Weekly Audience: Reading the Lives of the Saints

In today's general audience, the Holy Father spoke about imitating the holiness of the saints and blesseds.  He particularly mentioned those whose memorials are coming up this  week, including St. Bernard of Clairvaux (whose memorial is today), Pope/Saint Pius X (whose memorial is tomorrow), and St. Rose of Lima, whose memorial is on Saturday).  He also mentioned more recent writers who attributed great importance to the saints' lives as reflections of the divine life and commentary on the Gospel, including Hans Urs von Balthasar, Jean Guitton and Georges Bernanos.

Asia News has an article with quotations.  Full translations are available at Zenit and Papa Ratzinger Forum.

The original Italian text with greetings in several languages can be found from the Vatican Press Office.  Here is a portion of the Pope's greeting in English:

"This week, the liturgical calendar celebrates several remarkable examples of holiness: Saint John Eudes, Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Saint Pius the Tenth and Saint Rose of Lima. The summer months provide an opportunity for us to read about the lives of these and all the saints, who show us that holiness is not the privilege of a few, but the vocation of all the baptized. Through their intercession and inspiration, may you learn to love and serve the Lord more ardently in your daily lives. God bless you all!"