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BENEDICT XVI ATTENDS SCREENING OF A FILM ON ST. AUGUSTINE



VATICAN CITY, 3 SEP 2009 (VIS) - Yesterday afternoon in the "Sala degli Svizzeri" of the Apostolic Palace at Castelgandolfo, Benedict XVI attended the screening of an abbreviated version of the film "St. Augustine", an Italian, German, Polish co-production. The film was made by Lux Vide/Rai Fiction, Bayerischer Rundfunk/Tellux Film, Eos Entertainment Rai Trade and Grupa Filmova Baltmedia. It was directed by Christian Duguay.



At the end of the screening, the Holy Father expressed his thanks to everyone involved in the project and pronounced some brief remarks. "I feel this film to be a spiritual journey in a spiritual continent, far distant from us yet at the same time very near because the human drama remains the same", he said.



"We have seen how, in a context far removed from our own, the reality of human life is represented with all its problems, sadness and failures, just as we have seen how, in the end, Truth is stronger than any obstacle and seeks out man. This is the great hope that remains at the end: we alone cannot seek out Truth, but Truth, which is a Person, seeks out us. Seen from the outside, the life of St. Augustine seems to finish tragically as the world for which and in which he lived comes to an end. But as was made clear in this film, his message remains and, even as the world changes, it endures because it comes from Truth and guides us to Charity, which is our shared destination.



"Thank you to everyone", he added in conclusion. "Let us hope that many people, watching this human drama, may be sought out by Truth and so discover Charity".

OP/ST. AUGUSTINE FILM/... VIS 090903 (300)

God bless us everyone

The papacy 1,000 years ago
by Richard McBrien on Jun. 22, 2009

* Essays in Theology

History is the great debunker of pre-conceived ideas that are rooted in ideology and false piety rather than in reality.

Without a grasp of history, and of the history of the papacy in particular, many Catholics are led to believe that the papacy must always have been as they have known it, and most popes have been just like the popes of the 20th and 21st centuries: Pius XI, Pius XII, John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul I, John Paul II, and Benedict XVI.

The pontificates of a thousand years ago, however, were very different from any that we have experienced in our lifetimes.

First of all, we do not even know how the pontificate of John XVIII ended in 1009. Did the pope abdicate before his death and, if so, was it under duress?

If he did abdicate, what did he do after he left the papacy? No living Catholic has ever seen that happen. Indeed, for those who tend to look upon popes as quasi-divine figures, papal resignation is simply unthinkable. Once a pope, always a pope -- until death. No?

According to some historical sources, Pope John XVIII most likely did abdicate, or resign, the papacy shortly before his death, and then became a monk at the basilica of St. Paul's Outside the Walls in Rome, where he is buried.

Otherwise, little is known of his pontificate. We do know that during this period of church history, from 1003 to 1012, one of the powerful Roman families, the Crescentiis, ruled the city and dominated the papacy itself.

From 999 to 1003 the first French pope, Sylvester II, was seated on the Chair of Peter. A dedicated reformer, he denounced simony (the buying and selling of spiritual goods and church offices), nepotism (favoring members of one's own family for appointment to church offices), and violations of clerical celibacy. He also insisted on the free election of abbots by monks.

But in February of 1001 the Roman citizenry revolted against foreign domination. The French pope and his German friend and ally, Emperor Otto III, were forced to leave the city.

Otto died the following year, before he could reestablish his authority in Rome. The new head of the Crescentii family, John Crescentius II, allowed the French pope to return, but only on condition that he limit himself to spiritual functions. The pope died less than a year later.

A relative of the dominant Crescentii family succeeded Sylvester II in an election that was undoubtedly engineered by the family's leader. What was also remarkable, besides the decisive influence of a layman on a papal election, is the fact that the new pope, John XVII, had been married before ordination to the priesthood and was the father of three sons.

The pope's only notable recorded papal act was his authorizing of Polish missionaries to work among the Slavs. It is not even known how he died or how old he was at the time of death.

Although John XVII was pope for less than six months, his pontificate was not among the shortest in history. For purposes of comparison, Pope John Paul I was in office for just 33 days in 1978, yet his was only the 11th briefest pontificate in history.

John XVIII was cardinal-priest of St. Peter's Basilica when elected to the papacy on Christmas Day 1003 (the Vatican's official list begins his pontificate in January 1004). None of his accomplishments as pope have had any lasting historical significance beyond certain locales.

Thus, he restored the diocese of Merseburg in Germany, which Pope Benedict VII had sup-pressed and divided at the request of Emperor Otto II, and John XVIII also approved the establishment of the diocese of Bamberg in Bavaria.

He summoned the bishops of Sens and Orleans to Rome under pain of excommunication because of their threats to the papal privileges granted to the abbey of Fleury.

There is some evidence that relations between Rome and Constantinople improved during John XVIII's pontificate, probably because of the pro-Byzantine sympathies of the Crescentii family. The pope's name was restored to the list of those to be prayed for at Mass in Constantinople.

However, the thaw was relatively brief. Less than 50 years later, the formal schism between East and West began, and remains in effect to this day.

John XVIII was probably forced to resign in late June or early July, 1009 -- almost exactly one thousand years ago.

His successor was Sergius IV who, because his baptismal name was Peter, changed it upon election. Taking a new papal name was still not the custom.

Alas, Sergius IV was murdered.

