Let’s all support the Holy Father in prayer during his final days as our shepherd, and trust in the Holy Spirit to guide the consistory.

Thank you Holy Father for serving the Church faithfully for the past eight years.

These are momentous times in the world and this is truly history in the making. The Holy Spirit is at work in this event, and He has a great plan in store for the Church and for the world. I am excited to see what unfolds.

Let us all pray for the college of Cardinals as they prepare to take up this very important decision.

—-todd

  He’s setting a healthy example and removing a piece of denial from our papal culture.  And he is teaching all advanced elderly e.g. to not drive when you really can’t do so adequately.  We all will remember this when we’re trying to drive past quitting time.  He’s wonderful…he’s following the truth whereever it leads.

Feb. 11th…let us pray for Pope Benedict, a wise, good and holy man and let us pray that those who will elect his successor will be guided by the grace and wisdom of the Holy Spirit.

I was driving to Mass this morning and I turned on the radio in my truck and heard Anna Mitchell on GRN giving the morning news. I just caught the tail-end of “something” big that Anna was talking about but did not know what it was. So, I switched over to secular radio to get the traffic and then switched back to GRN and heard the whole thing.
I have to say my first reaction was shock and began to tear-up because I was just talking about the Holy Father last night with a priest friend of mine and I said the Holy Father seems so frail lately. My first thought of his frailness was when I saw the Holy Father give a Mass recently in Rome (on EWTN) and I thought to myself, The Holy Father seems so frail, it seems he has a hard time walking; and I thought I wonder if he would resign. I mean the last Pope to resign was Gregory XII 600 years ago.
Anyway, after hearing the news I regained my composure and thought to myself it is not like he died. I went to Mass and prayed and left Mass thinking that the Holy Father is doing the right thing. It takes a man of tremendous humility to do something like this.

Viva il Papa.May Our Beloved Lord bless him with our Moma Maria.

God Bless Pope Benedict XVI!!!  What a great shephard he has been these last eight years.  Holy Spirit please allow the conclave to select our next pope with one as humble and orthodox as this one!

He is a great Pope, all pray for this great messenger of God.

God Bless Pope Benedict, a wonderful Pope.
Let us pray for the Pope; and for our Church - so that the college of Cardinals chooses someone as Faithful, thoughtful, and intelligent as Pope Benedict.
There is still much work to be done, as always.
Everyone, please be obedient to the Pope and read/study the CCC.

His announcement on the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes…
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Blessings to you, Holy Father!

I agree with Bill. I hope this sets a new precedent for Popes. Especially in our 24 hour media circus world we live in…important to have a Pope in good health and not feeling weighed down by the demands of the office etc. Thank you Pope Benedict for your continued guidance!

  I hope the next Pope is up to the challenge of confronting the Muslim assault upon Christianity worldwide. It is in the last few years that it has gone global, murderous, massive and genocidal.

May God bless the Holy Father!  I’m sorry to see him go but respect his wishes.

May Our Lord continue to watch over and bless our Holy Father Pope Benedict. He has been a wonderful example of humility and faith in Christ for all of us. I have no doubt that he along with PJPII have continued to lay the seeds necessary for the renewal of the Faith and love Christ through out the world.

Amen, Thank you Pope Benedict for your service to God and man!  Thank you for your honesty and love!

I do not believe it is a coincidence that he announced it on the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes and two days before the start of Lent - I think our own plans for Lent need to set aside to put all of our prayers and sacrifices at the feet of Christ and the Blessed Mother for the process to begin on/after Feb. 28th.
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In my house (10 all together 2 adults, 2 young adults and 6 younger) , the conversation all morning was ‘how?’ and ‘why?’ BUT now has moved onto ‘What can we do to help him (Pope Benedict) and the Church?’ 
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Never before have we been given the privilege and responsibility to be such active participants in the process!!!!  In all the years prior, our prayers have begun at the announcement of the death of the Pope (such as with JPII) and then through the conclave which lasts only a few days at most.
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What is God asking of us that He is giving us almost a full month??!!  It is amazing because God already knows who the next Pope will be!  He has known since the dawn of time - our job is to patiently wait for the revelation of his name.
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I think the first thing we can do is to resist to join into the speculation of why it has happened, which has already happened and turning negative, and just keep praying for Pope B and whomever God has already chosen.

