Pope rallies from knee pain to proclaim 10 new saints (AP)

“By embracing with enthusiasm their vocation – as a priest, as a consecrated woman, as a lay person – they devoted their lives to the Gospel,” Pope Francis preached at the Mass of canonization on May 15. “They discovered an incomparable joy and they became brilliant reflections of the Lord of history. For that is what a saint is: a luminous reflection of the Lord of history. May we strive to do the same.”

The ten new saints are Saints Titus Brandsma (1881-1942), Lazarus Devasahayam Pillai (1712-1752), César de Bus (1544-1607), Luigi Maria Palazzolo (1827-1886), Giustino Russolillo (1891-1955), Charles de Foucauld (1858-1916), Anne-Marie Rivier (1768-1838), Anna Maria Rubatto (1844-1904), Carolina (Maria of Jesus) Santocanale (1852-1923), and Maria Domenica Mantovani (1862-1934).

At the conclusion of the Mass, the Pope delivered a brief Regina Caeli address, in which he said, “While sadly in the world distances grow, and tensions and wars increase, may the new saints inspire solutions of togetherness and ways of dialogue, especially in the hearts and minds of those who hold positions of great responsibility and are called upon to be agents of peace, not war.”