During Lent we read various writings of Pope Benedict XVI collected into one tome by Bishop Robert Barron: The Pope Benedict XVI Reader. It’s one of those books you are originally unsure how it will work for table reading, but in the end turns out to be relatively successful. I am a fan of this pope, and the variety of texts in the reader indicates well the breadth of his interests. Some of the background material regarding his resignation was new to me, especially that the assembled cardinals knew something unusual was up when the pope began speaking in Latin rather than Italian, his usual language of address.
I would say the most revealing and informative parts of the collection were taken from his brief treatments of various fathers of the early church that the pope gave in a series of weekly audiences. Of course, Saint Benedict is covered, but here is a gem from St. Gregory:
“This is what Gregory the Great affirms in a famous letter (I, 24): ‘I confess that I receive and revere, as the four books of the Gospel so also the four Councils”, because on them, Gregory explains further, “as on a four-square stone, rises the structure of the holy faith.'”
brotherisaac 