Monday, April 30, 2001
Dear Brothers and Sisters!
1. With great joy I greet and welcome you, who have come to Rome to honor the new Blessed: Manuel González García, Marie Anne Blondin, Caterina Volpicelli Caterina Cittadini, Carlos Manuel Cecilio Rodríguez Santiago. You represent many nations, as if to reflect the extension of the testimony of these generous disciples of Christ, an extension that, by the grace of God knows no boundaries. In fact, the Church fully expresses its universal mission when he speaks the language of holiness, and more than ever to adopt this language in the contemporary era, in which the Spirit leads to a renewed proclamation of the Gospel to every corner of the earth.
2. I greet with affection all of you bishops and Spanish pilgrims who have participated with joy for the Beatification of Bishop Manuel González García, known as "the Bishop of Shrines abandoned", founder of the Eucharistic Missionaries of Nazareth and several projects aimed to spread the devotion to the Eucharist, the important for a Christian spirituality.
His life was that of a pastor who was completely dedicated to his ministry, he used all the means at its disposal, the preaching, the publication of writings, the promotion of institutions for the development of Christian life and especially the testimony of an exemplary life, whose message continues to be deeply relevant. In fact, our existence would be deprived of an essential element if we had not first contemplate the face of Christ (cf. NMI, n. 16). What better contemplation of the Lord could there be than to worship and love in the sacrament of his real presence par excellence? The worship of the Eucharist is the center that strengthens the whole Christian life since the faithful, responding to the request of the Lord, "Stay here and keep watch with me" (Mt 26, 38), found in him the strength, consolation, and the firm hope the ardent charity which comes from the occult and mysterious presence, but real, of the Lord.
Therefore I encourage you all to imitate the new blessed in his assiduous contact with the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, and present to the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the present humanity (cf. Gaudium et Spes, n. 1). At the same time, I encourage the Eucharistic Missionaries of Nazareth to be always faithful to the charism of their founder, inviting men and women of today to listen to the voice of Jesus Christ, the Way, the Truth and the Life, present in the shrine.
3. Now I wish to greet Mr. Cardinal Luis Aponte Martínez, Archbishop Emeritus of San Juan, and the other bishops of Puerto Rico who, accompanied by authorities, priests and many pilgrims attended yesterday's ceremony of beatification of Carlos Manuel Rodríguez Santiago, affectionately known as Charlie. Born in Caguas, ate his
dedication to the Lord at forty-four, after a lifetime of fruitful apostolate and with great force after enduring the suffering of the disease.
The life of this new Blessed was that of a layman committed to the dissemination of Christian humanism in the university. He carried out his apostolic work in the Catholic University Centre, encouraging its members to live the present moment, in fidelity to the past and open to the future, promoting the spread of a thought of Christian perfect balance between the natural and the supernatural, between the old and the modern.
You lay Puerto Ricans have found in this figure unmatched of your land, so close to us in time, an example to imitate. Thus, grouped into "Circles" that bear his name, and also animated by the Bishops, have furthered his cause. I welcome this initiative culminated in the solemn ceremony yesterday. Now, officially proposed as a model of holiness, it is also one of your compatriots who intercedes for you from heaven.
4. The existence and the apostolate of Mother Marie-Anne Blondin attest to its ability to allow oneself to Christ, with Him daily to pass from death to life. Intimacy with Christ Mother Marie-Anne Blondin draws not only its missionary dynamism but also the prophetic power to live the Gospel in daily forgiveness. The most painful moments of his life will be transformed by his willingness to forgive endlessly in the name of Christ, considering that there is more happiness in pardoning that in revenge. May the inspiring testimony of Mother Marie-Anne Blondin encourage the Church to bring peace to the world and to be close to all the injured persons of life, particularly in the areas of education, health and of pastoral and social, for bear witness of God's love for every man and to announce his forgiveness liberator, which reduces to nothing all the logic of hatred and exclusion!
5. Caterina Volpicelli lived in Naples in the mid-nineteenth century. Received in a family of a solid human and religious formation and had the opportunity to meet some men of God, as the Blessed Ludovico of Casoria, the Barnabite Leonardo Matera and Blessed Bartolo Longo, deeply marked his spiritual journey. Her heart went increasingly expands to the size of the Heart of Christ, of which she became a disciple and apostle of burning, cultivating an intense Eucharistic life and the Apostleship of Prayer.
