VATICAN CITY, SEP 18, 2005 (VIS) - At midday today, before praying the Angelus with faithful gathered in the internal courtyard of the Apostolic Palace at Castelgandolfo, the Holy Father commented on the relationship between sanctity and the Eucharist.
The Pope indicated that "the secret of the sanctification" of priests lies in the Eucharist. "By virtue of Holy Orders, a priest receives the gift and the duty to repeat sacramentally the gestures and words by which, at the Last Supper, Christ instituted the memorial of His Easter. In his hands he renews this great miracle of love, which he is called to witness and announce ever more faithfully."
The Holy Father continued: "A priest must above all adore and contemplate the Eucharist, starting from the very moment in which he celebrates it. We well know that the validity of the Sacrament does not depend upon the sanctity of the celebrant, but its effectiveness, both for him and for others, will be all the greater the more he experiences it with profound faith, ardent love and a fervent spirit of prayer."
Benedict XVI underlined the example of certain "saintly ministers of the altar," such as St. John Chrysostom, known as "'Eucharistic doctor' for the vastness and depth of his doctrine on the Most Holy Sacrament." He also recalled St. Pio of Pietrelcina who, in celebrating Mass, "relived the mystery of Calvary with such fervor as to arouse everyone's faith and devotion. Even the stigmata which God gave him were an expression of his intimate conformation to the crucified Christ."
"Nor, thinking of priests who love the Eucharist, can we forget St. Jean Maria Vianney, a humble pastor of Ars at the time of the French Revolution. With the sanctity of his life and his pastoral zeal, he managed to make that small village a model Christian community, animated by the Word of God and by the Sacraments."
The Pope concluded by inviting people to pray for priests throughout the world, "that from this Year of the Eucharist, they may draw the fruit of a renewed Love for the Sacrament they celebrate. Through the intercession of the Virgin Mother of God, may they always live and bear witness to the mystery that is put in their hands for the saving of the world."
ANG/EUCHARIST:PRIESTS/... VIS 20050919 (390)
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