During his general audience, Benedict XVI introduces the figure of Marguerite d’Oingt, a Carthusian nun who lived in the Middle Ages. But "if we get down to the essential, we see that it is our duty to arrive at the most profound depths of our lives," to let Christ into our conscience, "so he understands what is true and what is evil, so it can be illuminated and clean”.

Vatican City (AsiaNews) – Allowing the words and light of Christ penetrate our conscience to understand what is good: "There is trash on the streets of the world, but also in many souls, let us allow the words, life and light of Christ into our conscience, so it may be illuminated and cleaned”.  This is the lesson that Benedict XVI traced from the life and work of Marguerite d’Oingt, the Carthusian nun who lived between the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, to seven thousand people present in the Paul VI for the general audience.

Marguerite’s exact date of birth is unknown, said the Pope said, but it is estimated to have been around 1240. Neither do we have information about her childhood, but from her "Meditations" we can understand that hers was a quiet loving family environment.

We also gather from her Meditations intuit that she entered the Carthusian convent in Poleteins to answer the call of God, leaving everything behind and accepting the strict Carthusian rule, as she writes "for your love, but this is very little, worldly goods are but thorns and the more one owns more one is  unfortunate "and" I leave everything for love of your life because you are my soul. "

Even of her life in the Carthusian monastery there is little detail, we know that in 1288 she became the fourth prioress, a position she held until her death on 11 February 1310.

Her writings reveal few details, but we can see that "she perceives her life to be a journey of purification". "A very intelligent women, she regularly writes in Latin but also in Provençal French, her writings are the first to be written in this language."

Margaret’s was "a life full of mystical experiences described with simplicity," which underline "the ineffable mystery of God and the inadequacy of human language to describe it." For her, life was "a journey of purification to the full configuration to Christ," told "to help others and to fix more deeply in their hearts the grace of God's presence, so that every day her existence is marked by comparison with the words and actions of Jesus. "

In the contemplation of Christ's death, which she compares to the pain of childbirth, Marguerite invites us to "meditate daily on the life of pain and love of Jesus and his mother, recalling that" “from the contemplation of Christ's love for us is born strength and joy to respond with equal love, putting our lives at the service of God and of others. "

"At first glance - the concluding remarks of Pope Benedict XVI - a medieval Carthusian may seem distant to us, but if we get sown to the essential we see that it is our duty to arrive at the most profound depths of our lives." She "likened the Lord to a book, a mirror which also reflects our own conscience, and through this mirror light also entered her soul. She allowed the words of Christ penetrate her being and thus has been transformed, her conscience found a criteria and light. This is exactly what we also need: to let in the light of Christ into our conscience, so he understands what is true and what is evil, so it may be illuminated and clean".

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