As a comment on this part of the Creed of the people of God we publish three small passages of a discourse that Cardinal Montini delivered on 7 December 1958 in the Basilica of Sant’Ambrogio when he was Archbishop of Milan.
«The Church has been likened even to the moon, in whose phases of waning and waxing is reflected the alternating life of the Church, that sinks and then rises again and never fades, because “fulget... ecclesia non suo, sed Christi lumine”, it shines not of its own, but of the light of Christ [Ambrose, Hexaemeron IV, 32]» .
«Mystical and visible the Church is animate body of Christ, “corpus Christi ecclesia est” [“the Church is the body of Christ”, Ambrose, In psalmum 118 XV, 12]; it is composed of the faithful: “nos unum corpus Christi sumus” [“we are the single body of Christ”, Ambrose, Expositio in Lucam VII, 21]. And this fusion of living faithful in Christ forms a city; it is Ambrose who draws the expression from the Psalms and passes it on to Christian idiom, to Augustine: the Church is the City of God, “civitas Dei ecclesia est” [Ambrose, In psalmum 118 XV, 35]. Composed of men, the Church, holy in the divine principles that inform it, always needs to purify and sanctify itself: “ex maculatis immaculata” [“immaculate from sinners”, Ambrose, Expositio in Lucam I, 17]».
«In a word, Saint Ambrose had his eye on the mystical reality of the Church and glimpsed it, described it, proclaimed it at every step; he was not distracted from his vision in every event of the human and temporal life of the Church, and not even this ability of discovering the ideal and divine face of the Church faded when her apparent and human face presented itself contaminated by our earthly miseries; also then Ambrose speaks with triumphant spirituality of the beauty of the Church, “ecclesiae tuae species” [“the beauty of your Church”, Ambrose, De paenitentia I, 7, 31]. Also in this Augustine was disciple and then supreme teacher».


from the Creed of the People of God by Pope Paul VI

The Church herself has no other life but that of grace

In the course of time, the Lord Jesus forms His Church by means of the sacraments emanating from His plenitude (cf. Lumen gentium, nn.7,11). By these she makes her members participants in the Mystery of the Death and Resurrection of Christ, in the grace of the Holy Spirit who gives her life and movement (cf. Sacrosanctum Concilium, nn. 5, 6; Lumen gentium, nn. 7,12, 50). She is therefore holy, though she has sinners in her bosom, because she herself has no other life but that of grace: it is by living by her life that her members are sanctified; it is by removing themselves from her life that they fall into sins and disorders that prevent the radiation of her sanctity. This is why she suffers and does penance for these offenses, of which she has the power to heal her children through the blood of Christ and the gift of the Holy Spirit.

CARMELITES OF THE CONVENT OF SÃO JOSÉ
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Prayer is a force of God

Rio de Janeiro, 14 December 2006

Dear Mr. Senator Giulio Andreotti,
pax Christi!
Today, 14 December, the Carmel celebrates, with intense exultation and renewed fervor, the grandiose figure of Saint John of the Cross, Carmelite, who sang, in very beautiful poetry, the beauty of discovering and giving a very special space to God in the most intimate part of one’s own being. It doesn’t matter whether it is clear or dark around, what counts is the light that comes from within the soul that is in love with God.

«In this beatific night,
secretly, because nobody saw me,
nor did I see any thing,
without other light or guide
except for that burning in the heart ».
(Saint John of the Cross)

It is with this Spirit of God present, with this divine light that, along with my fellow Sisters, I wish to thank you with all my heart for the sending of this marvelous magazine that offers us the most diverse topics of yesterday and of today that make up the history of our Church and of the world, toward which our life of prayer and of sacrifice is oriented.
It is beautiful also to read about the other contemplative orders, all busy in giving the primacy to God. To all the Sisters, our cordial greetings in union of prayer.
30Dias na Igreja e no mundo is a ring of charitable union that, we hope, won’t stop. Therefore, please accept the silent prayer of the Carmelites as a force of God, even if it comes from fragile and humble instruments. That this abiding prayer for you and your work be a pledge of many graces for your life and demonstration of our sincere gratitude.
A Holy Christmas and a Blessed 2007, in union with Jesus, Mary and Joseph.
Cordially,

