Benedict wrote three encyclicals: "Deus caritas est" (Latin for "God is Love"), "Spe Salvi" ("Saved by Hope"), and "Caritas in veritate" ("Love in Truth"). In his first encyclical, "Deus caritas est", he said that a human being, created in the image of God who is love, is able to practice love: to give himself to God and others (agape) by receiving and experiencing God's love in contemplation. This life of love, according to him, is the life of the saints such as Teresa of Calcutta and the Blessed Virgin Mary, and is the direction Christians take when they believe that God loves them in Jesus Christ.