What will be the Holy Father’s status, and how is he to be addressed, after 8 p.m. Central European Time February 28? Will he be “Former Pope Benedict XVI?” “Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI?” Or does he return to being “Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger?” Some may consider this a trifling point—but it will have to be decided between now and then.

Benedict XVI-a holy and honest man non pareil. The choice was made, the notice was given, thus we pray for the shepherd who guided the Petrine ministry for over 8 years. May the Holy Trinity guide the member Cardinals in the College of Cardinals to make the swift choice of his succesor for the good of the holy Roman Catholic church. MABUHAY BENEDICTO!!!

I know my ‘planned’ Lenten sacrifices and prayers just got switched up to praying and sacrificing not only for Pope B, but the man who will succeed him and those who will be at the conclave.  It is really very cool that we will have a chance to participate in this whole process for much longer and more concretely than ever before.  Let the praying and sacrificing begin - a new pope is on the way!

I converted under this Pope…I always wanted to meet him and tell him that…God bless our Holy Father.

I will miss you papa.

Bless you dear Holy Father for your faithful service to our Church. You will always remain in our prayers.

God bless you, papa Bene.

In addition to the Muslim Assualt is the homosexual, feminist and secular attacks on Christianity.

Pope Benedict XVI has been a beautiful example of God’s grace working in a human being. He is a holy man of God. May he receive consolation from the Holy Spirit and may he be at peace. Thank you Holy Father for your holiness, wisdom and intellect in leading the Church. May God be with you.

Our Holy Father’s humility and humanity, gracefully given on the Feast of our Lady of Lourdes at the foot of the Lenten Cross. Timing is everything in His wisdom, that is yet to be fully revealed. The 900 year anniversary of the unique humanitarian order of the Knights of Malta as a sovereign entity and 600yrs since the last papal resignation only further to remind us of The Blessed Trinity working in these momentous, inspired decisions.

How blessed our world and all its peoples have been in these eight years of Benedict’s pontificate; his guidance and teaching, his prayers and his love, his written words to live for all time.  Stunned as is the world, I do not question the decision of a holy man who lives each moment of his day in The Presence. I only hear “Be still, and know that I am God”.
Holy Father Benedict’s great blessing will be, on his day, to hear “Well done, good and faithful servant”!

Hola Father…in these times of rapid changes and multiple challenges to our faith, you have been an inspiration to the world and a strong defender of the faith .  May the Good Lord be always with you and may He reward you in heaven with a seat next to your predecessors and, specially, John Paul II..May Jesus and the Blessed Mother protect you always!

Late at night on the 28th… This means that a few hours later, on march 1st, the seat will be vacant….. GOD! WHY? WHY ON MY BIRTHDAY? I dont know how i will be able to celebrate anything when Papa Bene isnt feeling well and has to step down….
God bless you, Your Holiness. Thankyou for your faithful leadership through the past few years. At the Yoth Ralley for Life at the Verison Center in Washington DC, in which I was in attendance, we gave appluse and cheers in small groups all around the rink as our bishops were introduced. We love them, we all apluaded each one, but there was one there wjo came from the vatican to read a letter from you. I dont remeber his name, it was lost on me in all the whirrl and activity of that day; but the celebrant of the mass asked us to give him our love to bring back to you. I tell you, father, I have never heard anything so loud in my life as the cheering and clapping, aplause and whistling and shouts!  Thats becuase it came from us all, without exception. Most of us were exhausted, except for maryland and DC natives, many of us had traveled from far away in vans and buses. I rode four hours, but many drove seven, or even twenty. Not many of us had much sleep, and I couldnt help but notice we were little more than Zombies before that point. But during that moment, you couldnt tell. I really think that was a large part kf getting many marchers through the day. We love you, Pope Benedict. God bless!

