A letter of gratitude from Fr. Francois‐Marie Lethel ocd
To all the nuns and brothers of the Carmelite Family
And to All the friends who have supported me with their prayers
For the spiritual exercises preached to the Pope and the Roman Curia
13th – 19th March 2011
Dear Brothers and Sisters, dear Friends,
On 4th February, when my appointment was made public, I wrote a letter to you afterwards to ask for your support in prayer so that I could fulfil this task that Pope Benedict XVI confided in me. Now, I feel I should thank all
of you, because I felt lifted up by an immense spiritual current, though I felt small, so small for such a great mission, too great a mission for me. Thank you, everything went very well, much better than I could have imagined. In a short while, you can read the text of the 17 meditations that were first written in Italian and afterwards will be translated into different languages. I would just like to quote three texts from these meditations, in relation to the words spoken and written by the Pope at the end, which I shall relate to you in their entirety.
The first meditation, given during the first vespers of Sunday 13th March, before the exposed Blessed Sacrament, began with these words:
“Holy Father, Venerable Fathers, Dear Brothers, When Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone called to tell me that the Holy Father had chosen me as the preacher of the Lenten spiritual exercises this year, for the Pope and the Roman Curia, I said yes, in obedience to our Lord Jesus in the person of His Vicar, abandoning myself to the power of the Holy Spirit and to Mary’s maternal help, to fulfil this mission; a mission too big for me. It was the morning of 31st January, the feast of St. John Bosco. I then celebrated the Eucharist for this intention, and afterwards went to the sanctuary of the Virgin of Divine Love, where I remained the whole afternoon in prayer. There I was enlightened and could see very clearly the direction I should take for these exercises, which were a spiritual preparation for the beatification of John Paul II. I also saw clearly the title: The Light of Christ in the Heart of the Church, and the subtitle: John Paul II and the Theology of the Saints; the Holy women and men who would lead us in the days of the retreat.
Afterwards I had to write all these meditations, intending to work as much as possible, as did John Paul II, in front of the Blessed Sacrament, to receive and communicate his Light.”
The Pope and all the participants (about 80 people, among them Cardinals, Bishops and Priests), had a leaflet in their hands with a brief presentation of the titles of all the meditations. On the cover was the image of the ‘choirs of saints’ painted by Fray Angelico, where the Saints and the Angels are holding each other.
This was really the icon of these exercises, which drew everyone’s attention and contributed a lot in creating an atmosphere of evangelical simplicity and joy that characterised these days of grace. On the last day, the Pope himself made reference to this ‘choir of Saints’ and, afterwards, so did Cardinal Sodano in his brief address.
Before each meditation everyone was given the text on a leaflet. I spoke very freely, at the same time tried not to go over the 30 minutes allotted to me. Saint Therese of Lisieux had been favoured with four meditations. In the first, I recalled the special involvement of our Order and of our Superiors for her Doctorate.
These are the words that I spoke before the Pope and the Cardinals: “I had the joy of participating personally in the preparation for the Doctorate of Teresa of Lisieux, with my Carmelite religious family, and particularly with the Teresianum in Rome. I remember how at the end of February 1977, through the Secretary of State, John Paul II asked the then Superior General of the Discalced
Carmelites, Fr. Camilo Maccise, to prepare a Proposito [an official document that forms part of the process for the Doctorate] – in only a month and a half, exactly the same time that I had for the preparation of these exercises.
Fr. Camilo then got involved, with his typical intelligence and generosity, to animate this work as a team, which was undoubtedly our greatest service to the Magisterium of John Paul II. Mgr. Guy Gaucher, the Auxiliary Bishop of Lisieux, got out a very important paper as well as the lecturers at the Teresianum who today are in their Father’s home: Fr. Jesus Castellano and Fr. Mario Caprioli. The Proposito highlighted the eminent doctrine contained in her Writings and the extraordinary ecclesial acceptance that continues to grow in all the world.”
With these words and also at other times, I always wanted to express myself before the Pope and his Collaborators as a Teresian Carmelite, and not simply as an individual, a ‘private’ theologian. This desire produced a very positive effect, and was referred to again by the same Holy Father in his Letter of thanksgiving. It is a real reason for all of us to be full of joy!