Sister Miriam Christi OCD


CARMELITES OF THE CONVENT OF THE SACRED HEART
Moundasso, Burkina Faso

Ratzinger’s introduction, while still cardinal, to Qui prie sauve son âme

Moundasso, 11 January 2007

Dear Mr. Director,
I am sure you will excuse us, that we are very late in sending you our good wishes for the New Year, but we know that for God all is present.
In the name of all my Sisters I want to send you and all your collaborators our most affectionate wishes for the New Year. I hope that this year will bring you much joy, good health and all the graces that the Lord safeguards for you in the secret of His heart. Near the crib we have all asked Jesus to hear our prayers. Once again a Happy New Year.
Just yesterday we received the four packages with the five hundred copies of Qui prie sauve son âme [Who prays is saved].
What a great gift for us, for our parishes, for our seminaries! May God be blessed for all that He does for us! He surrounds us and guides us so marvelously. If it is already beautiful to have such good brothers and sisters that help us here on earth, what will it be in Heaven, in that “paradise of relations” that awaits us?
When yesterday during recreation the copies of Qui prie sauve son âme [Who prays is saved] circulated among the hands of the sisters, I couldn’t resist immediately reading the introduction of Pope Benedict XVI, at that time still cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. He writes so well: «Since mankind has existed, people have prayed».
We attest this so well in our country, Burkina Faso. Every man, whether Christian, Muslim or Animist, lives in close relation with his own God, each prays his own God.
Your booklet will be a help and a comfort for our people so materially poor.
We will reprint it in thousands of copies, other than the free five hundred and thanks to this gift, we will sell it at a reduced and affordable price for all. We will thus be able to make a present of some copies to any person who is poor but desirous of instructing himself and praying.
We want to thank you again because you generously send us your lovely magazine, awaited, read, commented on in the Carmel and outside by those who visit us and they appreciate it greatly. That God may recompense you a hundredfold and make all of you holy evangelizers and witnesses of His love.
With all our prayers and appreciation,

Sister Marga de la Croix


REDEMPTORISTS OF THE SAINT’ALPHONSE CONVENT
Landser, France

God has chosen Pope Benedict to evangelize the poor

Landser, 4 January 2007

Thanks for the marvelous gift of your magazine and of the booklet Qui prie sauve son âme [Who prays is saved]. God bless it!

Dear Sir,
How to thank you for this marvelous magazine that has already arrived several times.
Without doubt you knew that we are a small community that could not afford a subscription.
From the first number received, the magazine has been appreciated by all the nuns. In this way we have a comprehensive vision of what happens in the universal Church. We have been happy to read the biography of our good Pope Benedict XVI and to see his photos. His words so profound are always a comfort to us and we are sure that God has chosen him for the evangelization of the poor.
The thorough analysis of all the subjects is presented in a really very clear way. May this monthly magazine be read and studied by the greatest possible number of people and, therefore, bear fruits. We pray for this intention.
With all our thanks, please receive my most deferential greetings,

Sister Marie-Elisabeth,
Prioress of the Redemptorists


CARMELITES OF THE THAPELONG CONVENT
Mafikeng, South Africa

We assure our prayers

Mafikeng, 7 December 2006

Dear Senator Giulio Andreotti,
Our Community joins me in thanking you very sincerely for the free gift of 30Days magazine . We appreciate it very much as it enlightens us on important happenings in the Church present and past and is authentic. It helps us to be more generous in our contemplative life and hidden service to the Church. We assure you and all who cooperate with you in publishing this useful magazine of our prayers. May God reward all of you abundantly!
Thank you also sincerely for the booklet Who prays is saved. If you permit us, we could make some copies and distribute them to our people here.
Thank you,
God bless you.

Sister Mary Joseph of Jesus OCD


TRAPPISTS OF THE GETHSEMANI CONVENT
Dannenfels, Germany

Notable the reportage from the Near East

Dannenfels, 6 January 2007

Dear Mr. Senator,
We cannot but thank you for the dispatch of the very beautiful booklets Wer betet, wird gerettet and Begegnung von Papst Benedikt XVI mit den italienischen Erstkommunionkindern [Who prays is saved and Catechesis and prayer meeting of the Holy Father Benedict XVI with the First Communion children].
In a truly particular way indeed we are grateful to continue to receive 30Tage! We read it with great interest and like it for the honesty and the sincerity that animates the articles and for the breadth of the subjects dealt with. The reportage and the interviews from the Near East are really impressive.
Gladly will we bring your intentions and the needs of all men to our prayer.
In the solemnity of the Epiphany, Christmas for the Eastern Church, we wish you and your collaborators the light and the blessing of God for 2007!
An appreciative greeting,

