CT News
Feb. 23, 2026 : Pope Leo XIV began a Lenten retreat with the Roman Curia at the Vatican on Sunday. Cistercian Bishop Erik Varden of Trondheim, Norway, is leading the spiritual exercises at the request of the pope.
Varden will deliver his meditations for the Feb. 22–27 retreat in the Pauline Chapel of the Apostolic Palace.
The cardinals residing in Rome and the prefects of the Curia’s dicasteries are invited to participate, suspending or reducing their regular work activities in order to spend time in spiritual reflection with the pope and his closest collaborators.
Varden’s meditations, titled “Illuminated by a Hidden Glory,” will reflect on St. Bernard of Clairvaux, approached from a dual perspective: an idealistic dimension and a realistic view of the Christian experience.
Bishop Erik Varden of Norway is a Trappist monk whose reflections on the Desert Fathers aim to guide the Church through today’s “desert” of distraction — reminding us that Lent is a time deliberately given to God.
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