Aug 2, 2009 / 08:18 am
Pope Benedict XVI led the Angelus prayer for faithful gathered on Sunday in the courtyard of the Apostolic Palace of Castel Gandolfo. He spoke to those present about the numerous saints whose feasts are celebrated in August and how their lives can serve as models for priests in the Year for Priests.
Thinking of the just-initiated Year for Priests, Pope Benedict called it a “precious occasion to deepen the value of the priestly mission in the Church and in the world.”
As priests seek to grow deeper in their vocation, Pope Benedict pointed to the examples of several saints, whose feast days are celebrated in August.
“Yesterday was the liturgical memorial of St. Alphonsus Mary Liguori, Bishop and Doctor of the Church, great master of moral theology and model of Christian and pastoral virtue, always attentive to the religious needs of the people,” he recalled. “Today we contemplate in St. Francis of Assisi the ardent love for salvation of souls, which every priest must constantly nurture.”