Sister Magdalena König OCSO, Prioress


SISTERS OF ADORATION OF THE CONVENT OF JESUS
San José de Gracia, Mexico

Thank you because you are mindful of the cloistered convents

San José de Gracia, 14 December 2006

Dear Mr. Senator,
In greeting you warmly, we thank you for the generous consideration in being mindful of the cloistered convents in your prestigious magazine 30Dias.
We belong to the order of the Perpetual Adoration of the Most Holy Sacrament, founded in Rome by the venerable mother Maria Magdalena de la Encarnación in 1807. On 31 May 2007 itself we will celebrate the 200th anniversary of our foundation.
The process of beatification of our foundress is underway.
We congratulate you and your collaborators for such generous sending to our convents of this instrument of information that helps us to enrich our culture with very interesting readings in the social and religious field.
God bless and reward you for so much goodness.
We wish you, your family and all the personnel that collaborate in your magazine a Holy and Happy Christmas with best wishes for the year 2007.
Our community undertakes to pray for your intentions and those of your family.

Sister Isabel and the Community


CARMELITES OF THE MEHAGNE CONVENT
Chenée, Belgium

A prayerful and heartfelt thank you of communion

Chenée, 19 January 2007

To Mr. Director and all his collaborators.

It is a prayerful and heartfelt thank you of communion that our community sends you for the dispatch of your very substantial magazine, 30Jours.
It is, at the same time, a condensing of very deep reflections and an ample opening on the Church in the best sense of the term.
May the grace of Jesus fructify your apostolate a hundred per cent!
For the Community,

Sister Colette de Jésus


CONVENT OF THE BENEDICTINES
Hô Chí Minh Ville, Viet Nam

A beautiful magazine with current information

Hô Chí Minh Ville, 25 January 2007

Mr. Senator,
What surprise and joy for us to receive your magazine, 30Jours. A beautiful magazine with current information on the universal Church and the whole world. It’s doubly precious for us who in this time of globalization conduct a contemplative life (ora et labora), to be always abreast of what happens in the outside world to vitalize our prayer and widen our heart and spirit to the sufferings of our brothers and sisters in other continents.
We pray for your work and for all your collaborators.
God bless it and make it render a hundredfold for all that you have done for the enlarging of His Kingdom and for the good of our fellow Sisters.
Please accept our prayer and our thankfulness in Christo.

Sister Agnes Le thi To Huong,
Prioress and the Community

MISSIONARIES OF THE LITTLE WORKS OF PROVIDENCE (SAINT LUIGI ORIONE)
Bangalore, India

Thank you for 30Giorni

Bangalore, Holy Christmas 2006

Dear Senator Mr. Giulio Andreotti,
Peace and much joy from the cave of Bethlehem!
Also in the name of the Orionian community of Bangalore I thank you for the magazine 30Giorni, so precious for enriching our knowledge of the Church and of the world.
We feel in duty bound to proclaim to you and your precious collaborators: «Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!».
With feelings of highest respect,

Father Lorenzo Tosatto FDP


DIOCESE Of MAKENI
Makeni, Sierra Leone

A precious bond

Makeni, 21 August 2006

Dear Senator,
I write in the name of the diocese of Makeni, in Sierra Leone, to express to you our appreciation for 30Days and for your diligent collaborators. 30Days, with its news on the Church, on Christianity and on the events of our existence in the world, has created a precious bond that unites our humble diocesan reality to the universal Church. In other terms, with the simplicity of its presence, it has confirmed our simple presence also in this remote corner of the planet. It represents for us that “space of communion and unity across all the continents, cultures and nations” that the Church proclaims.
In a country like ours, that is just now leaving a period of ten years of madness called war, the works to be done that require financial assistance are numerous, an added reason why the gift of your magazine was greeted with enthusiasm, with the great pleasure and joy of the clergy and the laity of the diocese.
We won’t ever cease to thank God for you, Excellency, and for the collaborators of 30Days, for the inestimable service rendered by you to the whole Church and the world.
We may also be a poor diocese, but we could never allow ourselves to loosen this precious bond.
With the cordial greetings of our beloved bishop.
Yours sincerely in Christ,

Aloysius Kamara


MISSIONARIES OF THE CONSOLED
Nairobi, Kenya

An “inspired” idea

Nairobi, 8 November 2006

Dear Senator,
Your idea of letting us have the magazine 30Giorni was really “inspired”. The few numbers that we have received have been sufficient to make us appreciate and await it with anxiety. Along with all the confreres of this regional House I wish therefore to thank you heartfully, while I assure you of our prayer so that the Holy Consoled will support you in your incomparable enthusiasm and bless you and all your benefactors abundantly. I dare to express a humble request. Because there are some missionaries in this our community who don’t know Italian sufficiently well, to which are added varied missionaries and guests of passage, would it be possible to have the English edition 30Days in exchange for the Italian? All would be capable not only of reading it, but of “relishing” it.
We express to you, to your collaborators and benefactors, most fervent wishes for a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, while we greet you with sincere gratitude.

