[…] indeed, the Eucharist is the propelling core of the whole Evangelistic action of the Church, in some way similar to the heart, which is so in the human body. Without the Eucharistic celebration, Christian communities, which feed on the twofold banquet of the Word and Body of Christ, would lose their genuine nature: only because they are “Eucharistic,” can they pass Christ along to men, and not ideas and values alone, as noble and important they might be. The Eucharist fashioned eminent missionary apostles, in every state of life: bishops, priests, religious people and laity; saints in active or contemplative lives. We think, on the one hand, of Saint Francis Xavier, whom the love of Christ drove all the way to the Far East to announce the Gospel; on the other hand, of Saint Therese of Lisieux, a young Carmelite nun, whose memory we recalled precisely yesterday. The latter lived in her ardent apostolic spirit within the enclosure, deserving to be proclaimed, along with Saint Francis Xavier, patroness of the missionary activity of the Church.

Let us invoke their protection over the works of the synod, and also the guardian angels’, as we celebrate them today. Most of all, let us pray trustfully to the Blessed Virgin Mary that we are going to venerate this 7^th of October, under the title of the Virgin of the Rosary. The month of October is dedicated to the Holy Rosary. […]

Extract from the Angelus of October 2^nd, 2005
Pope Benedict XVI