Pope Benedict XVI in English - Weekly General Audience
Dear Brothers and Sisters, Our catechesis today deals with another great monastic
figure of the High Middle Ages, Rabanus Maurus. Rabanus entered monastic life at
a young age as an oblate, was trained in the liberal arts and received a broad formation
in the Christian tradition. As the Abbot of Fulda and then as Archbishop of Mainz,
he contributed through his vast learning and pastoral zeal to the unity of the Empire
and the transmission of a Christian culture deeply nourished by the Scriptures and
the Fathers of the Church. From his youth he wrote poetry, and he is probably the
author of the famous hymn Veni Creator Spiritus. Indeed, his first theological
work was a poem on the Holy Cross, in which the poetry was accompanied by an illuminated
representation of the Crucified Christ. This medieval method of joining poetry to
pictoral art sought to lift the whole person – mind, heart and senses – to the contemplation
of the truth contained in God’s word. In the same spirit Rabanus sought to transmit
the richness of the Christian cultural tradition through his prolific commentaries
on the Scriptures, his explanations of the liturgy and his pastoral writings. This
great man of the Church continues to inspire us by his example of an active ministry
nourshed by study, profound contemplation and constant prayer.* * *I offer a warm
welcome to the English-speaking visitors present at today’s Audience, especially those
from England, Ireland, the Philippines and the United States. My particular greeting
goes to the Sisters of the Society Devoted to the Sacred Heart. I also greet the
many student groups present. Upon all of you I invoke God’s blessings of joy and
peace!