On Saturday, Pope Benedict visited the Major Roman Seminary next to the Pontifical Lateran Unviersity to speak with and listen to seminarians:

((Photos here)

The Pope was by turns theologian and teacher, but speaking very spontaneously and familiarly, in responding to the questions, once in a while reminiscing about his own days as a seminarian, or making remarks that made his audience laugh.

He told them, "On the one hand, it is important for priests to stay within the ‘us’ of the Church. But we should personalize this ‘us’ in our own self, be attentive to the voice of the Lord and allow ourselves to be guided by those who can help us along the way. Thus our discernment and personal friendship with God can grow, and thus we can perceive the voice of God who is always present and always speaks to us."

The Pope suggested "reading the Sacred Scriptures in a very personal way, not as the word of one man or as a document of the past – not like reading Homer or Virgil – but as the word of God which is always topical and timely."

It is important to ‘enter into prayer as a personal conversation with God," he added.

Of his years as a seminarian in Freising, he recalled the necessity of ‘discipline, day after day’ to be followed not only during the period of formation but even when one is already a priest.

He recalled the seminary routine: "The day started at 6:30 with a half-hour meditation, where each one ‘ocnversed’ with the Lord. Then there was the time devoted to study. At the end, there was a common prayer and the evening meditation with a spiritual guide. This was the day-to-day routine but there were also the great feasts with special liturgy and songs."

He told them what interested him at that time: "I loved philosophy, but above all, the stories of St. Augustine and St. Francis. For me, exegesis was very important also. We had two exegetes who were rather liberal but also very smart, and they fascinated us. It was obligatory to read Dotoyevsky, Manzoni in German, and the French authors. Finally, we were taught to appreciate music and the beauty of our land….In this way, I came to say Yes to priesthood, the Yes that has since accompanied me every day of my life."

It was a smiling, spontaneous and famliar Pope who sat with the seminarians. "It is good to recognize one’s weakness," he said, "because that way we know that we need the grace of God. None of us is really up to the full stature of this great Yes that we have made to priesthood… We must accept our fragility, but we need to move ahead. We always need forgiveness, we need to continue converting ourselves, to grow and mature. The important thing also is not to isolate oneself, not to think that one can walk alone.

To another question, he said, "We should do what we can to help overcome human suffering and be liberated from sitations that man himself helps to cause, like hunger and some epidemics [AIDS?]…but we should also understand that suffering is an essential part of our maturation."

He urged them to be close to those who are afflicted, "we should help them in their pain and in their suffering, by opening our hearts to them."

He advised them to keep a definite schedule for the day, never to miss daily Mass, and take time to pray the Liturgy of the Hours. This is important even in the life of a priest and a pastor, he said.

"Never miss daily Mass. A day without the Eucharist is incomplete. Let this not be an occupational obligation but an obligation that one feels from the inside… Another important point is to take the time needed to pray the Liturgy of the Hours and not lose any occasion to have personal contact with the word of God."

How to do it? "I have a rather simple formula. I combine preparing for the Sunday homily with my personal meditation. I start doing that on Monday, and every day get back to it."

From Vatican Radio:

During the Q&A with the Roman seminarians, Pope Benedict XVI once again held up don Andrea Santoro, who was assassinated by a Muslim teenager in Turkey last year, as a model of saintliness for priests. Santoro was shot from teh back as he knelt saying evening prayers at the church of St. Mary in Trabzon.