What a blessing that the Divine Providence entrusted His church to such a holy and humble man these past eight years! We love you Holy Father and always be grateful for your service and dedication to spread the splendour of Truth.
VIVA EL PAPA!!!!

Thank you for your lifetime of service to the Lord and the Catholic Church. This signals the end of an era. This will be the last Pope to grow up in the 1930’s and see the effects of life under a dictator and the horrors of WWll and the years that followed. I converted under this Pope and feel a special closeness to him. I shall keep him in prayer and pray for a new Pope who will continue to lead the Church with orthodoxy and love.

This can’t have been an easy decision to take and he must have struggled with this for quite some time. As many have pointed out, though, no one will have had a more fully-informed idea than Benedict of both the blessings and difficulties of having a ailing pope, seeing how close he was to John Paul in his final days.

I’ve seen some criticism from Catholics who feel he should have stuck it out to the end, like his predecessor. However, the more I think about it, the more I feel that, while this is shows a different sort of bravery from John Paul II’s, it’s bravery nonetheless.

Also, the fruits may be quite unexpected. For instance, quite a few non-Catholics (and, indeed, one anti-Catholic) friends have commented to me today that this has made them see Benedict in a new light, as someone of great personal humility and bravery, with no thought for himself, only for the good of the Church.

After watching the Holy Father celebrating Mass recently, one can see the toll the Office has taken on his health.  He has done the right thing for the very reasons he has mentioned. He deserves to take his rest and preserve the quality of his pontificate. Pope Benedict XVI has the love and best wishes of the faithful. Well done, good and faithful servant!

The Holy Spirit is working in the world and in the church, and our beloved B-16 is his instrument for grace and change.  Exciting times to be a Catholic, that’s for sure.

Thank you so very much for your dedication, faith and love to our Heavely Father and Mother to do the job that was asked of you.  You have done a wonderful job. My prayers and my families prayers will be with you now and always. May the Trinity sorround you and protect you and may our Blessed Mary carry you dear to Her and close to Her Heart.  We Love and deeply & appreciate your service.  God Bless.

For me, the key sentence is the last one where the Holy Father wants to dedicate the rest of his life to PRAYER, gosh that’s something I can do too, pray.

I was surprised, but encouraged by Benedict’s decision to resign. I truly believe he knows the the world has evolved much faster than our beloved church.  I hope this decision sends a heartfelt message to the college of cardinals that they need elect a new pontiff, that can embrace and address these world changes with courage, openness and acceptance in bringing the church closer to the norms of society today.  I love my church. I love our ritual and the basics of our faith, however it has been out of touch for some time now and has been racked with too many scandals that has caused the faithful to retreat.  I wish his holiness all the best for a prayerful quiet retirement.

This is an opportunity to strive even more to submit to God’s Will in all things, to curb our passions, to pray more intensely, fast more rigorously, and give alms more generously, to love with greater self-sacrifice and self-effacement, for the intentions of our beloved Pope Benedict XVI, the College of Cardinals, and for all of the Church, the Body of Christ, and the salvation on our own souls and our families.

Pope Benedict XVI is truly a wonderful & humble soul, a faithful Steward who has worked tirelessly in the Lord’s vineyards for six decades and more. We who look east for the dawn of a new day, pray that schism will no longer cast it’s shadow over our land. We owe you our love! You can count on our continued prayers!

Papa Ben, we love you!  Like my fellow Catholics, I am stunned and saddened. Thank you for serving the Church as our German shepherd!  May the Holy Spirit pour out blessings upon the Cardinals as they prepare to go into the conclave to elect the next Pope.  May we all join in prayer this Lent to be one body in Christ as the spiritualized Church Benedict envisioned that is neither left nor right, but the Church that follows Christ’s teaching faithfully and doesn’t conform to the world.  God bless you, Benedict XVI!

