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May 2007 |
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2007
Papal Homily at Ordination Mass "The Lord's Goodness Is Always With You, and It Is Powerful" VATICAN CITY, MAY 3, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Here is a Vatican translation of Benedict XVI's April 29 homily at the Mass of the ordination of new priests in St. Peter's Basilica. May Mary, the heavenly Mother of priests, accompany you. May she who beneath the Cross united herself with the Sacrifice of her Son and after the Resurrection accepted together with the other disciples the gift of the Spirit, help you and each one of us, dear brothers in the priesthood, to allow ourselves to be inwardly transformed by God's grace. Papal Address at Pavia Hospital
"Technology and
Human Love Should Always Go Together" On Mary's Month - Regina Coeli Address on May 6, 2007 The month of May began several days ago. For many Christian communities this is the Marian month par excellence. As such, in the course of the centuries it has become one of the peoples' dearest devotions and has been valued by pastors as a propitious occasion for preaching, catechesis and community prayer. After the Second Vatican Council, which emphasized the role of Mary most holy in the Church and in salvation history, Marian devotion underwent a profound renewal. And the month of May, coinciding at least in part with the Easter season, is quite propitious for illustrating the figure of Mary as the Mother who accompanies the community of disciples united in prayer in expectation of the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 1:12-14). Consequently, this month can be an occasion to return to the faith of the primitive Church and, in union with Mary, understand that our mission even today is to proclaim and bear witness with courage and joy to Christ crucified and risen, the hope of humanity. I would like to entrust to the Holy Virgin, Mother of the Church, my apostolic voyage to Brazil May 9-14. … Dear brothers and sisters, I invite you to pray to Mary most holy for this apostolic pilgrimage and, in particular, for the 5th General Conference of the Episcopate of Latin America and the Caribbean, so that all the Christians of those regions may see themselves as disciples and missionaries of Christ, the way, the truth and the life Pope's Address Upon Arriving in Brazil "Peace to All of You Who Are in Christ" SÃO PAULO, Brazil, MAY 9, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the address Benedict XVI gave today upon arriving at the Guarulhos International Airport in São Paulo. In the discourse he addresses Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. With these good wishes and with renewed gratitude for the warm reception that I have received as the Successor of Peter, I invoke the maternal protection of "Nossa Senhora da Conceição Aparecida," remembered also as "Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe," Patroness of all America, so that she may protect and inspire those who govern in their difficult task as promoters of the common good, and renew the bonds of Christian fellowship for the good of all the people. May God bless Latin America! God bless Brazil! Thank you!
MEETING AND CELEBRATION OF VESPERS ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
Catedral da Sé, São Paulo MEETING WITH THE COMMUNITY OF POOR CLARES GREETING OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
Fazenda da Esperança, Guaratinguetá My dear Sisters, make it your task to proclaim that “hope does not disappoint” (Rom 5:5). May the sorrow of the Crucified Lord, which filled Mary’s soul at the foot of the Cross, console the hearts of many mothers and fathers who weep with sorrow because of their children’s continuing dependency on drugs. By your silent prayerful self-offering, an eloquent silence that the Father hears, proclaim the message of love that conquers sorrow, drugs and death. Proclaim Jesus Christ, a human being like us, who suffers like ourselves, who took our sins upon himself in order to deliver us from them! Soon we shall begin the Fifth General Conference of the Episcopate of Latin America and the Caribbean at the Shrine of Aparecida, so close to the “Fazenda da Esperança”. I trust in your prayers, that our peoples may have life in Jesus Christ and that we may all be his disciples and missionaries. I implore Mary, the Mother Aparecida, the Virgin of Nazareth who, in following Christ, kept all these things in her heart, to keep you in the fruitful silence of prayer.
