Vatican City, May 15, 2005 / 22:00 pm
Pope Benedict XVI this morning, greeted pilgrims who had traveled to Rome for this weekend’s beatification of Mothers Ascension del Corazon de Jesus Nicol Goni, and Marianne Cope, calling them “Exemplary witnesses of Christ's charity."
The Holy Father told the group, including a large contingency from the U.S., that, "these two new Blesseds help us to better understand the meaning and the value of our Christian vocation."
The Pope specifically addressed Dominican Missionary Sisters of the Rosary "who,” he said, “following the example of their Blessed Foundress help us to experience, in our own time, the spirit of St. Dominic."
"Keep alive the experience of the closeness of God in missionary life,” Pope Benedict said, adding a saying from Mother Ascention: “how close God feels.”