Pope Benedict XVI visited the Roman Major Seminary dedicated to “Our Lady of Confidence”
on Wednesday evening, where he venerated the image of the "Madonna della fiducia"
and visited with seminarians.
Pope Benedict XVI was continuing the custom begun
by his predecessor, Blessed John Paul II, of visiting the seminary on the feast of
its Patroness.
The Pope’s visit began with the singing of the tu es petrus.
It was followed by lectio divina based on a text from the 12th Chapter
of the Letter of St Paul to the Romans: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the
mercy of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing unto
God, your reasonable service.”
In commenting on the text, the Holy Father explained
that it is much more than a simple exhortation to the moral life, saying that the
text, “certainly implies both admonition and also consolation.”
Encouraging
his seminarians to courageous service and genuine discernment of God’s will in their
lives, and reminding them of the need not to be bound by public opinion or the spirit
of the age, the Holy Father called on Our Lady of Confidence, praying that she help
all of us, “to allow God to transform our being, to make us truly New Men.”
The
lectio divina concluded with adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.