On April 19th, 2005—twenty years ago today—Pope Benedict XVI began his pontificate.

"We must rejoice a great deal over this transformation by which we are taken from earthly coarseness to heavenly dignity through that ineffable mercy of the one who descended to our state in order to lift us up to his."
— Pope St. Leo the Great, On the Lord's Resurrection, Delivered on Holy Saturday on the Easter Vigil

Don’t pay any attention to politics today.

Jesus conquered hell, defeated death, and freed us from the bondage of sin. Nothing can undo the victory that has already been won!

"Just as the Virgin Mary, the Mother of the Lord, holds the first place among all women, even so, this day is the mother of days among all days."
— St. Jerome, Homily 93 on Easter Sunday

He is all things.
He is law, in that he judges.
He is word, in that he teaches.
He is grace, in that he saves.
He is father, in that he begets.
He is son, in that he is begotten.
He is sheep, in that he suffers.
He is human, in that he is buried.
He is God, in that he is raised up.

— St. Melito of Sardis, On Pascha

"Today, Christ, with the thief, has removed the flaming sword and reopened the gate of Paradise that no one has been able to storm."
— St. Jerome, Homily 93 on Easter Sunday

"For it is not on one place, nor in a narrow plot, that the glory of God is established, but on all the ends of the earth."
— St. Melito of Sardis, On Pascha

Divine Mercy Novena: Day 3

Pope Francis, after a penitential Lent in which he underwent great suffering due to his illness, passed on to his eternal reward at 7:35AM in Rome. Pray for the repose of his soul: Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him.

I will be offering the remaining days of the Divine Mercy Novena for the soul of his holiness Pope Francis.

"[M]any of those who said, His blood be upon us and upon our children (Mt 27:25), later on came to believe the apostles bringing them the good news of the resurrection. His blood was indeed upon them, but it was to wash them, not to destroy them; well, upon some to destroy them, upon others to cleanse them; upon those to be destroyed, in justice; upon those to be cleansed, in mercy."
— St. Augustine, Sermon 229F, Preached on the Monday After Easter

"In a word, if love reigns in our heart, we become, in a complete and luminous way, the persons we are meant to be, for every human being is created above all else for love. In the deepest fibre of our being, we were made to love and to be loved."
— Pope Francis, On the Human and Divine Love of the Heart of Jesus Christ

"In the presence of the heart of Christ, I once more ask the Lord to have mercy on this suffering world in which he chose to dwell as one of us."
— Pope Francis, On the Human and Divine Love of the Heart of Jesus Christ

"In the end, that Sacred Heart is the unifying principle of all reality."
— Pope Francis, On the Human and Divine Love of the Heart of Jesus Christ

"All our actions need to be put under the 'political rule' of the heart. In this way, our aggressiveness and obsessive desires will find rest in the greater good that the heart proposes and in the power of the heart to resist evil."
— Pope Francis, On the Human and Divine Love of the Heart of Jesus Christ

"The birth rate is the first indicator of a people’s hope. Without children and young people, a country loses its drive for the future."
— Pope Francis

"It is an error, or rather a heresy, to endeavor to banish a devout life from the camps of soldiers, the shops of tradesmen, the courts of princes, or the affairs of married people... Wheresoever we are, we may and ought to aspire to a perfect life."
— St. Francis de Sales, An Introduction to the Devout Life

"The suffering that has marked the final part of my life, I offer to the Lord, for peace in the world and for fraternity among peoples."
— Pope Francis