Benedict XVI has called on today’s Church to “bear good witness to the Gospel” through “a simple and humble life” and the “sombre lifestyle” of Our Lady and Saint Pietro da Morrone, a hermit who later became Pope Celestine V.The Holy Father visited some of the locations where Saint Peter Celestine lived, 800 years after his birth.
The Pontiff, who spoke at the end of the Mass celebrated in Piazza Garibaldi in the town of Sulmona before the Angelus, pointed out that “in Mary, the Virgin of silence and listening, Saint Pietro da Morrone found the perfect model of obedience to divine will, a simple and humble life, intent on finding what is truly essential, always capable of thanking the Lord, recognising in everything a gift of his goodness.”
“We too, who live in an age of greater comfort and means, are called to appreciate a sober lifestyle, keeping mind and heart free, and share what we have with our fellow men. Most Holy Mary, who with her maternal presence gave heart to the first community of Jesus’ disciples, help today’s Church as well to bear good witness to the Gospel!”
Earlier during the homily, the Pope noted that Pietro da Morrone’s holiness “did not disappear from the public eye, and has never gone out of fashion”. In particular, he said, “Saint Peter Celestine, even though he led a hermit’s life, did not ‘turn inward’ but was moved by a passion to bring the good news of the Gospel to his fellow men”.
Afterwards, Benedict XVI listed a “disciple’s essential tasks”.
They include announcing the Evangelical message in a quiet but clear and courageous way, even in moments of persecution, without succumbing to the allure of fashion, violence or imposition; a detachment from things such as money or clothes through reliance on the Father’s providence; and concern and care for those who are sick in body and spirit (cf L, 10:5-9).
Such were the features that characterised the brief and difficult pontificate of Celestine V and such are the features that define the Church’s missionary activity of every era.
SIC: AN