March 12
Innocent, Pope (+417)
Pope
This Pope is the fortieth of Peter's successors.
Biography
He was energetic in his condemnation of the heresies of his time, even clashing with the emperor Arcadius. But the great event of his pontificate was the tragedy of August 410, when the hordes of the barbarian Alaric entered Rome through the Salaria Gate and plundered the city, destroying it completely. The disaster shook the foundations of the Christian world, because for contemporaries this destruction was almost inconceivable and they felt that humanity's brightest torch was extinguished. However, as Saint Augustine explains in The City of God, history continues and after the catastrophe, Pope Innocent returns to Rome, because life and the Church continue on their mysterious path towards the Absolute.
Practical advice
As you begin your work, be grateful for the good received through the sacraments like someone who works and prays under the loving gaze of God.