The Humility of Benedict XVI

Benedict XVI did not renounce the office of Peter because he couldn't take it anymore. He renounced the chair because he judged, in conscience, that he could not give the Church the leadership it needed and deserved, given his own diminished strength. That's an act of ... humility, not a concession to exhaustion. -George Wiegel

Editor's note: Benedict XVI realized he could no longer give the Church the leadership it needed and deserved. He did provide great leadership during the relatively short span of his pontificate. We see this leadership especially in his implementation of Liturgicam Authenticam resulting in a beautiful and profound translation of the prayers of the Mass for the English-speaking world, in the wisdom of Summorum Pontificum, and in his making it easier for Anglicans to covert to Catholicism and bring their beautiful "High-Church" liturgy with them.

Credo in Spiritum Sanctum

Hooray for this! The Holy Spirit will decide.

Madrid, Spain, Feb 14, 2013 / 02:02 pm (EWTN News/CNA) - The secretary general of the Spanish Bishops’ Conference defended Pope Benedict XVI’s decision to resign and said that the Holy Spirit will choose a new shepherd to govern God’s people.

Yes, and one more thing (perhaps a bit premature, but I will say it anyway): Santo subito !

Every year on January 21, the Church gives us such beautiful prayers in honor the Lord and his Virgin-Martyr Agnes. Here is the Collect:

Almighty ever-living God, who choose what is weak in the world to confound the strong, mercifully grant, that we, who celebrate the heavenly birthday of your Martyr Saint Agnes, may follow her constancy in the faith. Per Dominum Nostrum Iesum Christum ...

Here the Church is clearly drawing upon St. Paul's first Letter to the Corinthians (1:29), where St. Paul says that God chooses the weak of this world to confound the strong, that no flesh may glory in God's sight. Then, in Preface I of Holy Martyrs, it is stated:

For the blood of your blessed martyr Agnes, poured out like Christ's to glorify your name, shows forth your marvelous works, by which in our weakness you perfect your power and on the feeble bestow strength to bear you witness, through Christ our Lord.

And so, on this Inauguration evening, as the rich and powerful of this world are having their empty, secular celebrations that last only for a short time, we the baptized faithful rejoice in the eternal love of God shown forth in the Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ and his witnesses, his martyrs, as we give our hearts to Jesus and His Father and their Holy Spirit, one God, as we endeavor to live always in accord with their eternal values.

Almost nothing is known of this saint except that she was very young--12 or 13--when she was martyred in the last half of the third century. ... Agnes is a symbol that holiness does not depend upon length of years, experience, or human effort. It is a gift God offers to all, one he can protect in the most fearful of circumstances. -Leonard Foley, O.F.M., ed. Saint of the Day, Vol. 1, pages 18 - 19.

Blessed Miguel Agustin Pro

On this day in the Year of Our Lord 1926, Padre Miguel Augustin Pro was martyred "courtesy of" Mexican President Plutarco Elias Calles. Pope John Paul II beatified Padre Pro on the birthday of President Calles. God has a great sense of humor! I say, with Padre Pro, Viva Cristo Rey ! And little Jose Sanchez del Rio replies: Que viva !

Saint Ignatius of Antioch

On this Memorial of the great Bishop and Martyr, St. Ignatius of Antioch, through the Liturgy of the Hours, we are given these encouraging words from Saint Peter:

Rejoice in the measure that you share Christ's sufferings. When His glory is revealed, you will rejoice exultantly. Happy are you when you are insulted for the sake of Christ, for then God's spirit in its glory has come to rest on you.

If Christ Jesus dwells in a man as his friend and noble leader, that man can endure all things, for Christ helps and strengthens us and never abandons us. He is a true friend. And I clearly see that if we expect to please him and receive an abundance of his graces, God desires that these graces come to us from the hands of Christ, through his most sacred humanity, in which God takes delight.

What more do we desire from such a good friend at our side? Unlike our friends in the world, he will never abandon us when we are troubled or distressed. Blessed it the one who truly loves him and always keeps him near.

-Saint Teresa of Avila

The liturgy raises hearts to God like no other prayer, Pope says :: EWTN News

The liturgy raises hearts to God like no other prayer, Pope says :: EWTN News