His Holiness Benedict XVI will receive a date to be a great honor from the town of Manoppello.
to know this happy news click on the link below
http://ilcentro.gelocal.it/pescara/cronaca/2010/08/25/news/il-papa-accetta turn-of-the-city-2287244-
An affectionate Thank you, Holy Father.
Every citizen of this great country will forever be remembered as the Pope of the Holy Face of Jesus Christ 
"You are Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. "
Remembering the Pope's pilgrimage to the Holy Face (01-09-2006)
GREETING OF HIS HOLINESS
Dear brothers and sisters ,
thanks for this most cordial welcome. I see how the Church is a big family. Where is the Pope family gathers in great joy. For me it is a sign of living faith, the joy that gives us faith, communion and peace, which creates faith. And we are grateful for this welcome. So I see all the beauty of this region of Italy here on your faces.
A special greeting to the sick. We know that the Lord is especially close to you, it helps you, accompanies you in your sufferings. You are in our prayers. And pray for us.
A special greeting to young people and children to First Communion. Thank you for your enthusiasm for your faith. We all, as the Psalms say, "seek the face of The Lord. "And this is also the sense of my visit. We try to know better the face of the Lord and the Lord's face draw this force of love and peace that we can point the way of our life.
Thanks and best wishes to you all!
ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS
Venerable Brother Bishops,
dear brothers and sisters !
would first like to thank the Lord for today's meeting, simple and familiar in a place where we can meditate on the mystery of divine love contemplating an icon of the Holy Face. To all of you present here is my most heartfelt gratitude for your warm welcome and for the commitment and discretion with which you have supported my private pilgrimage. I greet and thank in particular that your Archbishop has expressed common sentiments. Thanks for the gifts you have offered me and that I appreciate very precisely in their capacity as "signs" as he called them Archbishop Forte. There are signs, in fact, the affective and effective communion that binds the people of this dear land of Abruzzo to the Successor of Peter. A special greeting turn to you, priests, religious and seminarians gathered here. Since you can not meet the entire diocesan community, I'm glad you are there to represent you, who are already devoted to the priestly ministry and the consecrated life or the way to the priesthood. I like people as in love with Christ, attracted by him and determined to make his life a continuous search of his Holy Face. Finally, a grateful greeting to the community of the Capuchin Fathers, who is hosting us for centuries and that takes care of this shrine, visited by many pilgrims.
While just pause for prayer, I thought the first two Apostles, who, urged by John the Baptist, followed Jesus at the Jordan River - as we read the beginning of the Gospel of John (cf. Jn 1.35 to 37). The evangelist says that Jesus turned around and asked them, 'What do you want? ". They said, "Rabbi, where are you staying?". He said, "Come and see" (cf. Jn 1:38-39). The same day the two who were following him had an unforgettable experience which prompted them to say: "We have found the Messiah" (Jn 1:41). One a few hours earlier as a simple "rabbi" had acquired a precise identity, that of Christ awaited for centuries. But, in fact, what a long journey still ahead of those disciples! They could not even imagine how the mystery of Jesus of Nazareth could be deep as its "face" would be unfathomable, inscrutable. So much so that, after having lived together three years, Philip, one of them, to hear him say at the Last Supper: "For a long time with you and you do not know me, Philip?". And then the words that sum up the news of the revelation of Jesus: "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father" (Jn 14:9). Only after his passion when they encountered the risen, the Spirit will enlighten their minds and hearts, the Apostles understand the meaning of the words that Jesus had said, and recognize him as the Son of God, the promised Messiah for the redemption the world. Then to become his tireless messengers, courageous witnesses to martyrdom.
"Whoever has seen me has seen the Father." Yes, dear brothers and sisters, to "see God" need to know Christ and to let oneself be molded by his Spirit who guides believers into all truth "(cf. Jn 16, 13).
Those who meet Jesus, who let themselves be attracted by him and is willing to follow him even to sacrifice their lives, personally experience, as he did on the cross, that only the "grain of wheat" that falls to the ground and dies, it bears "much fruit" (Cf. Jn 12:24). This is the way of Christ, the way of total love that overcomes death: who takes it and "hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life" (Jn 12, 25).
words, he lives in God already on this earth, attracted and transformed by the radiance of his face. This is the experience of the true friends of God, the saints, who have recognized and loved in their brothers, especially the poor and needy, the face of that God long contemplated with love in prayer. They are encouraging examples for us to imitate; assure us that if we walk this path with faith, the path of love, we also - As the psalmist sings - will be satisfied with the presence of God (cf. Ps 16 [17], 15).
"Jesu ... quam bonus you quaerentibus! - Are you, Jesus, for those who seek !" Is how you sang just now running the old hymn "Jesu, dulcis memory , "which some people blame in San Bernardo. It 'a hymn that acquires rare eloquence in the shrine dedicated to the Holy Face, which calls to mind Psalm 23 (24): " are the men who seek him, who seek your face, God of Jacob" (v. 6). But what is "the generation" that seeks the face of God, which generation deserves to "go the mountain of the Lord "and" stand in his holy place? "The Psalmist explains: those who have" clean hands and pure heart ", who do not speak a lie, do not swear at the expense of their neighbor (cf. vv. 3-4). Thus, to enter into communion with Christ and contemplate his face, to recognize the face of the Lord in that of brothers and daily events are needed "clean hands and pure hearts." Clean hands, that lives illuminated by the truth of love that overcomes indifference, doubt, falsehood and selfishness, hearts are essential and pure hearts enraptured by divine beauty, as does the Little Teresa of Lisieux in her prayer to the Holy Face, hearts stamped with the face of Christ.
Dear priests, if he stays imprinted in you, shepherds of the flock of Christ, the sanctity of his face, do not be afraid, even the faithful entrusted to your care will be infected and transformed.
And you, seminarians, who are training to be responsible guides of the Christian people, do not be attracted by anything other than Jesus and the desire to serve his Church. Also I would say to you, men and women, so that your activities may be a visible reflection of the goodness and mercy divine.
"Your face, Lord, I seek": seeking the Face of Jesus must be the desire of all Christians, indeed, we are "the generation" that look in his face this time the face of the "God of Jacob." If we persevere in seeking the face of the Lord, at the end of our earthly pilgrimage, he, Jesus, our eternal joy, our reward and glory for ever: "Sis Jesu nostrum gaudium, / es futurus Praemium here: / you sit in our glory, for cuncta semper saecula.
This is the certainty that motivated the saints of your region, among whom I would particularly like to mention Gabriel and Camillo de Lellis, they deserve our prayers and our reverent remembrance. But the thought of special devotion now turn to the "Queen of all saints, the Virgin Mary, whom you venerate in the various shrines and chapels scattered across the valleys and mountains of Abruzzo. The Madonna, in whose face more than any other creature you can see the outline of the Incarnate Word, watch over the families and parishes, towns and nations of the world. Help us the Mother of the Creator to respect the nature, the great gift of God that we can admire here watching the beautiful mountains that surround us. This gift, however, is increasingly exposed to serious risks of environmental degradation and should be defended and protected. It is urgently necessary, as noted in your Archbishop, is appropriately highlighted by the Day of reflection and prayer for the protection of creation, which is being celebrated by the Church in Italy.
Dear brothers and sisters, and once again thank you for your presence, on all of you and your loved ones, I invoke the blessing of God with the ancient biblical formula: "May the Lord bless you and protect. The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious. The Lord lift his countenance upon you and grant you peace "(cf. Nm 6: 24-26). Amen!
