By Amedeo Lomonaco
A break from work to restore physical strength, a chance to travel and contemplate the beauty of nature, a time for reading and new friendships or to meditate and pray. These are some of the aspects that past popes have emphasized when reflecting on the importance of vacation periods.
This summer, the first after his election, Pope Leo XIV will also be taking some time off to rest. From Jul 6 – 20, and then for a couple more days in August, he will be at the Pontifical Villas in Castel Gandolfo, a town about 25 kilometers (approximately 16 miles) from Rome.
A favorable time
How one can make the best use of his or her time off is a question that features prominently in many papal reflections, as holidays have an important role in human life.
The popes stress that this period should not be viewed simply as a time of idleness. For example, vacations can instead be an opportunity to pause and reflect on the beauty of nature, or “God’s book”, as described by Pope Paul VI.
He pointed out that during the holidays, we can rediscover the “always open, always new, always beautiful” creation. Nature with its’ “space, atmosphere, animals, things; the sea, mountains, plains, the sky with its dawns, its noons, its sunsets, and especially its starry nights” is “always deep and enchanting.”
For the popes, holidays are a time of rest and relaxation, but also for meditation and turning towards God.
Paul VI: Holidays are for reading, discovering and friendships
Vacations are also a fruitful time, as the interruption of the ordinary work routine can foster inner silence and recollection. During the Angelus on Aug 5, 1973, Pope Paul VI explained what he thought this period of rest should look like: “Let us ensure that this free time, which we call vacation, is not entirely spent in dissipation or selfishness. Relaxation, refreshment, recreation (in the etymological sense), yes, but intelligent and vigilant.”
The Pope, for example, suggested catching up on “serious readings” that may have been put aside during the year, or partaking in “excursions” to discover “the beautiful treasures” of history and art..
He also highlighted that “holidays are a privileged time for good friendships, for getting to know places, customs, the needs of the people we do not usually approach, and for meeting new people worthy of our conversation”
John Paul II: Meetings and encounters essential to vacations
Holidays are an opportunity to live serene moments. Pope John Paul II, who loved spending rest periods in the mountains, often emphasized that in order to regenerate themselves, people need harmony and the joy of meeting with others.
“For a vacation to be truly such and bring genuine well-being, in it a person must recover a good balance with himself, with others and with the environment”, St John Paul II said, during the Angelus on Jul 6, 1997. He added that it “is this interior and exterior harmony which revitalizes the mind and reinvigorates body and spirit.”
For John Paul II, “one of the values of a holiday” is meeting others and spending time “in an unselfish way, for the pleasure of friendship and for sharing quiet moments together.”
Warning about “the human mind and the influences of a consumer society,” he suggested taking “healthy vacations”, especially for young people. Holidays “that provide a healthy escape, avoiding harmful abuses of your health and that of others” in order to avoid “wasting” time and resources. “Escape can be beneficial, as long as one does not escape from sound moral criteria and simply from the necessary respect for one’s own health,” he insisted.
Benedict XVI: In nature, man rediscovers himself
For Pope Benedict XVI, it is vital to immerse oneself in nature, especially for “those who dwell in cities where the often frenzied pace of life leaves little room for silence and reflection.”
During the Angelus on Jul 17, 2005, in Les Combes, in the Aosta Valley mountains in northern Italy, he highlighted “the need to be physically and mentally replenished” through a “relaxing contact with nature.”
“Moreover, holidays are days on which we can give even more time to prayer, reading and meditation on the profound meaning of life in the peaceful context of our own family and loved ones,” he added.
Looking at “the stirring views of nature, a marvellous ‘book’ within the reach of everyone, adults or children,” people can “rediscover their proper dimension.”
“They recognize that they are creatures but at the same time unique, ‘capable of God’, since they are inwardly open to the Infinite,” Pope Benedict XVI explained.
Francis: Deepening one’s spiritual journey through vacations
At the Angelus on Aug 6, 2017, Pope Francis emphasized that holidays can also be a good time to deepen one’s spiritual journey, even while traveling between tourist destinations.
“Summer season is a providential time to cultivate our task of seeking and encountering the Lord,” he underlined. In this “period of rest and disengagement from daily activities, we can reinforce our strengths of body and soul.”
He also encouraged the faithful to entrust their holidays to the Virgin Mary, so she can help them “be in harmony with the Word of God, so that Christ may become light and lodestar throughout our life.”
He especially urged all to entrust to her “the summer of those who cannot go on holiday due to impediments of age, to reasons of health or of work, to economic restrictions or other problems, so that it may be a time of eased tension, gladdened by the presence of friends and of happy moments.” – Vatican News
