London, England, Sep 20, 2010 / 08:12 am
Before Sunday's Angelus, the Pope spoke of two Marys, recalling the beatification of a Spanish religious sister and noting the "filial devotion" of Blessed John Henry Newman to the Mother of God.
The Holy Father prayed the Angelus on Sunday from Cofton Park, near Birmingham, England, after the celebration of Cardinal John Henry Newman's beatification Mass.
He first acknowledged that he was "pleased" with Saturday's beatification in Spain of the former mother superior of the Seville, Spain-based Sisters of the Company of the Cross, Madre María de la Purísima de la Cruz. Benedict XVI expressed hope that the new blessed might inspire "young women to follow her example of single-minded love of God and neighbor."
According to Spain's El Mundo newspaper, the beatification was attended by 45,000 people, with 30 bishops and 600 priests concelebrating. The head of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, Archbishop Angelo Amato, presided over the Mass and remembered Blessed Mary in his homily as an "athlete of holiness," that represents "a glorious page" in the order's history, "a page that should be read, admired and imitated."