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Pope Benedict XVI- Angelus |
Angelus Message
"Take the Love of God to All"
On the Rosary and Missions
H.H. Benedict XVI
October 1, 2006
www.zenit.org
Dear Brothers and Sisters:
Today, the first day of October, I would like to reflect on two aspects
that characterize this month in the ecclesial community: the praying of
the rosary and commitment to the missions.
Next Saturday, Oct. 7, we celebrate the feast of the Virgin of the
Rosary; it is as if every year Our Lady invited us to rediscover the
beauty of this prayer, so simple and profound.
Our beloved Pope John Paul II was a great apostle of the rosary: We
remember him kneeling with the beads in his hands, immersed in the
contemplation of Christ, as he himself invited us to do with the
Apostolic Letter "Rosarium Virginis Mariae."
The rosary is a contemplative and christocentric prayer, inseparable
from the meditation of sacred Scripture. It is the prayer of the
Christian who advances in the pilgrimage of faith, in the following of
Jesus, preceded by Mary. I would like to invite you, dear brothers and
sisters, to pray the rosary as a family during this month, and in
communities and parishes, for the intentions of the Pope, for the
mission of the Church and for peace in the world.
October is also the missionary month, and on Sunday Oct. 22 we observe
World Mission Sunday. The Church is missionary by nature. "As the Father
has sent me, even so I send you" (John 20:21), said the risen Jesus to
his apostles in the Cenacle.
The mission of the Church is the prolongation of Christ's mission: to
take the love of God to all, proclaiming charity with words and concrete
testimony. In the message for the forthcoming World Mission Sunday I
wished to present charity precisely as "soul of the mission."
St. Paul, apostle of the Gentiles, wrote: "For the love of Christ
controls us" (2 Corinthians 5:14). May every Christian make these words
his own, in the joyous experience of being a missionary of love there,
where providence has placed him, with humility and courage, serving his
neighbor without ulterior motives and obtaining in prayer the strength
of joyful and industrious charity ("Deus Caritas Est," 32-39).
Universal patroness of the missions, along with St. Francis Xavier, is
St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus, Carmelite virgin and doctor of the
Church, whose memorial in fact we observe today. May she, who indicated
the "simple" way to holiness as confident abandonment in the love of
God, help us to be credible witnesses of the Gospel of charity. May Mary
most holy, virgin of the rosary and queen of the missions, lead us all
to Christ our savior.
[After praying the Angelus, the Holy Father greeted pilgrims in several
languages. In English, he said:]
I am pleased to greet the English-speaking visitors gathered here today,
including the pilgrims from Rotterdam who are celebrating the 50th
anniversary of the foundation of their diocese.
In this month of October, dedicated to the Holy Rosary, we ponder with
Mary the mysteries of our salvation, and we ask the Lord to help us grow
in our understanding of the marvelous things he has done for us. May God
fill you with his love and may he bestow upon all those dear to you his
blessings of joy and peace.
[Translation by ZENIT]
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