RECITATION OF THE HOLY ROSARY AND
MEETING WITH PRIESTS, ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
Basilica of the Shrine of Aparecida Just as the Apostles, together with Mary, "went up to the upper room" and there, "with one accord devoted themselves to prayer" (Acts 1:13-14), so too we are gathered here today at the Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida, which at this time is our "upper room" where Mary, Mother of the Lord, is in our midst. Today it is she who leads our meditation; it is she who teaches us to pray. It is she who shows us the way to open our minds and hearts to the power of the Holy Spirit, who comes to fill the whole world. … Mary Most Holy, the pure and immaculate Virgin, is for us a school of faith destined to guide us and give us strength on the path that leads us to the Creator of Heaven and Earth. The Pope has come to Aparecida with great joy so as to say to you first of all: "Remain in the school of Mary." Take inspiration from her teachings, seek to welcome and to preserve in your hearts the enlightenment that she, by divine mandate, sends you from on high.How beautiful it is to be gathered here in the name of Christ, in faith, in fraternity, in joy, in peace and in prayer, together with "Mary, the mother of Jesus" (Acts 1:14). How beautiful it is, my dear Priests, Deacons, Consecrated men and women, Seminarians and Christian families, to be here in the National Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida, which is God’s Dwelling-place, the House of Mary and the House of the Brothers; and in the coming days it is also to serve as the setting for the Fifth General Conference of the Bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean. How beautiful it is to be here in this Marian Basilica, towards which, at this time, the gaze and the hopes of the Christian world are turned, especially for the Christians of Latin America and the Caribbean! … I now turn my gaze and my attention to you, dear consecrated men and women, gathered here in the Shrine of the Mother, Queen and Patron of the Brazilian people, and also to those who are spread throughout the whole world. ... It is with great hope that I turn to all of you assembled here within this majestic Basilica, and to all who took part in the Holy Rosary from outside, to invite you to become profoundly missionary and to bring the Good News of the Gospel to every point of the compass in Latin America and in the world. Let us ask the Mother of God, Our Lady of Aparecida, to protect the lives of all Christians. May she, who is the Star of Evangelization, guide our steps along the path towards the heavenly Kingdom: "Our Mother, protect the Brazilian and Latin American family! Amen." On Latin America "You Have a Part to Play in Building Your Nations' Destiny" APARECIDA, Brazil, MAY 13, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Here is a Vatican translation of the address Benedict XVI delivered today before reciting the Regina Caeli at the end of the inaugural Mass of the fifth General Conference of the Episcopate of Latin America and the Caribbean. May the Virgin Mary help you to keep alive the flame of faith, love and harmony, so that by the witness of your lives and by faithfulness to your baptismal vocation, you may be light and hope for humanity. … May Our Lady of Guadalupe be your model and guide. God bless you all! … Today is the ninetieth anniversary of the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima. With their powerful call to conversion and penance, they are without doubt the most prophetic of all modern apparitions. Let us ask the Mother of the Church, who knows the sufferings and hopes of humanity, to protect our homes and our communities.Pope's Address to "Fazenda da Esperança" "You Must Be Ambassadors of Hope" GUARATINGUETA, Brazil, MAY 13, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Here is a Vatican translation of the address Benedict XVI gave during his visit Saturday to "Fazenda da Esperança" in Guaratingueta, a rehabilitation center for youth with drug addictions. The proximity of the Shrine of Aparecida assures us that the "Fazenda da Esperança " came into being under her protection and maternal gaze. For a long time now, in my prayers, I have been asking Our Lady, Queen and Patron of Brazil, to extend her protective mantle over the participants in the Fifth General Conference of the Bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean.