Sermon

"It is called the Lord’s birthday when the wisdom of God presented itself to us as an infant, and the Word of God without words uttered the flesh as its voice. And yet the hidden divinity was signified to the wise men by the evidence of the heavens, and announced to the shepherds by the voice of an angel. And so we celebrate this day every year with great solemnity, because on it was fulfilled the prophecy which said,

Truth has sprung from the earth, and Justice has looked forth from heaven (Ps 84:12). Truth, which is the bosom of the Father (Jn 1:18), has sprung from the earth, in order also to be in the bosom of his mother. Truth, by which the world is held together, has sprung from the earth, in order to be carried in a woman’s arms. Truth, on which the bliss of the angels is incorruptibly nourished, has sprung from the earth, in order to be suckled at breasts of flesh. Truth, which heaven is not big enough to hold, has sprung from the earth, in order to be placed in a manger.

For whose benefit did such sublimity come in such humility? Certainly for not of his own; but, if we are believers, totally for ours. Wake up, mankind, for your God became man!

Rise, you that sleep, and arise from the dead, and Christ will enlighten you (Eph 5:14). For you, I repeat, God became man. You would have died for eternity, unless he had been born in time. You would never be set free from the flesh of sin, unless he had taken to himself the likeness of the flesh of sin (Rom 8:3). You would have been in the grip of everlasting misery, had it not been for the occurrence of this great mercy. You would not have come back to life, unless he had adjusted himself to your death. You would have faded away, if he had not come to the rescue. You would have perished, if he had not come."

St. Augustine, Sermon 185, 1

Prayer

O Lord God, give us your Christ, let us know your Christ, let us see your Christ, not as those who crucified him saw him, but as the angels saw him and rejoiced. – Comm. on Psalm 84, 9.

The Glory of Mary
by Blessed John XXIII
Cardinal, at the Feast of the Assumption, Venice, August 1956

From your throne of glory, O Queen, O Mother, turn your merciful gaze on those of us who are unhapppy, obtain forgiveness for us ; may the justice of your Son turn to mercy for us all. May our trust in you be equal to our hope and strengthen the good principles of Christian life which must be inspired by warm and sincere charity.
O Mary, O Mary, Four precious gifts we ask of you, we, the first Patriarch, St Mark, and his very humble successor, both united in a prayer that is a sorrowful and tearful request for your Venice.
First of all we pray for purity of mind, a clear understanding of doctrine which is a gift of the intellect; then modesty of body.
O Mary, you see what a scandal of shameless nakedness of men and women we have around us., profaning the churches, the squares and the ways of the city, for the corruption of innocent youth and the perversion of our people, with the threat of terrible punishment to follow.
Thirdly, we beg for holiness of life, because this is what matters most on earth and in heaven; finally, brotherly love, that is the peaceful agreement among citizens which is the secret of prosperity, the perfection of Christianity and an inexhaustible source of joy and peace.
These are the riches and the virtues--I repeat the very words of our own St Lawrence--which are pleasing to God; they reform morals, convert men, raise them from the depths, and lift them on high to where the virgin assumed into heaven rejoices and exults in her glory and prays for the whole church to her Son, Christ the Lord, who with the Father and Holy Spirit lives and reigns for ever. Amen

Ask your pastor to return this prayer to the Mass.

Holy Michael, the Archangel, defend us in battle; be our safe guard against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him we humbly pray; and you, Prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits, who wander through the world seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen
Most Sacred Heart of Jesus; have mercy on us

Oh God, who has declared Yourself the
Protector of those who hope in thee,
And with out whom there is in us men
Neither strength nor earthly holiness

Make us in faith experience more
The loving effects of thy mercy
Let us not cling to the perishable
Goods of our natural happiness.

Saint John of the Cross
Soul craving to see God

I live yet no true life I know,
and living thus expectantly,
I die because I do not die..

Within myself no life I know
And without God life cannot be;
Then, since there's neither life for me
What can my life be here below?
A thousand deaths I undergo
And for my true life here I sigh
Dying because I do not die

This life that has been giv'n to me
Is but true life's negation --nay
'Tis death that comes with each new day
Until I live, my God , with Thee
Hearken, O God, to this my plea.
No longing for this life have I
Who die because I do not die

Absent, my Lord and God from Thee
What gain I as I draw my breath?
What taste I, but the pains of death
The sharpest that I e'er did see?
Yet, living perseveringly,
For my unhappy lot I sigh
Who die because I do not die.

The fish that leaves the river's brim
Finds mingled suffering and gain
At first he suffers death-like pain
But as the last death comes to him
And, as my wretched life burned dim
What death can equal this? I cry
The more I live the more I die

I gaze on Thee, to assuage my pain
Beneath the sacramental veils
Yet even here my spirit fails
Because The Self i cannot gain
With deeper anguish I remain
Who see Thee this imperfectly
And die because I do not die

And If, O Lord, I seek for joy
In hopes of seeing Thee above
With doubled grief my hopes alloy
Thus hopes my soul would e'er employ
While fear is ever standing by;
I die because I do not die

O save me from this death-like case
My God, and give true life to me
Hold me no more, but set me free
From straitest bondage in this place
Look how I yearn to see Thy face
And how I grieve so utterly
Dying because I do not die


My death I'll morn unceasingly,
Lamenting life that still is mine
What time my sins, as I repine
Detain me here when I would flee.
And oh, my God, when shall it be
That I may gladly, truly cry
Now live I and no longer die