During the general audience, Benedict XVI introduces the figure of Saint Veronica Giuliani, on the occasion of the 350th anniversary of her birth. In the life of the mystic, a Sister of the Poor Clares, "the experience of being loved by Christ, sincere and faithful husband, and of wanting to respond with passionate and enduring love."

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - The life of St. Veronica Giuliani described today by Benedict XVI to eight thousand people in the Paul VI Hall for the general audience is an invitation to “nurture love in our Christian life, to "keep our gaze fixed on heaven where we will live the joy of divine love with so many brothers and sisters", because "death does not have the last word”.

A mystic not of the Middle Ages, but remembered by the Pope on the 350th anniversary of her birth the 27 December 1660, who is joyfully recalled by "Città di Castello, Urbino," the place that is deeply linked the life of the saint. Ursula Giuliani was born in Mercatello, near Urbino, the last of seven sisters, three of whom embraced monastic life. At the age 17, she entered the Poor Clare Sisters of Citta di Castello, taking the name Veronica at her religious profession. She became superior of the convent and remained there until her death in 1727.

Author of a diary covering 34 years of life, Veronica "became true image of Christ crucified" through "many penances, great suffering and some mystical experiences linked to Christ’s passion", "corroborating her prayers of intercession through the offering of herself”. "Christ to whom Veronica united herself is the Christ of the passion, death and resurrection" and Veronica "arrives at asking Jesus to be crucified with him”.

Hers is a “markedly Christ centered and spousal experience”. She lives the experience of being loved by Christ, faithful and sincere husband, and wanted to respond with passionate and enduring love". Veronica, who received the stigmata, has "an intense and suffering love for the Church," for which Veronica prays, as well as for the pope, his bishops, priests and all the souls in need, even in purgatory. "Compared to the preaching of the time, often focused on saving of the soul in individual terms, she shows a sense of solidarity with her brothers and sisters on the path to heaven."

Her figure, "invites us to grow in our Christian life, in union with the Lord, abandoning ourselves to His will with complete confidence and total union with the Church, the Bride of Christ; it invites us to share the suffered love of Jesus on the Cross for the salvation of all sinners, inviting us to keep our eyes fixed on Heaven, the goal of our earthly journey, where we will live together the joy of full communion with God with many brothers and sisters; she calls us to nourish ourselves daily with the Word of God, to warm our heart and directs our lives. " In statements like "nothing can separate me from God's will, not even death" and especially in her last words, the conclusion of the Pope, we can find "the summary of her passionate mystical experience: 'I found love, love revealed itself".

• Vatican
• Pope
• Benedict
• XVI
• general
• audience
• veronica
• Giuliani
• mystic