Pope celebrates Mass in suffrage of Manuela Camagni

Thursday morning Pope Benedict XVI celebrated mass in the Pauline Chapel in suffrage of Manuel Camagni, a consecrated lay woman of Memor Domini and member of the pontifical family, who died tragically on November 23 last. In his homily, the Pope recalled with deep gratitude the witness of faith, wisdom and charity of consecrated lay people and focused on the meaning of “memory of God”.

"The memory of the Creator is inscribed in the depths of our being”. Returning to St. Bonaventure, Pope Benedict focused his homily on the theme of the memory of God, lived with joy every day by the Memor Domini, Manuela Camagni. Precisely because "this memory is inscribed in our being - the Pope said - we can remember, see His traces" in Creation. A memory, he noted, "that is not only a memory of the past, because the source is present, it is a memory of the presence of the Lord":

"It 's also a memory of the future, because it is certain that we come from the goodness of God and are called to strive for the goodness of God. So an element of joy is present in this memory, the joy that our origin is in God and our call to strive for the great joy. And we know that Manuel was a person deeply penetrated with joy, that joy that comes from the memory of God. "

However, he warned, our memory, like our existence, is wounded by sin. " The memory of God is "obscured", "covered by other superficial memories”.

"Today we see this desperate search for joy that increasingly moves away from its true source, the true joy. Forgetfulness of God, forgetfulness of our true memory: Manuela was not of those who have lost their memory, she lived in the living memory of the Creator. In the joy of His relationship, seeing the transparency of God in all creation, even in the daily events of our lives, she understood that joy comes from this memory".

As a Memor Domini said the Pope, Manuela knew that God is stronger than death, that God is the source of eternal life:

"God is not a God of the dead, He is a God of the living and those who are part of the name of God, who live in memory of God are alive, unfortunately, we humans can retain only a shadow of people we loved in our memory. But the memory of God not only preserves the shadows, it is the origin of life: here the dead live, in His life and with His life they have entered the memory of God who is life”.