Behind again! Here are the last three Wednesday general audience addresses given by the Pope, including yesterday's:
February 1, on the first half of Psalm 144(145).
February 8, on the second half of Psalm 144(145).
Yesterday, February 15, on the Magnificat, Mary's song of praise found in the first chapter of Luke.
Yesterday's address is of special note, because it marks the last of the series of addresses that were prepared by the late Pope John Paul II.
John Paul was the first pope to use the Wednesday general audience to develop continuing themes from one week to the next. The first cycle was of course the "Theology of the Body" (actually, the TOTB consists of four cycles) which he developed over the first few years of his pontificate. The series ending today goes back to 2001 and have had as their focus the psalms and canticles prayed by the Church as part of Morning and Evening Prayer.
(For the curious, on March 28, 2001, JP2 explained his desire to dedicate his audeience addresses to the psalms and canticles of the Liturgy of the Hours. It's a nice read.)
It will be interesting (and, for a Pope-geek like me, somewhat exciting) to see over the next few weeks whether Benedict decides to continue his predecessor's practice of developing theological or devotional themes and ideas over multiple addresses, and if so, what the content of those addresses would be.