"The Celestine Sign"
by Robert Moynihan Inside the Vatican
A little more than a year ago, on April 29, 2009, Benedict did something unusual. He left his own "pallium," the sign of his episcopal authority and his connection to Christ, on a tomb in Aquila, Italy. The tomb held the remains of a relatively obscure medieval Pope named Celestine V (1209-1296).
Why?
Celestine V was a holy monk. His model was John the Baptist. He wore hair-cloth and a chain of iron. He fasted every day except Sunday and each year he kept four Lents on bread and water alone. Many kindred spirits gathered about him eager to imitate his rule of life, and before his death there were 36 monasteries, numbering 600 religious, bearing his papal name (Celestini).
But he was not just a monk.
He was elected Pope in 1294, a time of great corruption and contention in the Church, after a conclave deadlocked for more than two years. He was elected at about the age of 80 (Benedict was 78 when he was elected Pope in 2005).
At Celestine's election, some of the Spiritual Franciscans, who opposed the worldliness of the Church hierarchy, proclaimed that he was the first legitimate Pope in nearly 1,000 years, since Constantine had granted the Church huge territorial possessions in the 300s.
So the Church had a holy leader, and many devout Catholics at that time thought the Church would be reformed by this good man.
But the holy Celestine -- who pleaded with the cardinals not to choose him as the Pope -- could not manage to rule the powerful cardinals around him.
The cardinals of 700 years ago seem to have chosen Celestine almost humorously, as it were, not seriously, as if to say, "We can't agree on a serious 'Prince-Cardinal' for Pope, so we will choose this holy, quiet, learned monk to be Pope, and watch with a certain amusement as he struggles mightily but in vain to guide the ungovernable bark of Peter."
After five months, Celestine gave up, and resigned -- the only Pope who has ever done so.
He thought he would end his life in peace, but his successor, Boniface VIII, fearing his opponents might use Celestine as a rallying point, ordered him confined, and some allege, executed (probably wrongly, since he was already approaching 90).
All of Celestine's official acts were annulled by Pope Boniface VIII.
Now, Benedict is scheduled to travel this Sunday, on July, 4, to Sulmona, not far from Rome. There, in the crypt of the cathedral, as the last act of his visit, he is scheduled to venerate relics of the same holy Pope, Celestine V.
So Sunday, the Pope will pray before Celestine's relics for the second time in 15 months.
I am not suggesting Pope Benedict XVI is thinking of following in the footsteps of the saintly Pope Celestine and resigning.
I am suggesting that the studious Pope Benedict and the studious monk-Pope are "connected" in a mysterious way.
I believe Benedict's decisions to leave his pallium in Aquila, where Celestine's tomb is located, and to schedule a prayer before his relics this coming Sunday, are not haphazard.
These decisions are indicators, ways of communicating truths through gestures. They contain a message the Pope cannot deliver any other way.
SULMONA, Italy, JULY 4, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the homily Benedict XVI gave during a Mass he celebrated today as part of his one-day trip to Italy's Abruzzi region.
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I am delighted to be with you today and to celebrate this solemn Eucharist with you. I greet your pastor, the bishop Monsignor Angelo Spina: I thank him for the warm expressions of welcome that he addressed to me on behalf of everyone, and for the gifts he gave me, which I truly appreciate as “signs” -- as he himself called them -- of the affective and effective communion that binds this people of the dear land of Abruzzo to the Successor of Peter. I greet the bishops and archbishops who are present, the priests, the religious, the representatives of the ecclesial associations and movements. I address a deferent thought to the mayor, Dr. Fabio Federico, grateful for his courteous welcome address and for the “signs,” and gifts, to the representative of the government and the civil and military officials. I give special thanks to those who generously offered their cooperation for this pastoral visit of mine.
Dear brothers and sisters! I have come to share the joys and hopes, the toils and efforts, ideals and aspirations of this diocesan community. I know well that at Sulmona too there is no lack of difficulties, problems and worries: I think, in particular, of those who concretely live their lives in precarious conditions because of the lack of work, the uncertainty of the future, physical and moral suffering and -- as the bishop recalled -- because of the sense of loss that followed the earthquake of April 6, 2009. I want to reassure everyone of my nearness and that I remember you in prayer, as I encourage perseverance in witness to human and Christian values deeply rooted in the faith and history of this area and its population.
Dear friends! My visit takes place on the occasion of the Jubilee Year proclaimed by the bishops of Abruzzo and Molise to celebrate the 800th anniversary of birth of St. Peter Celestine. Flying over your land I was able to contemplate the beauty of its landscape and, above all, admire some places closely linked to the life of this renowned figure: Mount Morrone, where Peter lived as a hermit for many years; the Hermitage of Sant’Onofrio, where in 1294 he received news of his election as Supreme Pontiff, which occurred at the conclave in Perugia; and the Abbey of Santo Spirito, whose main altar was consecrated by him after his coronation in the Basilica of Collemaggio in L’Aquila. In April of last year, after the earthquake that devastated this region, in this basilica I myself came to venerate the casket that contains his remains and leave the pallium that I received on the first day of my pontificate. More than 800 years have passed since the birth of St. Peter Celestine V, but he remains in history on account of the notable events of his pontificate and, above all, because of his holiness. Holiness, in fact, never loses its own power of attraction, it is not forgotten, it never goes out of fashion, indeed, with the passage of time, it shines with ever greater luminosity, expressing man’s perennial longing for God. From the life of St. Peter Celestine, I would like to gather some teachings that are also valid for our days.
