The Message of His Holiness Pope John Paul II  at the Beatification of Blessed Hardini

VATICAN CITY, (VIS)
John Paul, II beatified 12 Servants of God May 10 in St. Peter's Square. In his homily, he said that "with very different experiences and contexts, they heroically lived a unique and perfect faithfulness to Christ and an ardent charity for their neighbor."

The Pope, speaking in French, said that Fr. Nimatullah Youssef  Hardini, a Lebanese Maronite Monk, "is an example of Christian and monastic life for the Maronite community and for all disciples of Christ today. . . . He is a sign of hope for all Lebanese, particularly for families and young people."
 

"In beatifying Father Hardini, I would first like to give thanks for my journey to the land of the cedars exactly one year ago. Today there is a new celebration for Lebanese all over the world, for one of their brothers is held up to them as a model of holiness. Throughout his monastic life, the new blessed willingly incarnate the words of Christ's disciples which we have heard in the reading from the Acts of the Apostles:
"We must undergo many trials if we are to enter in the reign of God."
This same reading also shows us the different aspects of mission:
Prayer, fasting, and the preaching of the Gospel.

Through his rigorous asceticism, his long periods of prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, his concern for theological research and his merciful attention to his brothers-- Blessed Hardini is a model of Christian and monastic life for the Maronite community and for all Christ' followers in our time. As I recalled in my Post-Synodal Exhortation, A Hope for Lebanon, citing St. Basil:
 
 

"It is a moral life and an ascetical life in conformity with the commitment made which lead to reconciliation between people."
The Holy Father continued,
 
"From now on the new blessed is a sign of hope for all Lebanese, especially families and youth people. As a man of prayer, he calls his brothers and sisters to trust in God and to commit all their efforts to following Christ, in order to build a better future. May Lebanon continue to be a land of witnesses and saints, and a land of ever greater peace and brotherhood!
 

I cordially greet the Lebanese from Lebanon and the diaspora who have come to Rome for the beatification of Fr. Hardini. My greetings go first to the President of the Lebanese Republic, to the ecclesiastical authorities, to the civil and religious dignitaries and to all the brothers of the Lebanese Maronite Order, as well as to the family members of the new blessed and those who have obtained favors through his intercession.

May Blessed Hardini revive the faith, sustain the Christian life and strengthen the witness of Christ's disciples in Lebanon, on the threshold of the third millennium!"