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

Click here to go back to the archive menu.

 

 
The Saints
 


Let us place our hand in the maternal hand of Mary, Queen of the Saints, and allow ourselves to be guided by her toward the heavenly homeland, in the company of the blessed spirits "of every nation, people and tongue" (Revelation 7:9).

 
Angelus Address
St Peter's Square
1 November 2008

 
 
 
The Saints
 


The immense crowd of witnesses who have allowed themselves to be embraced by His Love, is the crowd of saints in heaven who never cease to intercede for us. They were sinners and they knew it, but they willingly ceased to gaze upon their own wounds and to gaze only upon the wounds of their Lord, so as to discover there the glory of the Cross, to discover there the victory of Life over death.

 
Address, Procession
Grottto of Lourdes
France
14 September 2008

 
 
 
The Saints
 


Even among saints, differences, discord and controversies arise, and I find this a consolation because we see that saints have not 'come down from heaven.' They are people like us, with problems, even complicated problems. Sanctity does not consist in never having made mistakes or sinned…Sanctity grows in the capacity for conversion and penance, of willingness to start again and, above all, in the capacity for reconciliation and forgiveness.

 
General Audience
Paul VI Hall
31 January 2007

 
 
 
The Saints
 


Bernanos, a great French writer who was always fascinated by the idea of the Saints, - he mentions many in his novels - considering the variety of their charisms, notes that "every Saint's life is like a new blossom in spring". May this also happen for us! Let us therefore permit ourselves to be attracted by the supernatural fascination of holiness! May Mary, Queen of all Saints, Mother and Refuge of sinners, obtain this grace for us!

 
General Audience
Castel Gandolfo
20 August 2008

 
 
 
The Saints
 


By faith, across the centuries, men and women of all ages, whose names are written in the Book of Life (cf. Rev 7:9, 13:8), have confessed the beauty of following the Lord Jesus wherever they were called to bear witness to the fact that they were Christian: in the family, in the workplace, in public life, in the exercise of the charisms and ministries to which they were called.

 
Apostolic Letter
'PORTA FIDEI'

 
 
 
The Saints
 


Only from the Saints, only from God, does true revolution come, the definitive way to change the world.

 
Address
Youth Vigil, WYD
Cologne - Marienfeld
20 August 2005

 
 
 
The Saints
 


How beautiful and comforting is the communion of Saints! It is a reality that instills a different dimension into our whole life. We are never alone! We are part of a spiritual "company" where profound solidarity reigns: the good of each one is for the benefit of everyone, and vice versa, common happiness shines on every individual. It is a mystery which, in some measure, we can already experience in this world, in the family, in friendship, and especially in the spiritual community of the Church.

 
Angelus Address
St Peter's Square
1 November 2009

 
 
 
The Saints
 


Day after day the Church offers us the possibility of walking in the company of Saints. Hans Urs von Balthasar wrote that the Saints constitute the most important message of the Gospel, its actualization in daily life, and therefore represent for us a real means of access to Jesus. The French writer Jean Guitton described them "as the colors of the spectrum in relation to light", because with their own tones and accentuations each one of them reflects the light of God's holiness. How important and useful, therefore, is the commitment to cultivate knowledge of and devotion to the Saints, alongside daily meditation on the Word of God and filial love for Our Lady.

 
General Audience
Castel Gandolfo
20 August 2008

 

2  More >>