Wednesday, April 17, Third Week of Easter
ST. BENEDICT JOSEPH (Benoit Joseph) LABRE (b France 1748, d Rome 1783), 'The Beggar Saint', Patron of Pilgrims and of the Homeless
One of the least remarked coincidences is that for years before April 16 became the feast day for Bernadette Soubirous, it was the feast day of Benedict Joseph Labre, who died
in Rome 144 years before Joseph Ratzinger was born on the same day, and who would take the name Benedict XVI when he became Pope. But their life stories could not have been
more different. The saint who prefigured the Pope's names is one of the most extraordinary saints in modern times. The eldest of 18 children in a prosperous family near Boulogne,
he was educated by his uncle, a parish priest. But his education was not deemed suitable for him to be accepted by the Trappists, Carthusians and Cistercians. At age 16, he decided
he would leave everything behind and live his life as a pilgrim, walking on foot from shrine to shrine, living on alms and sharing what little he had with other beggars - the classic
'Fool for Christ' well-known in the Orthodox traditions. He eventually based himself in Rome, where he lived in the Colosseum, and came to be known as the 'beggar of Rome' as well
as 'the saint of the 48 hours' because of his devotion to adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. He was also increasingly sick due to malnutrition. One day, he dragged himself to attend
Mass at Santa Maria dei Monti near the Colosseum. He collapsed in the church and was taken to a nearby home where he died. He was only 35. At the news of his death, children
In the neighborhood went around shouting 'The saint is dead!' His wake at Santa Maria dei Monti lasted through the rest of Holy Week, attracting throngs of Romans. His cult was
immediate, and within a year, he was being written about as far as London, and his confessor had written a biography of him, in which he recounts at least 136 miraculous cures
in the first three months after he died. He was beatified in 1869 and canonized in 1881. His remains are venerated in Santa Maria dei Monti.
Readings for today's Mass:http://usccb.org/bible/readings/041712.cfm
AT THE VATICAN TODAY
General Audience - Pope Francis offered a catechesis on the words from the Credo, "He ascended into heaven
and sits at the right hand of the Father". Afterwards, he expressed his condolences for the victims of severe
earthquakes in Pakistan and Iran,
After the GA, he met with
- H.E. Saleh Mohammad Al Ghamdi, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to Italy, who brought a message
to the Pope from Saudi King Abdullah.
One year ago today...
There were no events announced for the Holy Father since it was a Tuesday. But the Vatican released the transcripts of his birthday homily the previous day at the Pauline Chapel and his remarks to the Bavarian delegation who came to Rome to greet him on his 85th birthday.
THE POPE MARKS BIRTHDAY
WITH HIS FELLOW BAVARIANS
April 16, 2012
At noon yesterday, in the Sala Clementina of the Apostolic Palace, the Holy Father Benedict XVI received a delegation from Bavaria, led by Cardinal Reinhard Marx, Archbishop of Munich-Freising, and Minister President Horst Seehofer of Bavaria.
After a program of Bavarian music and dances, and presentation of gifts, the Holy Father addressed his fellow Bavarians extemporaneously. Here is a translation from the German transcript:
Dear and Honorable Minister President,
Eminence,
Dear fellow Bavarians and friends:
You must excuse me from having to mention and address everyone by your individual titles - it would be too long. But I assure you that I read the invitation list of those who have come here twice with my heart, and in doing so, I already greeted each of you interiorly. No one is anonymous here, I know each of you interiorly, happy that you are here to greet me. And so, I have had a dialog with each one - Gruess Gott to everyone!
What do I say at this time? It goes beyond words, and I must express my gratitude in place of what cannot be said. I thank you, Mr. Minister President, for your words. You have expressed the heart of Bavaria in words - a Christian, Catholic heart - which have moved me, and at the same time, you have rendered present everything that is important in my life.
And I thank you no less, dear Cardinal, with your words as the pastor of the diocese that I came from, to which I belonged as a priest, in which I grew up and to which I will always belong inwardly. In your words as a pastor, you have also presented our Christian faith in its beauty and greatness in a new light.
Dear Minister President, you have assembled here a mirror image of the inner and outer geography of my life. The external geography, which is also always an inner one - from Marktl through Aschau, Tittmonin, Hufschlag and Traunstein, and then to Pentling and Regensburg - in all these stations represented here, a piece of my life is always present, in places where I lived, struggled, and became what I am, as I now stand before you, and as I must present myself before the Lord one day.
And with all this, the entire Bavarian way of life: The living Church of our state is present. I thank the Bavarian bishops for this. And thanks be to God, there is the ecumenical dimension as well, with the presence today of the bishop of the Evangelical Church of Munich. It reminds me of the great friendship that bound me to Bishop Hanselmann and which remains one of the memories I treasure, and which tells me how we must go forward.
Likewise, I remember the Jewish community with Dr. Lamm and Dr. Snopkowski - with whom I had heartfelt friendships which brought me closer interiorly to our Jewish people, and to the Jewish people in general - and who are very much present in my memory.
We also have the media here, who have reported to the world what we do and what we say - sometimes we must correct what they think of us - but what would we be without their service?
Then, Mr. President, you also presented the living Bavaria in the children, in whom we see that Bavaria continues to be faithful to herself, and remains young. And precisely because she remains faithful to herself, she grows and prospers.
To this, I must add the music which I have heard, which reminded me how my father played „Gott grüße Dich" on the zither, bringing back the sounds of my childhood, which is also the sound of the present and the future: „Gott grüße Dich" - God greets you…
A full heart calls for many words but at the same time keeps me from saying more because what I have to say is too great to say. But in the end, they all come together in the words with which I would like to end, „Vergelt’s Gott" (God will reward you!).
Other photos of the event available from the news agencies:
The Pope receives a Bavarian bouquet of edelweiss and gentians:
One of the gifts presented to the Pope by President Seehofer was a crucifix:
