Pope Benedict XVI has asked Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, to lead his Lenten retreat Feb. 17-23. The Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, reported Jan. 18 that the cardinal will focus on “Ars orandi, ars credendi” (the art of praying, the art of believing), looking particularly at “the face of God and the face of man in the Psalm prayers.” Pope Benedict and top officials from the Roman Curia suspend their normal schedules from the afternoon of the first Sunday of Lent until the following Saturday morning. Instead, they gather each morning and afternoon in the Redemptoris Mater Chapel for common prayer, eucharistic adoration and meditations offered by a different guest preacher each year.
Cardinal Ravasi, 70, told L’Osservatore that he would begin by reflecting on the verbs associated with prayer: to breathe, to think, to struggle, to love.