Just with the first Zealous Apostleship of Prayer Catherine founded the Institute of the Handmaids of the Sacred Heart, which, after the approval of the Archbishop of Naples, received the decree of praise from my predecessor, Leo XIII. Eat the food so rich interior, Catherine and her sisters became "good Samaritans" in various situations of poverty, making not only a work of philanthropy and charity, but an authentic witness to evangelical charity with a sober and discreet, supportive and respectful to the simple and humble people. Her apostolic heritage is a very precious gift for the Church, we want to give thanks to the Lord. May this religious heritage be preserved and enhanced by his spiritual daughters.
6. I now turn to you, dear brothers and sisters, rejoice that the beatification of Caterina Cittadini, with a special thought to the Ursuline Sisters of St. Jerome in Somasca, which she founded.
The great insight of this illustrious daughter of the Bergamo was to have grasped the importance of school as a fundamental means of formation of the citizen and the Christian. In this way, she prophetically anticipated the guidelines of the Second Vatican Council, that in the Declaration on Christian Education Gravissimum educationis about the Catholic school urges to "co-ordinate the whole of human culture to the message of salvation" (n. 8).
The pedagogical method developed by the new Blessed is based on personal knowledge and direct relationship with the boarders. It shows herself to her teachers in the exhortation contained in the Rule: "Let them bear for the benefit of singular God to deal with a charge that belongs to the Angels, and they deem it unworthy of being happy and employed education of school; exhibit a desire of their profit, remembering that our Lord says: What you do to the least of these did I keep it to myself "(Chapter XVI, 2).
I sincerely hope that you, dear Ursuline Sisters of Somasca, and those like you are inspired by the spirituality and example of Caterina Cittadini, to follow faithfully in the footsteps which she shows to be reliable guides in the journey of faith and the cultural formation of children and young people.
7. Dear brothers and sisters, your presence devout and festive, yesterday and today, the Church has given greater resonance to the proclamation of the new Blessed. Be yourself the first imitators of these brothers and sisters, that the Church makes clear which models of evangelical life! Invoke them in prayer, and depth make known their testimony; imitate the virtues. In the communion of saints, faith allows us to feel close to them, along with the Virgin Mary, Queen of All Saints, to which I commend you, together with your loved ones. With these sentiments, I bless you all.
Taken from the Vatican Website
Dear Brothers and Sisters!
1. With great joy I greet and welcome you, who have come to Rome to honor the new Blessed: Manuel González García, Marie Anne Blondin, Caterina Volpicelli Caterina Cittadini, Carlos Manuel Cecilio Rodríguez Santiago. You represent many nations, as if to reflect the extension of the testimony of these generous disciples of Christ, an extension that, by the grace of God knows no boundaries. In fact, the Church fully expresses its universal mission when he speaks the language of holiness, and more than ever to adopt this language in the contemporary era, in which the Spirit leads to a renewed proclamation of the Gospel to every corner of the earth.
2. I greet with affection all of you bishops and Spanish pilgrims who have participated with joy for the Beatification of Bishop Manuel González García, known as "the Bishop of Shrines abandoned", founder of the Eucharistic Missionaries of Nazareth and several projects aimed to spread the devotion to the Eucharist, the important for a Christian spirituality.
His life was that of a pastor who was completely dedicated to his ministry, he used all the means at its disposal, the preaching, the publication of writings, the promotion of institutions for the development of Christian life and especially the testimony of an exemplary life, whose message continues to be deeply relevant. In fact, our existence would be deprived of an essential element if we had not first contemplate the face of Christ (cf. NMI, n. 16). What better contemplation of the Lord could there be than to worship and love in the sacrament of his real presence par excellence? The worship of the Eucharist is the center that strengthens the whole Christian life since the faithful, responding to the request of the Lord, "Stay here and keep watch with me" (Mt 26, 38), found in him the strength, consolation, and the firm hope the ardent charity which comes from the occult and mysterious presence, but real, of the Lord.
Therefore I encourage you all to imitate the new blessed in his assiduous contact with the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, and present to the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the present humanity (cf. Gaudium et Spes, n. 1). At the same time, I encourage the Eucharistic Missionaries of Nazareth to be always faithful to the charism of their founder, inviting men and women of today to listen to the voice of Jesus Christ, the Way, the Truth and the Life, present in the shrine.
