Pope Benedict XVI offered thanks for the prayerful witness of
cloistered religious on November 21, the feast of the Presentation of
Mary in the Temple. At the close of his regular weekly public audience, the Pontiff took note of the feast day and voices “my closeness, and that of the entire ecclesial community, to the religious called by the Lord to the contemplative life.”
He encouraged lay Catholics to give their support to monastic communities.