Vatican City, Oct 10, 2012 / 09:54 am
On the eve of the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council's opening, Pope Benedict XVI described it as a "moment of grace" in the recent history of the Church.
"The Second Vatican Council is a strong call for us to rediscover the beauty of our faith every day, to nourish a deeper understanding of it, a more intense relationship with the Lord, to truly live our Christian vocation," the Pope said during his Oct. 10 general audience.
"May the Virgin Mary, Mother of Christ and of the whole Church," he prayed, "help us to realize and to fulfill all that the Council Fathers, inspired by the Holy Spirit, guarded in their heart: the desire that all may know the Gospel and meet the Lord Jesus as the Way, the Truth and the Life."
The Pope offered "some brief thoughts … on the great ecclesial event that was the Council" to the more than 20,000 pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square.