Our beloved Pope has taken a huge step in his decision to retire, but his wisdom in so doing, as eminently and benevolently displayed during his pontificate,cannot be questioned. Thank God for his seven regenerative years as vicar of Christ on earth, his efforts to sustain and expand the Church he so loves, and for the humility he demonstrates now in his final act - may God bless you, Joseph.

I am praying that our Holy Father Pope Benedict will have many more days and help with his writings.  He has been such a wonderful teacher. I pray too that our next Pope will be as great, as this Holy man.

Thank you for your faithful service, Pope Benedict XVI! We Love You!

Bless you dear holy Father. You have done well and you have served wisely. Thank you for all your great work!

TheEpic95 - my birthday, too.  But any day would not do for me.  Holy Father, thank you for your humble service to the Church and the world.  My prayers will be with you, as always.  Your faith and courage have been a constant source of strength to me - even before you were pope.  God bless you always - you will always be in my heart.  Now I’m going to go cry my eyes out…

may god be with him

I will miss greatly our Holy Father, who in no small part, was responsible for my returning to our Church. He will always have a special place in my heart, May God bless him, until he is called home.

Thank you Pope Benedict for being our leader in the catholic church. Your leadership to the church was exceptional.  You were a true successor of Peter.  Thank you for your wisdom and intellect in leading the Church. May God bless you Holly Father.
Thank you for giving us a year of Faith. Faith will help us to go on and continue the work of God with the example of leaders of the Church.

Read more: http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/pope-benedict-xvi-to-step-down-feb.-28/#ixzz2Kbw86Lxb

We love Pope Benedict XVI and forever grateful to God, Who blessed us with you as our Holy Father for the last 7 years.  God Bless you always.

I’m not surprised, considering how fragile and tired he’s looked these days. I’ll miss him terribly, but I support his decision, too. All my best, Holy Father!

What a wonderful,great and humble pope we’ve had for the last eight years or so! Pope Benedict: may our Supreme Pastor, the Lord Jesus Christ bless and thank you always for your service to the Church!

God Bless you dear Holy Father! I love you and thank you for your ever-faithful guidance and example to a world gone wrong.  I will pray for you and am confident that you will be praying for all of us as well.  Thank for you all you’ve done for Jesus’ One True Church here on earth.

What a wonderful pope!  May God grant him his request to spend the rest of his life in prayer and peace!

What a great man! a wonderful Pope! He spent every breath of his life for us, for the Church, for us to know and to receive Christ, to purify the Church , to update her.. a life very very few could live, and he accepted a job of responsiblility for some 1.3 billion people at age 78!!!, ,, much more than any president. God love and bless him!, thank you , HOly Father, rest well! You have fought the good fight!

Sorry, TheEpic95. I know how it feels for I was over joyed when Benedict was elected on my birthday. Just remember, he is a gift to all of us and a gift is meant to be shared. Gracias Eternal Father for granting Your
Church the blessing of such as Benedict XVI. It does feel like a death, does it not? Benedic anima mea!

The leadership of Papa Bene has truly blessed the Church. His penetrating intelligence and commitment to the truth, and to acting on the truth, have led us to trust his leadership. Now he leads from another strength - his awesome (in the literal sense) humility, prayerfulness and holiness, which will continue to guide us in following his successor. We may no longer have his spoken counsel but we will have his example, than which no leadership could be greater.

On a practical note I think he sets a precedent that will be of great service to the Church. The great extension of life expectancy has led to the possibility of senile or incapacitated popes being much greater than in previous centuries. Poor John Paul II would have been greatly blessed if he could have been relieved of the monstrous weight of his papa responsibilities to prepare for his ( obviously near) death.

We have Benedict’s prayers and I am sure he prays for his successor. Let’s join him in that. And please, can we speak of him in the present tense?

Dear Holy Father…
Thank you for your service to us as pope..thank you for continuing the work of John Paul 2…may Jesus and mother Mary
Watch over you and bless yu as we wait for our new holy father..Praise be The Lord Jesus Christ…

Waiting for the other shoe to stop.
Many of us cannot accept an apology followed by “but”.  Deny, minimize and blame must end under a new Pope.

