Posted on 03/01/2013 1:48:08 PM PST by NYer
.- Benedict XVI ate dinner, watched the news with Archbishop Georg Gänswein and slept soundly during his first night as a retired pontiff.
“We spoke with Archbishop Georg Gänswein this morning and he told us that both of them slept very well, had dinner and watched two Italian newscasts of the days events,” Vatican press office director Father Federico Lombardi said March 1.
“The Pope was immersed in the profound and beautiful expression of the people at Castel Gandolfo,” Fr. Lombardi told journalists at a daily briefing.
The Pope emeritus prayed Evening Prayer after dinner, read messages that people sent to him and took a walk through the halls of Castel Gandolfo.
Another activity that he is expected to take up is playing the piano. It emerged Feb. 28 that Benedict XVI had been playing the piano every evening after dinner in the weeks leading up to his resignation.
Fr. Lombardi noted “Benedict brought CDs of his favorite music and many books of theology, spirituality and history. And he will probably soon resume playing the piano.”
“He was very peaceful and he woke up very peacefully after having slept well,” said Fr. Lombardi. “He has shown a great interior serenity that was reflected in his face.”
He woke up this morning in time to celebrate Mass at 7:00 a.m., as he normally does, and at 4:00 p.m. he walked through Castel Gandolfo’s gardens praying the Rosary.
Archbishop Gänswein also reported that among the books Benedict XVI took with him was “Hans urs von Balthasar’s Theological Aesthetics,” which he bought as soon as it was released.
In 1988 then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger went to the funeral of von Balthasar, who is considered to be one of the most important theologians of the 20th century.
Benedict XVI will live at Castel Gandolfo until restoration work is finished at Mater Ecclesiae monastery, where he will be permanently living a life of prayer inside the Vatican walls.
The cardinals who will participate in helping choose the next pontiff will have their first official meetings March 4 at 9:30 a.m. and a second one at 5:00 p.m. at the Vatican’s New Synod Hall.
The date of the conclave is expected to be set soon after the meetings start.
Ping!
Pope Nomor II
Veni Sancte Spiritus!
God bless and keep him.
He has my faithful prayers.
If the Pope Emeritus is still reading Balthasar's works I am now more pleased then disappointed that he's renounced his office.
And as far as his pledge to "be hidden from the world", he's not off to a good start.
Amen
Hmmmmm, are these charitable or positive thoughts?
I would be curious as to why you feel that way. Is Balthasar a problem for you? I only know of him, having never read anything of his.
Despite Christ’s teaching, as recorded in the Gospels, Balthasar proposes that Hell could very well be empty.
And along those lines, then Cardinal Ratzinger proposed that there is no Limbo of the Infants.
What’s next? No Purgatory? Answer: Yes!
It was Pope Benedict who said, immediately after Brother Roger Schultz’s death:
“Frère Schultz is in the hands of eternal goodness, of eternal love; he has attained eternal joy,” the Holy Father added. “He invites and exhorts us to be faithful laborers in the Lord’s vineyard, also in sad situations, certain that the Lord accompanies us and gives us his joy.”
No Hell, no Limbo, no Purgatory?
What’s positive about a pope renouncing his office?
Very interesting points. I will have to consider those. Thanks for sharing.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.