In today's General Audience, Pope Benedict spoke about 12th century William of Saint-Thierry. Zenit and Benedetto XVI Forum have full English translations. The Daily Bulletin has the original Italian text and summaries in several languages. Vatican Information Service has a press release, and Asia News has an article.
Here is the Holy Father's English language summary:
"In our catechesis on the Christian culture of the Middle Ages, we now turn to
William of Saint-Thierry, an outstanding monastic theologian and a close friend
of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux. William took active part in the twelfth-century
movement of monastic renewal and, after serving as abbot of Saint-Thierry, he
entered the Cistercian monastery of Signy. A central theme of his writings is
the nature and power of love, seen as the ultimate vocation and the driving
force of the human spirit. For William, this innate human drive finds perfection
in the love of the triune God, the source and goal of all love. As the
culmination of a process of purification and integration of the affections, the
love of God brings supreme human fulfilment, and a profound experiential
knowledge of both God and the world about us. In William’s celebrated phrase, Amor
ipse intellectus est – love itself brings knowledge. By contemplation of
the mysteries of the faith, we grow in the image of God and, by uniting our will
to his, we become one with him. May the example and teaching of William of
Saint-Thierry strengthen our desire to love God above all things and to let that
love overflow in love of our neighbour. May we thus discover authentic joy and
the foretaste of eternal bliss."
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