Vatican City, Jul 30, 2008 / 14:39 pm
Pope Benedict XVI, who is on vacation in the city of Bressanone in northern Italy, spiritually joined in the traditional recitation of the Rosary that takes place in the Vatican Gardens each year on the feast of St. Martha.
In a telegram sent in his name by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican Secretary of State, the Pope encouraged those present at the annual event “to serve Jesus in our brothers and sisters, with a generous commitment.”
The Pope’s Vicar of the Diocese of Rome, Cardinal Angelo Comastri, presided at the Rosary and candlelight procession, which was held in the Vatican Gardens before statues of Our Lady of Czestochowa, Guadalupe, Lourdes and Our Lady of Mercy.
The cloistered nuns of the Mater Ecclesiae monastery—located on the Vatican grounds—joined in the Rosary via radio, which allowed them to lead the last decade of the Rosary from inside the monastery.