It is Wednesday and That mean it's time for Pope's Angelus-

Updated- at my post The Full Text of The Pope's Angelus- He Talks about St Gregory of Nyssa and like Smokey the Bear hates people who start Forest Fires(see end)
As certain as death and taxes on Wednesdays and Sundays , I will try to get the full text of the Holy Fathers talks at his Angelus on my blog. I do think it would be a great idea copying these and handing them out with the bulletins at Sunday Mass.

However the place , where I get the full translation has not gotten it out yet. So here is a preview of it in this Catholic News article. The pic by the way is from today where you can see the Holy Father is wearing a really smoking hat.

The Ratzinger Fourm (where I also get the full text translation-God Bless them) has this Petrus News Piece translated. Look for the full text later if it arrives before I leave work. Note they have more pics at the link


The Vatican has released the text of the Pope's catechesis today, but I can't translate till much later today. Here is a translation of various brief news agency items reported by PETRUS:

Too many faithful and too much sun: The Pope back in the Piazza wearing the 'galero' -

VATICAN CITY - Benedict XVI today resumed holding the General Audience in St. Peter's Square instead of Aula Paolo VI to accommodate some 12,000 faithful, twice the capacity of the indoor auditorium used in the summer months to escape from the outdoor heat. Most represented in today's audience were Germans, Spaniards, Polish, Greeks, as well as Turks and a delegation from El Salvador. As the Pope went through the crowd in the Popemobile before the audience began, he wore a red straw galero, the wide-brimmed papal hat, against the sun. He arrived in the Vatican earlier by helicopter from Castel Gandolfo.

He devoted the catechesis today to St. Gregory of Nyssa, brother of St. Basil and friend like him of St. Gregory Nazianzene - the two Father of the Church to whom the Pope had dedicated his four previous catecheses (two each for each one). The Pope said St. Gregory of Nyssa's teachings invited man "to recognize in himself the reflection of divine light." "Man's ultimate purpose is the contemplation of God," he said. "Only thus can he find his satisfaction. To anticipate this goal in some measure during life, he should progress incessantly towards a spiritual life that is increasingly more perfect." He said "the most important lesson St. Gregory of Nyssa left us is that 'man finds his full realization in sainthood."

he called him 'the father of mysticism', one who was "gifted with a meditative character, with a great capacity for reflection, and a lively intelligence which was open to the culture of this time." After the death of St. Basil, the Pope said, St. Gregory of Nyssa virtually "took up his spiritual legacy and cooperated in the triumph of (Catholic) orthodoxy." St. Gregory "recognized in himself the reflection of divine light." Speaking beyond his prepared text, the Pope added, "By purifying his heart, he returned to being - as man was before - a limpid image of God, exemplary beauty. Thus man can see God, as do the pure of heart, only by washing out the terrible things deposited in our hearts, can one find the light of God.

At the end of the general audience, the Pope extended a special greeting to a delegation from San Marino "who have gathered here today for the 25th anniversary of the visit made by my beloved predecessor John Paul II to that country."

"Dear friends," the Pope said to the 24-man delegation, "may the memory of that significant event inspire you to a renewed adherence to God, fountain of light, hope and peace." The delegation was accompanied by the Bishop of San Marino-Montefeltro, Mons. Luigi Negri. Finally, Benedict XVI invited the faithful to pray for the victims of the floods in Asia as well as the disastrous summer fires in Greece and other parts of Europe. "In these days," he said, "some geographic regions are devastated by great calamities. I refer to the floods in some Asian countries, as well as the disastrous fires in Greece, Italy and other European nations." To the appreciative applause of the audience, he said, "Before such tragic emergencies which have created so many victims and enormous material damage. we cannot be unconcerned about the irresponsible behavior of those who place the safety of persons at risk and destroy the ecological patrimony which is a precious asset for all of humanity."

He concluded, "I join those who rightly condemn such criminal actions and I invite everyone to pray for the victims of these tragedies."