Tu es Petrus

Everyone by now should be aware that Pope Benedict XVI is abdicating the See of Peter effective February 28th, 2013.

What he must have been suffering in contemplating this move! I understand in some small way how it feels to go day after day fully fatigued, but how much more our Pope! To have so many cares on his shoulders, to be exhausted, and yet to feel keenly the duty he owes Our Lord and His Church... "Tu es Petrus." These words must have echoed back to him as he prayed for light and guidance.

In the end, he received an answer. I have full faith that the Pope knows what he is about, and his abdication, followed by the succession of a new Bishop of Rome, is for the best.

I hope dear Papa Ben may soon return to his beloved Germany, and be blessed with a quiet life of prayer and contemplation, secure in the knowledge that he has done the Lord's will, and that the Holy Spirit will continue to guide the Church.

This is Novus Latium. It is fitting, therefore, to repost the following video, which is in Latin.

I'm sure I am not the only one who is very sorry to lose this wonderful, humble Servant of the Servants of God. You might wish you could give him a hug; I certainly do. Well, we can send him many spiritual hugs through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, to which we will be reapplying ourselves in earnest anyway when Lent starts on Wednesday. It would probably be a good idea to offer our prayers and sacrifices this Lent in a special way for the Holy Father, the Church, the conclave, and the next successor of Peter.