VATICAN CITY, NOV 1, 1999 (VIS) - The Holy Father, during the angelus, focussed his reflections on today's feast of All Saints, saying that the Saints, "during their earthly life, committed themselves to always doing God's will, loving Him with all their heart and their neighbors as themselves. For this they even suffered trials and persecutions, and now their recompense in heaven is great and eternal."
"This is our future!" he told the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square to pray the angelus. "This is the most authentic and universal vocation of mankind: to form the great family of the children of God. ... Drawing us to this goal is the luminous example of so many brothers and sisters who, over the centuries, the Church has recognized as Blesseds and Saints, proposing them to everyone as models and guides."
John Paul II remarked that "in these days, whoever is able to will visit a cemetery, to pray on the tomb of their dearly beloved. This afternoon I too will go into the Vatican Grottoes to pray a while at the tombs of my predecessors."
After the angelus, the Pope then said: "During today's solemnity I would like to invite you to implore the Lord, through the intercession of all the Saints, for the precious gift of peace for a land which is so dear to us, Chechyna. May our heartfelt prayer obtain for those populations, who have been sorely tried, the grace of harmony, while we also pray that existing tensions find peaceful solutions in the respect of the rights of all citizens."
ANG;SAINTS; APPEAL CHECHYNA;...;...;VIS;19991103;Word: 270;
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