(21 Aug.2006): -Pope Benedict XVI warned of the danger of falling into “hardness of
heart “as a result of excessive daily occupations. Addressing several thousand people
gathered for Sunday’s Angelus prayer in the courtyard of the papal summer residence
of Castel Gandolfo, the Pope suggested that prayer and contemplation take precedence
in the activities of daily life. Sunday, Aug. 20, being the Feast day of St. Bernard
of Clairvaux, a doctor of the Church, who lived between the 11th and 12
centuries, the Pope urged them to follow the saint’s example, saying he knew how to
balance prayer with activity.The saint wrote in a letter to Pope Eugene III: "See,
where these accursed occupations can lead you,if you continue to lose yourself in
them without leaving anything of yourself for yourself ". Pope Benedict said: "It
is necessary to pay attention to the dangers of excessive activity, regardless of
one's condition and occupation, because as St. Bernard said to the Pope of that time,
and to all Popes, and to all of us -- numerous occupations often lead to hardness
of heart. They are no more than suffering for the spirit, loss of intelligence and
dispersion of grace This admonition is valid for all kinds of occupations, including
those inherent to the governance of the Church," the Pope added in his address, which
elicited much applause among those present. The Holy Father prayed saying, “May St.
Bernard, who was able to harmonize the monk's aspiration for solitude and the tranquility
of the cloister, with the urgency of the important and complex missions in the service
of the Church, help us in our daily life”. Pope Benedict also presented one of
the most famous Marian counsels of St. Bernard: "Look at Mary the guiding star. Call
upon Mary. With her for guide, you shall not go astray. Let us invoke Mary that she
obtain lasting peace for the whole world” the Pope concluded.