3. Now I wish to greet Mr. Cardinal Luis Aponte Martínez, Archbishop Emeritus of San Juan, and the other bishops of Puerto Rico who, accompanied by authorities, priests and many pilgrims attended yesterday's ceremony of beatification of Carlos Manuel Rodríguez Santiago, affectionately known as Charlie. Born in Caguas, ate his
dedication to the Lord at forty-four, after a lifetime of fruitful apostolate and with great force after enduring the suffering of the disease.
The life of this new Blessed was that of a layman committed to the dissemination of Christian humanism in the university. He carried out his apostolic work in the Catholic University Centre, encouraging its members to live the present moment, in fidelity to the past and open to the future, promoting the spread of a thought of Christian perfect balance between the natural and the supernatural, between the old and the modern.
You lay Puerto Ricans have found in this figure unmatched of your land, so close to us in time, an example to imitate. Thus, grouped into "Circles" that bear his name, and also animated by the Bishops, have furthered his cause. I welcome this initiative culminated in the solemn ceremony yesterday. Now, officially proposed as a model of holiness, it is also one of your compatriots who intercedes for you from heaven.
4. The existence and the apostolate of Mother Marie-Anne Blondin attest to its ability to allow oneself to Christ, with Him daily to pass from death to life. Intimacy with Christ Mother Marie-Anne Blondin draws not only its missionary dynamism but also the prophetic power to live the Gospel in daily forgiveness. The most painful moments of his life will be transformed by his willingness to forgive endlessly in the name of Christ, considering that there is more happiness in pardoning that in revenge. May the inspiring testimony of Mother Marie-Anne Blondin encourage the Church to bring peace to the world and to be close to all the injured persons of life, particularly in the areas of education, health and of pastoral and social, for bear witness of God's love for every man and to announce his forgiveness liberator, which reduces to nothing all the logic of hatred and exclusion!
5. Caterina Volpicelli lived in Naples in the mid-nineteenth century. Received in a family of a solid human and religious formation and had the opportunity to meet some men of God, as the Blessed Ludovico of Casoria, the Barnabite Leonardo Matera and Blessed Bartolo Longo, deeply marked his spiritual journey. Her heart went increasingly expands to the size of the Heart of Christ, of which she became a disciple and apostle of burning, cultivating an intense Eucharistic life and the Apostleship of Prayer.
Just with the first Zealous Apostleship of Prayer Catherine founded the Institute of the Handmaids of the Sacred Heart, which, after the approval of the Archbishop of Naples, received the decree of praise from my predecessor, Leo XIII. Eat the food so rich interior, Catherine and her sisters became "good Samaritans" in various situations of poverty, making not only a work of philanthropy and charity, but an authentic witness to evangelical charity with a sober and discreet, supportive and respectful to the simple and humble people. Her apostolic heritage is a very precious gift for the Church, we want to give thanks to the Lord. May this religious heritage be preserved and enhanced by his spiritual daughters.
6. I now turn to you, dear brothers and sisters, rejoice that the beatification of Caterina Cittadini, with a special thought to the Ursuline Sisters of St. Jerome in Somasca, which she founded.
The great insight of this illustrious daughter of the Bergamo was to have grasped the importance of school as a fundamental means of formation of the citizen and the Christian. In this way, she prophetically anticipated the guidelines of the Second Vatican Council, that in the Declaration on Christian Education Gravissimum educationis about the Catholic school urges to "co-ordinate the whole of human culture to the message of salvation" (n. 8).
The pedagogical method developed by the new Blessed is based on personal knowledge and direct relationship with the boarders. It shows herself to her teachers in the exhortation contained in the Rule: "Let them bear for the benefit of singular God to deal with a charge that belongs to the Angels, and they deem it unworthy of being happy and employed education of school; exhibit a desire of their profit, remembering that our Lord says: What you do to the least of these did I keep it to myself "(Chapter XVI, 2).
I sincerely hope that you, dear Ursuline Sisters of Somasca, and those like you are inspired by the spirituality and example of Caterina Cittadini, to follow faithfully in the footsteps which she shows to be reliable guides in the journey of faith and the cultural formation of children and young people.
7. Dear brothers and sisters, your presence devout and festive, yesterday and today, the Church has given greater resonance to the proclamation of the new Blessed. Be yourself the first imitators of these brothers and sisters, that the Church makes clear which models of evangelical life! Invoke them in prayer, and depth make known their testimony; imitate the virtues. In the communion of saints, faith allows us to feel close to them, along with the Virgin Mary, Queen of All Saints, to which I commend you, together with your loved ones. With these sentiments, I bless you all.
Taken from the Vatican Website