St. Celestine, you were pope for only five months, for in that short amount of time it was apparent that although you were very holy, you were not a natural leader, as you could not say no to anyone. You went again to the cardinals and begged that the position be taken away from you. They were deeply impressed by your humility. They chose a new pope, who decided to keep you in a cell so that no one could take advantage of you and make you into an anti-pope. In this prison you lived out the rest of your days in prayer.
St. Celestine, you were not the slightest ambitious for clerical power. Please pray that we may grow in humility as you did and not yearn for worldly honors. St. Celestine, you realized you were incapable of governing the people through the duties of a pope and resigned. The next pope to resign of his own accord was our Benedict XVI. Please pray for all our popes, for you know how terribly burdensome and stressful this position is. We thank you for your gentle intercession.
Amen.
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