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Skriven 2006-07-18 01:19:38 av Marc Lewis (1:396/45)
Ärende: Vatican Information Service - Press Release
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Hello All!

                The following press release is Copyrighted by the
                          Vatican Information Service.
                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                               VIS-Press releases

ENCOUNTERING GOD IN THE SILENCE OF PRAYER

VATICAN CITY, JUL 16, 2006 (VIS) - This morning, more than 5,000 people prayed
the Angelus with Benedict XVI at Les Combes, the resort in Italy's Valle
d'Aosta region where the Pope is spending a brief holiday.

Before the Marian prayer, the Holy Father addressed a greeting to the religious
and civil authorities of the region, to the inhabitants of Les Combes and to
holiday makers staying in the area. He also recalled John Paul II who had so
often lodged in the same chalet as that in which he is currently staying.

The Pope then remarked that today's liturgy commemorates the Blessed Virgin
Mary of Mount Carmel and explained how the slopes of this mountain, on the
eastern shores of the Mediterranean, are full of natural caves, once used by
hermits, including the prophet Elijah "who in the ninth century before Christ
undertook a strenuous defense of the purity of faith in the one true God
against the contamination of idolatrous cults.

"Drawing inspiration from the figure of Elijah," he added, "the contemplative
Order of Carmelites came into being, a religious family that numbers among its
members such great saints as Theresa of Avila, John of the Cross, Theresa of
the Child Jesus, and Theresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein). The
Carmelites encouraged devotion to the Blessed Virgin of Mount Carmel among
Christian people, indicating in her a model of prayer, contemplation and
devotion to God.

"Indeed, Mary believed and experienced, before anyone else and insuperably,
that Jesus, the Word incarnate, is the Summit, the pinnacle of man's meeting
with God. Fully accepting His Word, she 'arrived happily at the holy mountain'
and lives forever in soul and body with the Lord.

"To the Queen of Mount Carmel, I wish today to entrust all communities of
contemplative life throughout the world, especially those of the Carmelite
Order. ... May Mary help each Christian to encounter God in the silence of
prayer."
ANG/MARY:MOUNT CARMEL/... VIS 060717 (340)

SUMMARY

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