BENEDICT XVI: NEWS, PAPAL TEXTS, PHOTOS AND COMMENTARY

Monday, Oct. 4, 27th Week in Ordinary Time
MEMORIAL OF ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI

Some portraits of Francis, from left: Detail from earliest known portrait, done in his lifetime, before 1224, is a fresco in the Chapel of St. Gregory at the Benedictine convent of Subiaco; Francis and the Angels, Botticelli, 1480; by Zurbaran, 1658; Francis receives the stigmata, Fra Angelico, 1440; from the Pesaro altarpiece by Giovanni Bellini, 1474; by El Greco, 1585.
SAN FRANCESCO D'ASSISI (Italy, 1181-1226), Deacon, Founder of the Franciscan Orders, Mystic, Patron of Italy, Patron of Ecologists
In addition to his discourses on St. Francis when he visited Assisi in 2007, Benedict XVI devoted his catechesis last January 27
www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/audiences/2010/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20100127...
to a saint whom he has mentioned most often next to St. Augustine during his Pontificate, perhaps because he embodies the Pope's own ideal. Calling him 'a great saint and a joyful man', he went on to note in the January catechesis: "There subsists an intimate and indissoluble relationship between holiness and joy... There is only one sorrow in the world: not to be saints, to be close to God... Looking at the testimony of St Francis, we understand that this is the secret of true happiness: to become saints, close to God!" Increasingly, Benedict XVI's message - as to the young people in Palermo yesterday - is a call to holiness. St. Francis's story is well-known, but perhaps little noted is that though he founded an order, he was never a priest himself. And yet, as Benedict XVI noted: "Francis always showed great deference towards priests, and asserted that they should always be treated with respect, even in cases where they might be somewhat unworthy personally. The reason he gave for this profound respect was that they receive the gift of consecrating the Eucharist. Dear brothers in the priesthood, let us never forget this teaching: the holiness of the Eucharist appeals to us to be pure, to live in a way that is consistent with the Mystery we celebrate".
Readings for today's Mass:
www.usccb.org/nab/readings/100410.shtml


No OR today.


THE POPE'S DAY

The Holy Father met today with

- All the bishops of Brazil's Northeast Sector 1, on ad limina visit, whom he met with individually last week.
Address in Portuguese.