Rome, Italy, Sep 29, 2010 / 07:07 am
Medieval nun and saint, Matilda of Hackeborn is still a model of devotion to the Sacred Heart for people today, said the Pope at this week's general audience. Her exemplary fidelity to the Church and union to Christ, he taught, continues to be "a strong invitation to intensify our friendship with the Lord."
The Holy Father hosted 9,000 pilgrims and faithful in St. Peter's Square on Wednesday for the general audience. Among those present on the clear autumn morning were representatives from the "In the footsteps of St. Francis" pilgrimage group from the Archdiocese of Seattle and new students and staff from the Pontifical Irish and Venerable English Colleges.
During the catechesis, Pope Benedict XVI focused on the figure of Cistercian nun St. Matilda of Hackeborn, the 13th-century Germanic saint. Recalling the intense spiritual and intellectual atmosphere in which she was formed at the convent of Helfta in Saxony, he said that this environment, coupled with the gift of divine illumination, led her to write prayers and offer advice and consolation to many.
He remembered her humility, simplicity, purity, intelligence and the intense way she lived her spiritual life, noting also that because of her natural gift for singing, she had the nickname of "God's nightingale."