This is superb.
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“At this moment I can only thank you for your love of the Church
and Our Lord, and for the love which you show to the poor
Successor of Saint Peter. I will try to do all that is possible
to be a worthy successor of the great Apostle, who also was a man
with faults and sins, but remained in the end the rock for the
Church. And so I too, with all my spiritual poverty, can be for
this time, in virtue of the Lord’s grace, the Successor of Peter.
It is also your prayers and your love which give me the certainty
that the Lord will help me in this my ministry. I am therefore
deeply grateful for your love and for your prayers. My response
now for all that you have given to me during this visit is my
blessing, which I impart to you at the conclusion of this beautiful
Celebration.”
In italiano
«Posso solo rendervi grazie per il vostro amore per la Chiesa, per l’amore a Nostro Signore, e per l’amore che date anche al povero successore di Pietro. Io farò tutto il possibile per essere un vero successore del grande san Pietro che era anche un uomo con i suoi difetti e alcuni peccati, ma alla fine rimase la roccia della Chiesa e così anch’io, con tutta la mia povertà spirituale possa essere con la grazia di Dio in questi tempi il successore di Pietro». Parole che fanno tornare alla mente un appunto nei diari di Paolo VI, che parlava della propria «inadeguatezza» al compito ricevuto, o l’espressione di Papa Luciani che davanti ai cardinali, chiedendo preghiere per la sua missione, aveva definito se stesso un «poverocristo vicario di Cristo».
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Ecco.
“In this moment I can only thank … grace (?) … for your love of the church, for Our Lord and that you give also your love to the poor Successor of St. Peter. I will do all the possible to be a real successor of the great St. Peter who also was a man with his faults and sins, but he remains finally the rock for the Church … and so also I, with all my poorness … spiritual … can be with the grace of the Lord in this time the Successor of Peter … and your prayers and love will give me the certainty that the Lord will help me in this, my ministry. So I am so deeply thankful for your love, for your prayer, and my answer in this moment to all what you have given to me in this moment and this visit is my blessing at the end of the Holy Mass.”
Can anybody help me fill in the blanks?
“In this moment, I can end with saying grace (I think he meant “thanks”) for your love of the Church, for the love of our Lord and such a gift, your love also to the poor successor of St. Peter. I will do it possible to be a real successor of the great St. Peter, who also was a man with his faults and sins. But, he remains, finally, the Rock for the Church, and so also, I, with all my poorness spiritual, can be, with the grace of the Lord, in this time, the successor of Peter. And say our prayers, your love, for give (inaudible?) the certainties that the Lord will help me in this my ministry. And so I am so deeply thankful for your love, for your prayer, and my answer to this moment for all that you have given to me at this moment, in this visit, is my blessing at the end of the Holy Mass.”
Gashwin and TNCath have it nailed, I think. What a delightful moment of humility and honesty from the Pope.
In his own words, he expresses the great humility of St. Peter: “Depart from me Lord, for I am a sinful man.”
Viva il Papa!
Our Holy Father is a very humble and holy man. That was a lovely moment. Long live the Pope!
Re: his final comments. The beautiful thing is that you can see in his face that the Holy Father really means it!
It was beautiful! Now I know why I’ve loved him from the first moment. He truly is holy and humble.
I’m a man and have been moved to tears by his words, actions, and his presence.
Viva il Papa!
I am a man and have been deeply moved by his words, actions, and presence.
Viva il Papa!
At the Vatican site, they have the following at the very end of the
homily the Pope gave in St. Patrick’s:
Words spoken spontaneously by the Holy Father at the conclusion of
the Holy Mass:
“At this moment I can only thank you for your love of the Church
and Our Lord, and for the love which you show to the poor
Successor of Saint Peter. I will try to do all that is possible
to be a worthy successor of the great Apostle, who also was a man
with faults and sins, but remained in the end the rock for the
Church. And so I too, with all my spiritual poverty, can be for
this time, in virtue of the Lord’s grace, the Successor of Peter.
It is also your prayers and your love which give me the certainty
that the Lord will help me in this my ministry. I am therefore
deeply grateful for your love and for your prayers. My response
now for all that you have given to me during this visit is my
blessing, which I impart to you at the conclusion of this beautiful
Celebration.”
Hmmm. Not exactly what he said, is it? “at the conclusion of this beautiful Celebration” as opposed to “at the end of Holy Mass”?
The Holy Father has just asked the disabled children whom he’s meeting with to pray for him.
He is a real model of humility.
“Hmmm. Not exactly what he said, is it? “at the conclusion of this beautiful Celebration” as opposed to “at the end of Holy Mass”?”
No, it’s not. That is an annoying tendency of the Holy See Press Office to “correct” what the Holy Father says spontaneously. They also do that with the impromptu parts of the Wednesday general audiences. I thinks it’s o.k. if they correct grammatical errors the pope makes in a language he doesn’t use daily, but things like substituting “beautiful celebration” for “Holy Mass” are really incomprhensible.
But what remains is the great example of humility the Holy Father is setting for us – humilibus autem dat gratiam.
TNCath – yeah, really. His Holiness said “Holy Mass”, not “Celebration”. He’s not ambiguous in these matters. Lots of liturgical acts can be called “celebrations”; only one is the Holy Mass.
How beautiful and inspirational! I love him very much.
(A very appropriate anti-spam word – “Te Deum”)
Yes, it was the words “Holy Mass” at the end. I was particularly motivated to note them since we don’t often get to hear the words Holy and Mass together much anymore. Please correct the original post as I believe the words he actually used say much about who Benedict is.
Just watched the end……um……what ever happened to genuflections?!?! You would think the clergy would at least get it! But, no! They stand there snapping photos to send to their friends while the successor of St. Peter passes before them.
Solemn Pontifical Mass my posterior!
sorry….i intended “St. Patrick’s” Cathedral…….not St. Peter’s
What were the particular shambles?
Father Z,
Thanks ever so much for posting the audio clip of the Holy Father’s
concluding words of thanks at the end of “Holy Mass”. When I heard them as he spoke them I was viscerally stunned. What a man. Thanks be to God for this gift to us.
I loved what Amy Wellborn said. Something about knowing that the Vatican had trouble translating Latin to English but not that they couldn’t translate English to English.