VATICAN CITY, 9 FEB 2008 (VIS) - At midday today, the Holy Father received participants in the National Assembly of the Italian Federation for Spiritual Exercises who have been meeting over recent days to reflect on the theme: "Towards a truly Eucharistic Christian spirituality".
The Pope recalled how the federation came into being and developed "by accepting the incessant exhortations on the need for prayer and the primacy of spiritual life as expressed by my venerated predecessors, Servants of God Paul VI, John Paul I and John Paul II. ... Such insistence on the need for prayer still has great relevance and importance".
"Alongside other forms of spiritual retreat, ... there should be no lessening of participation in spiritual exercises, characterised as they are by that climate of complete and profound silence which favours an individual and community encounter with God and the contemplation of the face of Christ. It is impossible to over-stress the importance of this requirement, which I and my predecessors have often underlined.
"During a period in which the influence of secularisation is becoming ever stronger, while at the same time there exists a widespread need to encounter God, there should be no lack of opportunities for intense listening to His Word in silence and in prayer", the Pope added. "Privileged locations for such spiritual experiences are houses of spiritual exercises which, to this end, must be given material support and supplied with adequate staff".
The Holy Father encouraged pastors to ensure that houses of spiritual exercises do not lack "well-trained leaders and workers to act as guides and ... animators, possessed of those doctrinal and spiritual qualities which make them true masters of the spirit, impassioned experts of the Word of God, and faithful to the Magisterium of the Church.
"A good course of spiritual exercises helps participants to renew their joy and taste for the liturgy, in particular the dignified celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours and, above all, of the Eucharist. It helps them rediscover the importance of the Sacrament of Penance, which is the goal of the path of conversion and a gift of reconciliation, as well as of the value and meaning of Eucharistic adoration. During the exercises", the Holy Father concluded, "it is also possible to rediscover the full and authentic significance of the Rosary and ... of the Way of the Cross".
AC/SPIRITUAL EXERCISES/... VIS 20080212 (400)
The Pope recalled how the federation came into being and developed "by accepting the incessant exhortations on the need for prayer and the primacy of spiritual life as expressed by my venerated predecessors, Servants of God Paul VI, John Paul I and John Paul II. ... Such insistence on the need for prayer still has great relevance and importance".
"Alongside other forms of spiritual retreat, ... there should be no lessening of participation in spiritual exercises, characterised as they are by that climate of complete and profound silence which favours an individual and community encounter with God and the contemplation of the face of Christ. It is impossible to over-stress the importance of this requirement, which I and my predecessors have often underlined.
"During a period in which the influence of secularisation is becoming ever stronger, while at the same time there exists a widespread need to encounter God, there should be no lack of opportunities for intense listening to His Word in silence and in prayer", the Pope added. "Privileged locations for such spiritual experiences are houses of spiritual exercises which, to this end, must be given material support and supplied with adequate staff".
The Holy Father encouraged pastors to ensure that houses of spiritual exercises do not lack "well-trained leaders and workers to act as guides and ... animators, possessed of those doctrinal and spiritual qualities which make them true masters of the spirit, impassioned experts of the Word of God, and faithful to the Magisterium of the Church.
"A good course of spiritual exercises helps participants to renew their joy and taste for the liturgy, in particular the dignified celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours and, above all, of the Eucharist. It helps them rediscover the importance of the Sacrament of Penance, which is the goal of the path of conversion and a gift of reconciliation, as well as of the value and meaning of Eucharistic adoration. During the exercises", the Holy Father concluded, "it is also possible to rediscover the full and authentic significance of the Rosary and ... of the Way of the Cross".
AC/SPIRITUAL EXERCISES/... VIS 20080212 (400)
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