From Gemelli Hospital

This year's Holy Thursday Letter from the Holy Father to Priests begins in a very different, very personal, and very moving way:

"Dear Priests!

1. "In this Year of the Eucharist, I particularly welcome our annual spiritual encounter for Holy Thursday, the day when Christ's love was manifested 'to the end' (cf. Jn 13:1), the day of the Eucharist, the day of our priesthood.

"My thoughts turn to you, dear priests, as I spend this time recuperating in hospital, a patient alongside other patients, uniting in the Eucharist my own sufferings with those of Christ. In this spirit I want to reflect with you on some aspects of our priestly spirituality.

(Editorial note: Wow!)

"I will take as my inspiration the words of Eucharistic consecration, which we say every day in persona Christi in order to make present on our altars the sacrifice made once and for all on Calvary.

"These words provide us with illuminating insights for priestly spirituality: if the whole Church draws life from the Eucharist, all the more then must the life of a priest be 'shaped' by the Eucharist.

"So for us, the words of institution must be more than a formula of consecration: they must be a 'formula of life.'"