.- Before reciting the Angelus on Sunday at Mirabello Castle, near the spot where he is vacationing in northern Italy, Pope Benedict XVI said vacations are not only a time for physical rest but also for spiritual enrichment through extended moments of prayer and meditation in order to grow in one’s personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
“Every good Christian knows that vacations are an opportune time to stretch one's body and to nourish the spirit in more ample spaces of prayer and meditation, to grow in one's personal relationship with Christ, and to conform more and more to his teachings,” the Pope said.
As he began his message, Pope Benedict thanked the Lord for the possibility to spend some days of rest in the mountains, and he expressed his gratitude “to those who have welcomed me here in Lorenzago, in this enchanting panorama in which the summit of Mount Cadore forms the background and where my beloved predecessor John Paul II visited several times.”
“Before this scene of meadows, of woods, of peaks ascending toward heaven,” the Pope said, “the desire to praise God for the marvel of his works spontaneously arises in the soul and easily transforms itself into prayer.”