This news comes as a complete shock to me. I will respect the Holy Fathers decision. He has done all he could to reform the reforms, and its been alot. But without the support of the many prelates who ignore him he is now tired. If everything the Pope has ordered to be done would have been done, today we would have the spring time hoped for by Bl. John XXlll. Its been my opinion that Bl. John Paul ll layed the foundation, Pope Bendict XVl built perfectly on it. I hope the next Pope will be the one to finish the job. Pope Benedict XVl will go down in history as another one of the greatest Popes of the Church of Jesus Christ. Now the Holy Father will be able to do what he has wanted to do for more than 20 years and that is to live his final days in prayer and study. On this Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, world day of the sick, the Holy Father gives a message of hope to the chronicly ill. The time comes when we must expect to stop and rest ourselves, living the rest of our days contemplating Our Lord. Things have not ended for Pope Benedict XVl, it is only a new beggining. May God the Holy Ghost guide the Cardinals in choosing our next Pontiff. Immaculate Heart of Mary Pray for the Church of thine Most Holy Son!

I will miss this Pope.  God bless him, and may his life of prayers bring him peace, joy, and an intimate vision of the face of our Lord. 

Pope Benedict XVI was and is an excellent servant to the servants of our Lord.

Thank you Holy Father for your dedicated service to the Holy Catholic Church!  Blessings and graces are wished for you.

Holy Father you will be missed. We are grateful to you. You will forever be in our hearts and our prayers. You are a great example of love and humility. Gracie Papa.

The Pope’s decision to resign seems to be a wise and thoughtful one.  It could not have been lightly undertaken.  Hopefully, this next phase of his life will bring peace and comfort.

That being said, I will try to be optimistic re the selection of the next Pope.  The members of the College of Cardinals seem to be leading the march back to the Middle Ages. God created a dynamic world/universe where the unchangeable rule is change.  What does not change, goes extinct.  If the RCC does not stop inciting hatred toward gay people, trying to control women; continues to sweep child sexual abuse under the rug and fails to effectively inspire people to address the true problems of hunger, war and poverty, it will go extinct.

The RCC hierarchy has been squandering the RCC’s potential to do great things in the world by its narrow focus of hatred of women and gay people. 

Prhaps the next Pope will be from the developing world—a man (well, its an unfortunate reality that only men will be Pope for the foreseeable future) who will have an appreciation for the core message of his faith.  Which is NOT papal infallability, beating upon on theologians, perpetuating immature and unhealthy attitudes toward sex/sexuality and women.  Hopefully the next Pope will walk the walk of spreading love of God and neighbor, of working to end hunger, poverty and war, to work across interfaith lines to help Jews, Christians and Muslims (all children of Abraham) to live in harmony. 

The world needs a message of hope from the RCC, not a message of hatred and backwards thinking.

My days as a “practicing Catholic” ended when I passed by Cardinal Law’s punishment Palace. Hopefully, the next Pope will reject the practice of “deny, minimize and blame”.  Hoping as we’ll that there isn’t another shoe about to drop.

That’s quite enough Claude.

Anyway. God bless the Holy Father in his future. I’m looking forward to the new era

THANK YOU OUR MOST HOLY FATHER FOR ALL YOUR GUIDEANCE AND LOVE ...WE WILL MISS YOU..PLEASE KEEP US IN YOUR PRAYERS..MAY OUR HEAVENLY MOTHER MARY WATCH OVER YOU..WE WILL KEEP YOU IN OUR PRAYERS…MAY YOU HAVE MANY DAYS IN PRAYER AND PEACE…......

Thank-you Pope Benedict XVI for your service to the Holy Church! God bless you!
Let us pray that the next Pontiff may be just as humble and holy as he!
Thank-you Holy Father!

Thank you, Holy Father, for guiding our Church these eight years.  You are a gift from God.