The most beautiful day of these exercises was, without doubt, the last, the solemnity of Saint Joseph, Custodian of the Redeemer, Patron of the Universal Church, the Holy Father’s baptismal Saint, and greatly loved by our Holy Mother and her sons and daughters! The teaching of our Mother was at the heart of the last meditation on Saint Joseph. I insisted particularly on the profound ecclesial sense of her first foundation, this small house of St. Joseph’s in Avila, where Jesus is at the centre, while Mary and Joseph, watch over the doors (cf. Life 32.11). This was also true for the entire Church, and we experienced this with the Pope and the Cardinals during these days, in a spiritual atmosphere that was precisely that of the Holy Family.
At the end of the last meditation, I got to my feet, and before everyone, I said these words to the Pope:
“Holy Father, my last words are for You. Thank you! I cannot find the words to express sufficiently how to thank you for asking me to do this service, such a great mission to preach these spiritual exercises for You and the Roman Curia. It has been for me an enormous grace, undoubtedly one of the greatest in my life, together with my religious profession and my priestly ordination.
It has been for me an extraordinary experience of Light, of Jesus, Light of the World. The Light of Christ in the Heart of the Church: these were the four words that came to me with great clarity when I prayed to the Virgin of Divine Love, on 31st January, on the feast of Don Bosco, the same day that Cardinal Bertone confided in me this great mission from His Holiness. During my intense preparation for the meditations, the same words repeated themselves, each time more clearly.
At the beginning, when I said “yes”, it seemed impossible to write these 17meditations in such a short space of time. However, later, returning to the Virgin of Divine Love, I understood that ‘nothing is impossible for God,’ and decided, with the help of His grace, to write down everything before the exercises, knowing that You, Your Holiness, preferred to have the text at the beginning, and that it would be good to publish these mediations before the beatification of John Paul II.
I can tell you that I wrote under obedience and with trust, and immersed myself in an atmosphere of prayer and work such as I have never experienced before in my life. I felt so small, so very small, in the face of so great a calling, too great for me. However, I lived this lowliness with Mary, and with the help of my great Teacher, Saint Therese of Lisieux, I put myself totally in God’s Hands to write these meditations ‘to measure’, for You, Holy Father. I experienced more than ever how obedience takes us into new dimensions. It has been for me a rediscovery, something completely new, of this ‘great science of the saints’ that is an enormous treasure that belongs to the Church, and not to me. It has been for me an immense grace to pray each day with You, Your Holiness. Each day I prayed also for a long time at the tomb of John Paul II, praying his intercession for You, for all the Church, for all the world, renewing with him the ‘Totus Tuus.’ And it was he who led our spiritual exercises before his beatification. It was him, really, who has guided our ‘choir’ of saints, and who will be an exceptional mirror of the Light of the Resurrected Christ for us and for all the world.
Holy Father, on this solemnity of St. Joseph, your baptismal Saint, we have all come together here in profound communion with You. To him we confide the protection of Your Person, of Your Mission as Universal Pastor, your personal journey of Holiness, so that You continue to uphold in our world the great Truth that shines out in Love, and that is the Light of the love of Jesus!”
Immediately after these words, the Holy Father approached the altar and spoke spontaneously, without notes. It was the most beautiful moment for me. He responded briefly but clearly to everything I had tried to express with my mediations. These were his words:
“Dear Brothers, Dear Father Lethel,
At the end of our reflection, our meditation, our prayer in the company of our Saints, the friends of Pope John Paul II, I would like to say with all my heart: Thank you, Father Lethel, for Your sure guidance, for the spiritual richness that you have given us. The Saints: You have shown us they are ‘stars’ in the firmament of History and, with Your enthusiasm and Your joy, you introduced us to the choir of these Saints. You taught us that precisely the ‘lowly’ Saints are the ‘great’ Saints. You taught us that the science of faith and the science of love go together and complete each other, that true reason and great love go together, even more, that great love sees more than reason on its own.
Providence has deemed that these Exercises should conclude on the feast of Saint Joseph, my personal Patron and Patron of the Holy Church: a humble saint, a humble worker, who was considered worthy to be the guardian of the Redeemer.
Saint Matthew describes Saint Joseph with one word: ‘He was just’, ‘dikaios’, from ‘dike’, in the
vision of the Old Testament, as we encounter it for example in Psalm 1, ‘just is the man immersed in the Word of God, who lives the Word of God, and lives the Law, not as a ‘yoke’, but with ‘delight’. He lives, we can say, the Law as ‘Gospel.’ Saint Joseph was a just man, immersed in the Word of God, written, transmitted in the wisdom of his people, and for this he was prepared and called to know the Incarnate Word – the Word made man – and predestined to be the custodian, to protect this Word Incarnate; it will be his mission for ever: to be the custodian of the Holy Church and Our Lord.
