Selected quotes of Pope Benedict XVI offered daily for prayer and reflection….

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The Psalms
 


By teaching us to pray, the Psalms teach us that even in desolation, even in sorrow, God’s presence endures, it is a source of wonder and of solace; we can weep, implore, intercede and complain, but in the awareness that we are walking toward the light, where praise can be definitive.

 
General Audience
St Peter's Square
22 June 2011

 
 
 
The Psalms
 


The Psalms are given to the believer exactly as the text of prayers whose sole purpose is to become the prayer of the person who assimilates them and addresses them to God. Since they are a word of God, anyone who prays the Psalms speaks to God using the very words that God has given to us, addresses him with the words that he himself has given us. So it is that in praying the Psalms we learn to pray. They are a school of prayer.

 
General Audience
St. Peter's Square
22 June 2011

 
 
 
The Psalms
 


The Psalms are generally marked by the two interconnected dimensions of humble petition and of praise addressed to a loving God who understands our human frailty. In Hebrew, the Psalms are called Tehellim or songs of praise; the prayer of praise is, in fact, our best response to the God who even at times of trial remains ever at our side.

 
General Audience
St. Peter's Square
22 June 2011