We love you, dear Holy Father!

Pope Benedict XVI waves as he leaves his final general audience 
in Peter's Square at the Vatican on February 27, 2013.

"I would like to invite everyone to renew their firm trust in the Lord, to entrust ourselves like children to God's arms, certain that those arms always hold us up and are what allow us to walk forward each day, even when it is a struggle. I would like everyone to feel beloved of that God who gave His Son for us and who has shown us His boundless love. I would like everyone to feel the joy of being Christian. In a beautiful prayer, which can be recited every morning, say: 'I adore you, my God and I love you with all my heart. Thank you for having created me, for having made me Christian...' Yes, we are happy for the gift of faith. It is the most precious thing, which no one can take from us! Let us thank the Lord for this every day, with prayer and with a coherent Christian life. God loves us, but awaits us to also love Him!”

~Pope Benedict XVI, Final General Audience, 2/27/13

I adore you, my God, and I love you with all my heart!

Thank you for having created Joseph Ratzinger,

for having made him Pope Benedict XVI,

pontiff of love and servant of the truth,

and for giving him the vision and strength,

the wisdom, courage and humility

to serve us and to shepherd us

and to help us become,

with him and like him,

Your cooperators of the truth.

As His Holiness continues "to accompany the Church's journey

through prayer and reflection,"

accompany him with the light and strength of Your Spirit

until that glorious day

when You call him home to You.

Amen.