the face of tremendous adversity,” he stressed, God has “remembered your faithfulness to the Gospel, the first-fruits of your faith, and all those who testified, even at the price of their blood, that God’s love is more precious than life itself.”

Faith, the Holy Father said, is the second foundation on which to build Christian life. But, he warned, “there is always a danger that can dim the light of faith and that is the temptation to reduce it to something from the past, something important but belonging to another age…to be kept in a museum.”

The third foundation, the Pope added, “is merciful love:” “We are called above all to build and rebuild paths of communion, tirelessly creating bridges of unity and working to overcome our divisions.”