Pope Leo XIV Thanks Bishop Varden for Lent Retreat saying "I personally found myself particularly moved"

At the conclusion of a week of Spiritual Exercises in the Vatican, Pope Leo XIV on Friday offered impromptu words of gratitude and reflection, drawing together the themes that marked the Lenten retreat preached by Bishop Erik Varden.

 "Coming together is a very important moment in our lives." The Pontiff thanked preacher Erik Varden for his meditations, which focused on the witness of monastic life and emphasized the themes of hope, freedom, and truth. Finally, quoting St. Paul, he urged us to live "in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Christ."

“I must admit that I personally found myself particularly moved to reflection at certain moments. For example, this morning, when he spoke about the election of Pope Eugene III and St. Bernard, he said: 'What have you done? God have mercy on you.'” With a brief, off-the-cuff address—and a quip that brought smiles to the faces of the members of the Roman Curia present in the Pauline Chapel—Leo XIV concluded this evening, February 27, the week of Lenten Spiritual Exercises that began last Sunday afternoon. The Pontiff spoke in the evening following the eleventh and final meditation by the preacher, Monsignor Erik Varden, Bishop of Trondheim, Norway, to whom Leo expressed profound gratitude for accompanying him and the Curia during these days of prayer and reflection.


"A profound, spiritual experience, very important in our Lenten journey," Leo XIV described the Spiritual Exercises, held in a symbolic place: the Pauline Chapel. This is the chapel where all the cardinals gathered on May 8, 2025—the day of Robert Francis Prevost's election—for the Eucharistic celebration. What struck the Pope, then as now, was the inscription of the verse from St. Paul's Letter to the Philippians: "For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain." This biblical reading Leo said he returned to during the Spiritual Exercises as a "reflection on hope and on the true source of hope, which is Christ." The Pope also cited another passage from the Pauline text, the one in which the apostle exhorts: "Therefore, walk in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Christ." This is precisely the invitation Leo XIV extended to all at the conclusion of these days of prayer: "Therefore, walk in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Christ."
Freedom, truth, hope

“With this spirit of communion, we all gather together to work together,” the Pope continued. Sometimes we are “separated,” therefore “gathering together in prayer” is “a very important moment in our lives, reflecting on many issues that are important for our lives and for the Church.” Quickly reviewing the past few days, Pope Leo returned to some of the themes that emerged during the eleven meditations, beginning with the reference to John Henry Newman, the English cardinal he proclaimed a Doctor of the Church, and the poem “The Dream of Gerontius ,” where the theologian leads the reader “to contemplate their own fear of death and their sense of unworthiness before God.” Then came other elements such as “freedom” and “truth,” which, he emphasized, are “so important in our lives.”

Thanks to the music that elevates the spirit towards God

Concluding his impromptu remarks, the Pope once again thanked Monsignor Varden for sharing his "wisdom" and "testimony" and that of the monastic life of Saint Bernard, for "the richness of his reflections," which will long be a "source of blessing" and "grace." Gratitude was also extended to the staff of the Office of Liturgical Celebrations for preparing the material and to the choir for accompanying the prayer with music, which, the Pope noted, "helps us in a way that words cannot, to lift our spirits toward the Lord."