Vatican City, Nov 29, 2010 / 12:04 pm
Pope Benedict XVI welcomed the season of Advent during the Angelus prayer on Sunday, remarking on the nature of “expectation” and calling it a “profoundly human” experience.
On the afternoon of Nov. 28, the Pope appeared at the window of his study overlooking St. Peter's Square and addressed the crowds gathered below. He greeted pilgrims several times in different languages.
The Pontiff opened his comments by discussing what he called the “dual nature” of the Advent season. The Church during this time, he said, focuses both on the first coming of Jesus as an infant born of the Virgin Mary and also on “His glorious return, when he will come to judge the living and the dead.”
He described the Church's expectation and reflection on both events as a “profoundly human” experience in which “the faith becomes, so to say, a single thing with our flesh and our heart.”