Peter Angelerio was a “seeker of God” from his youth, a man who was desirous to find the answers to the great questions of our existence: Who am I? Where do I come from? Why am I alive? For whom do I live? He went in search of truth and happiness, he went in search of God and, to hear his voice, decided to separate himself from the world and to live as a hermit. Silence thus became the element that characterized his daily life. And it is precisely in external silence, but above all in internal silence, that he succeeded in perceiving God’s voice, a voice that was able to guide his life. Here a first aspect that is important for us: We live in a society in which it seems that every space, every moment must be “filled” with initiatives, activity, sound; often there is not even time to listen and dialogue. Dear brothers and sisters! Let us not be afraid to be silent outside and inside ourselves, so that we are able not only to perceive God’s voice, but also the voice of the person next to us, the voices of others.
But it is important to underscore a second element too: Peter Angelerio’s discovery of God was not only the result of his effort but was made possible by the grace of God itself that came to him. What he had, what he was, did not come from him: it was granted to him, it was grace, and so it was also a responsibility before God and before others. Even if our life is very different from his, the same thing is also true for us: the entirety of what is essential in our existence was bestowed upon us without our intervention. The fact that I live does not depend on me; the fact that there were people who introduced me to life, that taught me what it means to live and be loved, who handed down the faith to me and opened my eyes to God: all of that is grace and not “done by me.” We could have done nothing ourselves if it had not been given to us: God always anticipates us and in every individual life there is beauty and goodness that we can easily recognize as his grace, as a ray of the light of his goodness. Because of this we must be attentive, always keep our “interior eyes” open, the eyes of our heart. And if we learn how to know God in his infinite goodness, then we will be able to see, with wonder, in our lives -- as the saints did -- the signs of that God, who is always near to us, who is always good to us, who says: “Have faith in me!”
In interior silence, in perceiving the Lord’s presence, Peter del Morrone developed a lively experience of the beauty of creation, the work of God’s hands: he knew its deepest meaning, he respected its signs and rhythms, he used it for what is essential to life. I know that this local Church, like the others of Abruzzo and Molise, are actively engaged in a campaign of sensitivity to and promotion of the common good and of safeguarding creation: I encourage you in this effort, exhorting everyone to feel responsible for their own future, and that of others, respecting and caring also for creation, fruit and sign of God’s love.
In today’s second reading, taken from the Letter to the Galatians, we heard a beautiful expression of St. Paul, which is also a perfect spiritual portrait of St. Peter Celestine: “For me the only boast is in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world” (6:14). Truly the cross was the center of his life. It gave him the strength to face bitter penances and the most difficult times, from youth to his last hour: he was always aware that through it comes salvation. The cross also gave St. Peter Celestine a clear awareness of sin that was always accompanied by an awareness that was just as clear of God’s mercy for his creature. Seeing the wide-open arms of his crucified God, he felt himself transported into the infinite sea of God’s love. As a priest he experienced the beauty of being the administrator of this mercy, absolving penitents of sin, and, when he was elected to the See of the Apostle Peter, he wanted to grant a special indulgence called “The Pardon.” I would like to exhort priests to be clear and credible witnesses of the good news of reconciliation with God, helping the man of today to recover the sense of sin and God’s forgiveness, to experience that superabundant joy that the prophet Isaiah spoke to us about in the first reading (cf. Isaiah 66:10-14).
Finally, a third element: St. Peter, although he lived as a hermit, was not “closed in on himself” but was filled with passion to bring the good news of the Gospel to his brothers. And the secret of his pastoral fruitfulness was precisely in “abiding” in the Lord, in prayer, as we were also reminded by today’s Gospel passage: the first priority is always to pray to the Lord of the harvest (cf. Luke 10:2). And it is only after this invitation that Jesus outlines some of the essential duties of the disciples: the serene, clear and courageous proclamation of the Gospel message -- even in moments of persecution -- without ceding to the allurement of fashion nor to that of violence and imposition; detachment from worry about things -- money, clothing -- confiding in the providence of the Father; attention and care especially for the sick in body and spirit (cf. Luke 10:5-9). These were also the characteristics of the brief and trying pontificate of Celestine V and these are the characteristics of the missionary activity of the Church in every age.
Brothers and sisters! I am among you to confirm you in the faith. I would like to exhort you, firmly and with affection, to remain solid in that faith that you have received, which gives meaning to life and gives one strength to love. May the example and intercession of the Mother of God and of St. Peter Celestine accompany us on this journey. Amen!
[Translation by Joseph G. Trabbic]
P.S. The Picture above (from Idle Speculations Blog, 21 April 2010) is a painting hanging in the Cathedral of Sulmona, commissioned for the Celestine Jubilee, which the Holy Father closed on 4 July 2010 with the above homily and Mass.