My
Venerable Brothers in the College of Cardinals, in the Episcopate
and in the Priesthood, Papal Address to Consecrated Women "Never Distance Yourself From Intimacy With Your Heavenly Spouse" VATICAN CITY, MAY 16, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Here is a Vatican translation of the May 7 address Benedict XVI delivered to the international union of superiors-general of women's religious congregations.May Mary, Queen of Virgins, and your Saints and blessed Founders and Foundresses watch over you and your respective Religious Families. Pope's Intro to Cardinal Bertone's Book "The Last Fatima Visionary: My Meetings With Sister Lucia" VATICAN CITY, MAY 20, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the Pope's introduction to Cardinal Bertone's book "The Last Fatima Visionary: My Meetings With Sister Lucia" (Rai Eri/Rizzoli). The book was written in collaboration with Giuseppe De Carli.* * * To Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone Vatican Secretary of State Venerable Brother, Sister Lucia entrusts so many memories to the book The Last Fatima Visionary that treat of events that have marked the history of the last part of the 20th century. She has entrusted them to this book so that they do not remain merely precious baggage of personal emotion, but be handed over to the collective memory as they are not without significance for secular history. In reality, during that memorable time that was the Jubilee Year of 2000, we experienced together the chapter that treats of the publication of the third Fatima secret: I, as the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and you, as the secretary of the same dicastery. The great Pontiff who preceded me, John Paul II, fecund with prophetic inspirations and personally convinced that the "maternal hand" of the Virgin had deflected the bullet that could have been fatal for him, saw that the time had come to remove the veil of mystery that covered the last part of the secret that the Virgin had consigned to the three little shepherds of Fatima. The congregation, which conserved the precious document written by Sister Lucia, was put in charge. It was a time of light, not only because the message could thus be known by all, but also because the truth could be unveiled in the midst of the confusion of apocalyptic interpretations and speculations that circulated in the Church and created anxiety among the faithful instead of inviting them to prayer and penance. Nevertheless, on the other hand, one could see the comforting development of Marian piety, authentic font of Christian life, around the imposing shrine of Fatima and in every part of the world where devotion to the Virgin, under the influence of the apparitions of Fatima, took deep root in the faith of the people, inviting men and women to consecrate themselves to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The conversations between the visionary, the last remaining of the three shepherd children, and you, a bishop sent by the Pope, have been important not only for the verification of the veridicality of the facts, but also as an occasion to know the limpid freshness of the soul of Sister Lucia, the intelligence of the heart typical of her femininity, transferred into a robust Christian faith. Through this humble nun, there shines the role of the Virgin Mary who with her maternal hand accompanies the Christian through life's bitterness. I myself oversaw the drafting of the theological commentary on the event, after having intensely prayed and deeply meditated on the contents of the pages written by Sister Lucia. I was deeply affected by the consoling promise of the Most Holy Virgin, which was like a synthesis and precious seal: "My Immaculate Heart will triumph." As it had been written, "Mary's 'fiat,' the word of her heart, changed the history of the world, because it introduced the Savior into this world -- because thanks to this 'yes' God could become man among us and he will remain such forever." And again, "From the time that God himself has a human heart and directed human freedom toward the good, toward God, freedom for evil does not have the last word." The message of Fatima is a further confirmation of this. I invoke the protection of the Most Holy Virgin for all those who will read the testimony offered with this book and to you, dear cardinal, and to Doctor Giuseppe De Carli, who shared the work of producing this memoir, I impart the apostolic blessing. Papal Address to "Fidei Donum" Missionaries "The Lord of the Harvest Will Not Let us Lack Workers"
VATICAN CITY, MAY 22, 2007 (Zenit.org).-
Here is a Vatican translation of Benedict XVI's May 5 address to the
meeting of the superior council of pontifical mission societies and
the congress of "fidei donum" missionaries. Papal Address to Synod of Church of Antioch "Called to Play a Special Role in the Ecumenical Process"
VATICAN CITY, MAY 25, 2007 (ZENIT.org).-
Here is a Vatican translation of the April 28 address Benedict XVI
gave to the members of the extraordinary synod of the Church of
Antioch for Syrian Catholics. On Solemnity of Pentecost "We Relive the Birth of the Church"
VATICAN CITY, MAY 27, 2007 (Zenit.org).-
Here is a translation of the address Benedict XVI gave today to the
crowds gathered in St. Peter's Square when he led the praying of the
midday Regina Caeli. "Now Is a Time of New Evangelization"
VATICAN CITY, MAY 28, 2007 (Zenit.org).-
Here is the English-language address Benedict XVI gave when
receiving in audience Major Archbishop Issac Cleemis Thottunkal of
Trivandrum of the Syro-Malankara Church in India. | |||
