Vatican City, Jan 29, 2006 / 22:00 pm
Before Sunday’s weekly Angelus prayer, Pope Benedict XVI--gathered with a large group at St. Peter’s Square--called the Saints the most privileged witnesses of charity, saying that the history of the Church is “a history of sanctity.”
He praised the Church’s vast body of Saints, saying that they lead faithful to consider the path of consecrated life as a profound “expression and school of charity.”
Following in the footsteps of his predecessor, John Paul II, Benedict also announced that he would preside at the Day of Consecrated Life, which will be celebrated on February 2nd.
Referring first to his new Encyclical, "Deus caritas est," published last Wednesday, the Pope said that the Saints "have all made of their lives, though with a thousand differing shades, a hymn to the God of Love."