Oblate Program at Belmont Abbey, NC

Tag: Benedict XVI

St. Bernard: “a sword has truly pierced your soul!”

In another famous Sermon on the Sunday in the Octave of the Assumption the Holy Abbot described with passionate words Mary’s intimate participation in the redeeming sacrifice of her Son. “O Blessed Mother”, he exclaimed, “a sword has truly pierced your soul!… So deeply has the violence of pain pierced your soul, that we may… Read More ›

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“It is time once again for the Church resolutely to set aside her worldliness”

All the more, then, it is time once again for the Church resolutely to set aside her worldliness. That does not mean withdrawing from the world. A Church relieved of the burden of worldliness is in a position, not least through her charitable activities, to mediate the life-giving strength of the Christian faith to those… Read More ›

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Pope calls on all to participate in New Evangelization

Castel Gandolfo, Italy, Sep 18, 2011 / 10:36 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Benedict XVI called upon all Catholics Sept. 18 to participate in a new evangelization of the world. “Today’s liturgy reminds us that we are all called to work in the vineyard of the Lord,” he told pilgrims gathered to pray the midday Angelus… Read More ›

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Pope stresses need for ‘fraternal correction’ in Christian life

Castel Gandolfo, Italy, Sep 4, 2011 / 01:42 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Correcting the behavior of those gone astray is an essential part of Christian life, said Pope Benedict XVI in his Sunday Angelus address Sept. 4. “This approach is called fraternal correction: it is not a reaction to injury suffered, but is moved by love… Read More ›

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Pope to declare Spanish saint ‘doctor’ of church

MADRID (AP) – Pope Benedict XVI said Saturday (Aug. 20) he would confer one of the Catholic Church’s highest honors on an influential 16th-century Spanish saint, making a surprise announcement during a Mass at the church’s world youth festival. Benedict drew sustained applause from the seminarians, priests, bishops and cardinals gathered in Madrid’s main cathedral… Read More ›

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Silence allows people to hear God

Castel Gandolfo, Italy, Aug 10, 2011 / 12:04 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- We need to make time for silence in our lives if we are to pray and listen to God, said Pope Benedict XVI in his weekly general audience, August 10. “Silence is the environment that best promotes recollection, listening to God, meditation,” he told… Read More ›

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How the sun and moon guided prayer times and liturgy

By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Hidden among the paving stones of St. Peter’s Square there is a simple clock and calendar. All you need is a sunny day. The 83-foot stone obelisk in the middle of the square acts as a sundial that can accurately indicate midday and the two… Read More ›

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Three Keys to Hearing God’s Voice

Pope Benedict XVI tells us that as much as we may like quick answers, we can gain clarity on the enigmas of life only as we take the time to immerse ourselves in the word of God. So in this article, we want to look at how we can meet Jesus, the living Word of… Read More ›

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Without God, man falls into idolatry

Vatican City, Jun 15, 2011 / 01:02 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- “When God disappears, man falls into the slavery of idolatry,” Pope Benedict XVI said at the June 15 General Audience in St. Peter’s Square.   This phenomenon, he said, is clearly “shown by the totalitarian regimes of our time and with various forms of nihilism,… Read More ›

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We are on pilgrimage with the Lord to the heights.

The question of how man can attain the heights, becoming completely himself and completely like God, has always engaged mankind. It was passionately disputed by the Platonic philosophers of the third and fourth centuries. For them, the central issue was finding the means of purification which could free man from the heavy load weighing him… Read More ›

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