Vatican City, Nov 27, 2005 / 22:00 pm
Before praying his weekly Angelus prayer with a large group of pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square Sunday, Pope Benedict urged Christians to utilize the period of Advent to reawaken their hearts, so that with God’s help, they can renew the world.
He began by explaining how the liturgical period of Advent, which began yesterday, is "of great religious significance," and is "permeated with hope and spiritual anticipation."
The Pope said that during this season, Christians experience a dual movement of the spirit: "On the one hand,” he said, “they raise their eyes towards the final goal of their pilgrimage in history, which is the glorious return of the Lord Jesus; on the other, recalling with emotion His birth in Bethlehem, they bow before the manager.”
“The hope of Christians”, he observed, “is directed to the future, but it always remains firmly rooted in an event from the past."