Pope Calls Faithful to Holiness and being Configured to Jesus Christ

Benedict XVI concluded by encouraging people to follow Margaret of Oingt's invitation "to meditate daily on Jesus' life of pain and love, and that of His Mother, Mary. This is where our hope, the meaning of our existence, lies. From the contemplation of Christ's love for us arise the strength and the joy to respond with the same love, placing our lives at the service of God and of others".

P>VATICAN CITY  (VIS) - In Wednesday's s general audience, which was held in the Paul VI Hall, the Pope dedicated his attention to Margaret d'Oingt, who was born in 1240 "to a powerful family of old Lyonese nobility".   

From her writings, said the Pope, "we learn that she entered the Carthusian convent of Poleteins in response to the Lord's call, abandoning everything and accepting the severe Carthusian rule in order to be completely and always with the Lord".  

"We know that in 1288 she became the fourth prioress, a position she held until her death on 11 February 1310. Her writings reveal no particular details of her spiritual itinerary. She conceived of life as a journey of purification leading to full configuration with Christ. He is the book that must be written and inscribed into one's heart and life every day, especially His salvific passion".   

"Through her writings, Margaret offers us some glimpses of her spirituality, enabling us to comprehend certain traits of her personality and her gifts of leadership. ... She lived a life rich in mystical experiences which she described with simplicity, hinting at the ineffable mystery of God while underlining the limits of the mind to understand it and of the human tongue to express it".   

"In the dynamism of her mystical life, Margaret particularly appreciated the experience of the natural affections, purified by grace, as a privileged means for a deeper understanding and a more ready acceptance of divine action. ... The Triune God, the God love which is revealed in Christ, fascinated her, and Margaret experienced a relationship of profound love towards the Lord. By contrast, she was also aware of human ingratitude and baseness, even unto the paradox of the cross".   

Benedict XVI concluded by encouraging people to follow Margaret of Oingt's invitation "to meditate daily on Jesus' life of pain and love, and that of His Mother, Mary. This is where our hope, the meaning of our existence, lies. From the contemplation of Christ's love for us arise the strength and the joy to respond with the same love, placing our lives at the service of God and of others".