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POPE-AUDIENCE Jun-11-2008 (420 words) With photos. xxxi
Pope says living exemplary life is key to re-evangelization
By Carol Glatz
Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Living an "exemplary life" is key to re-evangelizing lands that have forgotten their Christian roots, Pope Benedict XVI said.
St. Columbanus, a sixth-century Irish monk, was "one of the fathers of Europe" who helped re-evangelize a region that had succumbed to a resurgence of paganism, the pope said during his June 11 general audience in St. Peter's Square.
The saint and his companions started their missionary work in the French region of Brittany and established their first monastery on an old abandoned Roman fortress.
Their re-evangelization "began to unfold above all through their witness in life," in their ability to cultivate and live off the land, and lead a simple, somewhat austere life enriched with prayer, the pope said.
Numerous people were drawn to the foreign missionaries -- especially young people "who asked to be welcomed into the monastic community to live like them -- this exemplary life that rebuilt the earth and souls," he said.
As their fame spread and the number of their followers increased, the monks had to build other monasteries in the region.
St. Columbanus introduced the Irish penitential tradition, which included private confession, to Europe.
Through his life and writings, the Irish saint helped shape the monastic culture of the Middle Ages "and thus nourished the Christian roots of Europe," said Pope Benedict.
"He expended all his energy to nourish the budding Christian roots of Europe and with his spiritual energy, his faith, his love of God and his neighbor ... he was one of the fathers of Europe and even shows us today where those roots are and from where our Europe can be reborn," he said.
Pope Benedict said the saint's message to people today also includes "a firm call for conversion and letting go of earthly goods."
His ascetic lifestyle was not an end in itself "but a means for freely opening oneself up to God's love," the pope said.
"Let us remember that we have to return all those gifts that (God) has given us" after death and that earthly possessions are nothing in comparison to the heavenly rewards that await in eternity, he said.
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Editor's Note: The Vatican's text of the pope's remarks in English is available online at: www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/audiences/2008/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20080611_en.html.
The Vatican's text of the pope's remarks in Spanish is available online at: www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/audiences/2008/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20080611_sp.html.
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