We love you Papa Benedict!!!  We will miss you SO MUCH!  We also trust in your decision guided by the Holy Spirit.  We know our Lord will raise another pope to also be guided by the Holy Spirit.  Know that you have made a tremendous difference in my life, our family’s life, and countless others!  May our Lady embrace you with her tender love!

Thank you Holy Father!!! For the time, we have had with you leading us along this path that is called life.You have been an excellent example to Catholics for us to live our lives “attached” to God. I willing be praying for you your holiness.

God bless you Pope Benedict!  We love you and will miss you very much!  I watched with great JOY when you were elected in 2005. I am very sad to see you retire but it is understandable. It would be extremely difficult to maintain your schedule at 85 and will only get more difficult. Thank you, Papa!  Our prayers are with you. Please pray for us!

A good time to be Catholic! Lucky I reverted back to the Church during our beloved Pope Benedict’s pontificate.  I shall miss him, my favourite Pope ever, very, very much! Thank you for your selfless and humble and brilliant shepherding of the flock! May God bless you with many more years of health, and study and prayer.  You never wanted to be Pope, but you have taken on the heavy burden of the papal office during such trying times with the humility and obedience of a good and kind servant of God. Viva il Papa!

Spirit Lord, we know that you continue to guide the Church, the Bride of Christ. We pray earnestly that you continue to hover over the Church in these moments of great importance in the life of the Church, especially guide the College of Cardinal Bishops who provide the Church with a new Shepherd, the successor of St. Peter.

We humbly request you to grant good health of mind and body to our Beloved Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI for all his services to the Church and Society at large. Please bless him that he may continue to support the Church as a theologian of par excellence, and as a humble servant for all of us.

Thank you dear Holy Spirit.

Beloved Holy Father, Pope Benedict, we thank God for you.  Specially chosen by the Holy Spirit to steer the bark of Peter through dangerous storms and dark undercurrents, you have done exceedingly well taking up the mantle of your charismatic predecessor Bl. Pope JP II.  You have brought your own wonderful charisms to the office of Peter. You brought gentleness, peace, humility, grace and quiet wisdom.  Thank you. We love you. We will pray for you and sad as we are now we know that you have done nothing without taking into account the direction of the Holy Spirit and the good of Holy Mother Church, the Bride of Christ. You will remain in our hearts. God bless you. You will join your prayers to ours as we pray that the Holy Spirit’s anointing will come upon the college of Cardinals as they elect the next Pope to serve the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church founded by Jesus who is the Cornerstone and Peter the Rock on which He built His Church. THE GATES OF HELL SHALL NEVER PREVAIL AGAINST HER!  Praise God!!!!

God bless you Holy Father:

I hope you will be alright.  I am praying for you and in the past few months, see that you need to take it easy.  I know how difficult this must be for you.  You are a humble, holy man and I love you.  I hope you get to spend more time with your brother and that through much prayer you can live to a ripe old age.  I am only 56 years old and have been ill since age 22.  There is no way that even I could do what you have done.  Absolutely, no way.  I can barely function as it is, but I keep praying for God to help me. I am very proud of you and the work you have done for the whole Church. You are an Angel and Servant of God.  God Bless you Holy Father Benedict.

Christy, I can go with that. Pope Benedict’s humility is indeed a reflection (translation) of the divine condescension - worthy of a true Patriarch. Here’s my “Axios!”, before the cloud bursts!

Thank You Holy Spirit for Your servant and ours, Pope Benedict XVI!
Your Holiness, Thank You for your example, and for the love you have shown the people of God, His Church!

Thank you Holy Father for your love, service and inspiration to the mother Church and the World at large. Please enjoy your well deserved rest as we continue to pray for you. May our Lord Jesus Christ continue to bless and keep now and for evermore.

What a humble man if only politicians can take example from him it is how you do the job not how long you stay in it. May God bless you for your courage. Please pray for us.

God bless you Holy Father

Amen.
(What a humble man, and true servant of God).