We commend ourselves at this time to his protection, we ask him to help us in our humble service. We are going ahead with confidence under his protection. We thank the humble Saints, we ask them to intercede for us to the Lord that we also be humble in our service and likewise saints in the company of the Saints.
Once more, thank for Fr. Lethel for Your inspiring words. Thank you!” I was overjoyed to receive these inspired words directly from the Holy Father, words that were fully his own, that came spontaneously and straight from his heart. I experienced again in a most beautiful and personal way what I had already discovered on other occasions: the particular value of the talks he gives without notes, which come spontaneously from Him (as, for example, his homily to theologians on 1st December 2009, which I quoted in my first meditation). His words, with respect to the two forms of theology of the Saints; as a science of faith and a science of love and, the particular importance of the latter, were obviously very valuable for me. I was also struck by his stress on humility, the humility of St. Joseph whom we should all imitate, but even more his witness of great humility.
It was a very emotional time for me, especially when the Pope changed the scheduled programme. He should normally have left the chapel – and I with him – to be greeted in the hall next door.
However, here he remained and I had to approach him in front of the altar. Then he put a letter addressed to me in my hands and, through me, to the whole Carmelite Order: ‘Reverend Father FRANCOIS‐MARIE LETHEL, O.C.D. Secretary of the Pontifical Academy of Theology
I would like to express my heartfelt thanks for the precious service you have given us, to me and my collaborators from the Roman Curia, preaching the Spiritual Exercises during these days,. Thank you, too, for the effort you made under these circumstances, which helped us enter into the spirit of Lent. Our Mother Church, following the Word of God, asks us: be more attentive to the voice of God.
I am particularly grateful for the itinerary that You, Reverend Father, took us on with your meditations: a spiritual journey inspired by the witness of my predecessor, the Venerable John Paul II, who with his forthcoming beatification suggested to us the theme of holiness, which you deepened through an encounter with the living images of some Saints, who are like shining stars that revolve around the Sun who is Christ, Light of the World. With this project, You adjusted very well to the catechetical programme that he [John Paul II] developed over the years during his General Audiences, with the purpose of making the Church better known and loved, as he showed by his life, his works and the teaching of the Saints: beginning with the Apostles, followed by a long list of the Fathers and other ancient writers, the theologians and the mediaeval mystics, with particular attention to a large group of women, and up to a series on the Doctors of the Church, that I am to complete.
This line of reflection and contemplation on the mystery of Christ reflected, so to speak, in the existence of his most faithful imitators, constitutes a fundamental element that John Paul II inherited and that he developed with total conviction and great joy.
I would like you to know, dear Brother, that I address my thanks also to the entire Carmelite Order of which you form part. I, and the entire Church, appreciate and share your sentiments that the Church is a communion of Saints, which this course of Exercises has made us feel more than ever. I would like to express our gratitude to the Church, animated by the Holy Spirit, and to our Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary. May the Virgin and Saint Joseph, Spouse and Patron of the Universal Church, whose feast we celebrate today and to whom You dedicated the meditation this morning, concede to you an abundance of their celestial gifts, and I impart to you from my heart a special Apostolic Blessing, that I extend very willingly to all your dear brothers and sisters.
The Vatican, 19th March 2011
Benedict PP XVI
I am very happy to be able to share this beautiful Letter from the Pope with all the Carmelite Order and with all the dear people, with all of you, according to his same words. Afterwards, we all left the Chapel, and in the other room all of us, Cardinals and Bishops, wished the Pope a happy feast. It was a very simple and fraternal moment. In his brief address, Cardinal Angel Sodano, Deacon of the College of Cardinals said to the Pope: ‘We, the members of the Curia, and with the weight of our advanced ages, would also like to form a choir above You, to express our joy.’ We were all caught up in the atmosphere of Therese of Lisieux’s ‘spiritual childhood!’
However, for me, it had not ended yet. The Pope invited me to eat with Him, and I was so very happy to be with him for an hour, together with his Maltese Secretary, Mgr. Alfred Xuereb, a former student at the Teresianum. It was a marvelous time. I had the audacity at the time to ask the Holy Father for a special grace,not for me, but for my brother Carmelites at the Teresianum, i.e., that he would receive us in a special audience; obviously with Our Father General and his Collaborators. The Holy Father afterwards said yes to this, and some days later, an audience was fixed for 19th May. “The Almighty has done great things for me and holy is His name” (Lk 1.49). I end with these words from the Blessed Virgin. Yes, in these days of grace, God really did do great things for the Church, for the Order, to deepen our communion with the Pope.
Tuesday 12th April 2011
