Yield to silence and God in front of nature and monasteries, pope says
Silence and the beauty of creation are conditions that “point to meditation and God,” Benedict XVI said in today’s general audience in Castel Gandolfo. From a spiritual perspective, such places “are a basic structure of the world.” Many Spanish-speaking pilgrims will travel with the Pontiff to Madrid for World Youth Day next week.
Castel Gandolfo (AsiaNews) – Benedict XVI has urged Catholics to visit monasteries and hermitages and yield to silence and the contemplation of nature. The “beauty of creation” and “silence” are conditions that “point to meditation and God”. For him, the “soul, thanks to God, also has its needs”. Thus, “the fact of letting oneself be filled by silence, tasting it, predisposes to prayer”. Prophet Elijah is an example, the pontiff noted. Faced with earthquakes, the wind and fire, Elijah did not hear the voice of God. Instead, he “recognised it in a light breeze”. Hence, “we must learn how to listen” to the Lord, the pope explained.
Monasteries were born within the Christian tradition for this reason. The “places where God speaks are a closed space that is open to heaven,” the theologian pope said. “Silence and the beauty of the places where a monastic community lives reflect the spiritual harmony men try to create,” he added. “From a spiritual point of view, such places of the spirit are a basic structure of the world.” It is not an accident that during the summer and times of rest, “many people visit monasteries”, hermitages, convents founded by great saints “in particularly beautiful places, in valleys, mountains and even on small islands.”
The pope mentioned the example of saints who sought room for meditation in places immersed in nature and silence. Starting with Saint Clare of Assisi, whose feast day it is tomorrow, he cited the “small convent of San Damiano, just outside the city of Assisi, located amid olive groves that slope towards Santa Maria degli Angeli'', which Saint Francis repaired after his conversion, and where Clare’s “Sisters” (originally known as the “Poor Sisters”) chose to live.
Saints “remind us of the need to look at heavenly matters,” Benedict XVI said. He cited Edith Stein, aka Saint Teresia Benedicta of the Cross (whose feast day was yesterday) and Saint Lawrence, martyred on the gridiron, whom the Church celebrates today, “deacon and martyr, dear to the people of Rome who venerate him among their patron saints.”
As the pope meditated on silence and contemplation, the pilgrims and celebrants present at the general audience gave him a boisterous welcome, especially those from Spanish-speaking countries (Spain, Colombia and Ecuador), many of whom will travel with the Holy Father to Madrid next week for World Youth Day.
Monasteries were born within the Christian tradition for this reason. The “places where God speaks are a closed space that is open to heaven,” the theologian pope said. “Silence and the beauty of the places where a monastic community lives reflect the spiritual harmony men try to create,” he added. “From a spiritual point of view, such places of the spirit are a basic structure of the world.” It is not an accident that during the summer and times of rest, “many people visit monasteries”, hermitages, convents founded by great saints “in particularly beautiful places, in valleys, mountains and even on small islands.”
The pope mentioned the example of saints who sought room for meditation in places immersed in nature and silence. Starting with Saint Clare of Assisi, whose feast day it is tomorrow, he cited the “small convent of San Damiano, just outside the city of Assisi, located amid olive groves that slope towards Santa Maria degli Angeli'', which Saint Francis repaired after his conversion, and where Clare’s “Sisters” (originally known as the “Poor Sisters”) chose to live.
Saints “remind us of the need to look at heavenly matters,” Benedict XVI said. He cited Edith Stein, aka Saint Teresia Benedicta of the Cross (whose feast day was yesterday) and Saint Lawrence, martyred on the gridiron, whom the Church celebrates today, “deacon and martyr, dear to the people of Rome who venerate him among their patron saints.”
As the pope meditated on silence and contemplation, the pilgrims and celebrants present at the general audience gave him a boisterous welcome, especially those from Spanish-speaking countries (Spain, Colombia and Ecuador), many of whom will travel with the Holy Father to Madrid next week for World Youth Day.
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12/12/2007
12/12/2007