Father Francesco Viotto IMC


SCALABRINIAN MISSIONARIES
San Paolo, Brazil

A small sanctuary with so many confessions

San Paolo, 3 January 2007

Dear Director,
It is with satisfaction that I receive the magazine 30Giorni in the religious community of the Scalabrinian Chapel of Sant’Antonio, situated in the center of the city-megalopolis of San Paolo in Brazil. It is a little church in colonial style, with altars in gothic-rococò style of the seventeenth century, some time after the discovery of the New continent. It functions daily as a small sanctuary and the principal ministry that takes place consists in the listening to and confessing the very numerous people of all the social and religious classes (bishops, priests, male and female religious, young people, lawyers, engineers, simple women and men, etc.). The little church has belonged to the Scalabrinians for a hundred years. Personally I dedicate myself to the Italian community of San Paolo, that I have looked after for thirty-six years. I also remember a visit of yours to San Paolo as minister.
30Giorni, more than a magazine, is a book, given the ampleness and the depth with which it treats the topics, the subjects of discussion in the light of the Gospel and of the teachings of the Church. In the name also of the confreres thanks for this “lovely gift” that you make us. In union of prayers a big embrace of mutual respect.
P.S. I send you some photos to give you an idea of our activities with the Italian community of San Paolo,that I believe to be among the most numerous in the world.
I wish you a year full of blessings and of realizations for you and your family members.

Father Giorgio Cunial


JESUIT MISSIONARIES
Dalugama, Kelaniya, Sri Lanka

Admiration and thanks

Dalugama, 18 January 2007

Dear Mr. Andreotti,
I don’t want to miss saying two words of admiration and thanks for your magazine 30Giorni and brochures. I already read it with pleasure and fruitfully. I was very happy when you sent me the subscription. I feel the duty of informing you now that I have changed residence and that your magazine already arrives here.

Father Angelo Stefanizzi SJ

ECUMENISM

Mutual love and the fight against poverty

Bologna, 18 December 2006

Dear Senator,
I read your editorial on Turkey, in 30Giorni of October 2006, with the usual delight.
I was struck in particular by your statement about inter-religious dialogue in general: «I am ever more convinced that the encounter must take place on the level of charity (mutual love and the shared fight against poverty)».
I, too, have reached the same view, particularly in regard to ecumenism. It is hard to believe that through dialogue, understood as the exercise of reason, whether logical or theological, one can achieve a coming-together. Our ancestors even sanctioned Christian unity at the Council of Florence. It is forty years since we began to know each other without the hesitations of the past; only forty years.
Aside from the merits of the question in itself, I was struck by the way you chose to express your conviction: «I become ever more convinced». I found myself in it, identified with my personal development. In fact certainties are more often the outcome of ripening experience than of logic. Francis Bacon also said so: «Truth emerges more readily from error than from confusion».
Beauty, faith and truth always reveal themselves by chance, with surprise and without effort.
Let me profit from the occasion to offer you my humble greetings and best wishes, while I remain your devoted

José Ignacio Alonso Pérez


who prays is saved

Saint Alfonso Maria de Liguori humble and very great bishop

Spello, 10 January 2007

Mr President,
Even if late, I fulfil my duty of thanking you for having sent me twenty copies of the prayer book entitled Chi prega si salva. I believe it to be a book to rediscover, in the spirit of the humble and very great Saint Alfonso Maria de Liguori, involved in teaching catechism to the poor and needy boys (“cafoni” and “lazzaroni” in Neapolitan dialect) of the city of Naples.
The great bishop and very great moralist should teach the too many “false clerks of the temple” that ladling out of books with eye-catching titles right and left doesn’t help for going to Heaven.
I have already offered holy mass for your intentions. With gratitude and with great esteem for your magazine 30Giorni, which I read avidly, and which helps me widen the “range” of my apostolate to 360 degrees, fraternally in Christ,

Father Angelo Cappotti