This entry was posted on Monday, February 11th, 2013 at 5:19 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Pope Benedict XVI in Saint Peter’s Square, Vatican City.
Photograph: Alessandro Di Meo/EPA
I don’t understand. My immediate reaction when I heard Pope Benedict XVI had announced his resignation, was great sorrow for the Holy Father and what travail in prayer it must have taken for him to reach this decision.
My sorrow stems from the fact that he was my pope when I came home to the faith seven years ago..I clung to his mantle like a child looking to her father, gleaning from him everything I could, hungry to relearn the faith because there was such confusion in the church. To me, despite his age, he was a tower of strength as he undertook the reformations long needed in Holy Mother Church.
I remember the day…I think it was April, 2005 ~
White smoke appeared today at 5.50 p.m. local time over the Sistine Chapel in Rome – the first sign that a new Pope had been elected by the Conclave of Cardinals. A few minutes later, the bells of St. Peter’s Basilica began ringing, confirming the election. Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger had been selected as the successor to Pope John Paul II as the 265th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, and will be known as Pope Benedict XVI.
{…}The new Pope appeared to the public within an hour of the first announcement. He appeared on the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica and delivered a short address to the crowd in Italian. Tens of thousands of people were in St Peter’s Square to observe the results of the election.
And I remember my mother and I saying,” how could a native German speak such clean, beautiful Italian?”
I understood every word.
While the disappointment runs deep, my heart hurts, and I do feel somewhat abandoned, I dearly love him. What else can we do but pray and trust the Holy Spirit?
Thank you Pope Benedict…I’m glad you were the Holy Father who welcomed me home, and I will always remember you and keep you in my prayers.
In the spirit of St Benedict, I offer on this feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, a prayer to the Queen of Heaven,
The Immaculate Conception,
—A Hail Mary for our cardinals and the future conclave who will elect the new Bishop of Rome:
Ave Maria, piena di grazia,
il Signore è con te.
Tu sei benedetta fra le donne
e benedetto è il frutto del tuo seno, Gesú.
Santa Maria, Madre di Dio,
prega per noi peccatori,
adesso e nell’ora della nostra morte.
Amen
+PAX
February 11th, 2013 at 6:25 pm
Caroline, I love Pope Benedict as well. I happened to be home watching EWTN at the very moment the smoke went up white and the announcement shortly after was made that it was Ratzinger. I was so happy.
It is hard to read any of the news articles covering the resignation because they are blaming him for the sexual abuse. Not sure the logic, but they want to smear him. That and the quote he repeated that highlighted the violence in some of Muhammad’s teachings. Gah!
Pretty sure no one that has written those paragraphs has read one of his encyclicals, his books, or even the shorter write-ups of his weekly teaching audiences.
May God continue to bless us with a faithful, gifted leader following in the beautiful example of Pope Benedict and his predecessors.
February 11th, 2013 at 7:36 pm
Colleen, I’ve tried to stay away from the news thinking that’s probably how they’d respond. It would upset me so much to hear how they treat him.
You’re right, I would have to wonder how many of his teachings they’ve read in total…not just quotes or quips of what others have said he said.
I find the timing right before Lent perhaps purposeful …The Holy Father knowing it is the season of prayer,repentance and finally… resurrection.
I hope his successor will continue in the restorative groundwork he has been faithful to give us.
Blessings always and +
February 11th, 2013 at 8:08 pm
I have been sharing the sorrow. Sounds dramatic, but when I heard the news today I had to remind myself to breathe.. breathe…
I was watching EWTN back when our beloved Pope Benedict was elected, and when I heard who it was, I sobbed with joy. One of my grown children came home to find me in a chair, buried under cast-off tissues, tears still streaking my face – and remarked: “looks like your team won.”
God’s “team” is the ultimate winner, but it’s no secret to us that sometimes the scuffles can be rough. I apologize for such a long post, but it can be hard not to feel a bit battle weary. Today is one of those rougher days, as our Papa yields the wheel. I know we join together in prayer.
February 11th, 2013 at 8:51 pm
Oh Nancy..It’s not dramatic (remember who you’re talking to! LOL) and long posts never bother me… That’s what I’ve had to tell myself all day…just breathe…
I was unsure of him at first but it was my mother who said the minute she saw him on the balcony, it would be alright. I didn’t know enough in those days to be grateful. What an education in the “scuffles” I’ve had in the last seven years. They have been rough…But all of you who were faithful to Holy Mother Church, unlike me, and stayed through all the hardships of the post Vatican II days, I have no doubt you cried a river of justifiably, joyful tears.
But now, I grieve with you– because I truly don’t understand and don’t want to see him go,
now, I pray with you in feeling the weariness of the battle.
We’ll watch and wait…and somehow trust God in the dark.
Blessings always and +
February 12th, 2013 at 1:13 am
Caroline, your beautiful post makes me want to cry…again.
February 12th, 2013 at 3:04 am
Esther, I’m with you. I know people say it’s a privilege to live in such challenging times….but I’m not feeling it these days. +
February 12th, 2013 at 3:05 am
Caroline, we are out of town today, and I have been disconnected from all of the media..except that first heartbreaking announcement by my husband this morning, when he signed onto the Internet. I feel that I need to go somewhere to grieve..so here I am on the computer for a few moments..with you and our other friends. I so love Pope Benedict. He was very special to me as well, because the timing of his election came shortly before our first trip to Rome, and some coincidences kept connecting my husband to him…maybe I’ll write about that on a happier day.
I’m so glad he was your “papa” when you returned to the Church. He’s been such a gentle and good Holy Father to us all. Here I am rambling….forgive me. Just so very sad. But, I have seen how frail he has appeared lately. May God bless us with another Saint..like the last few popes we’ve had. Missing you lately, as I’ve had “issues,” and have not been online very much. Everything is much better now.
Love and hugs…I need one too!
February 12th, 2013 at 3:18 am
Patricia….You never ramble!
Been thinking of you too, especially as we deal with this heartbreaking news. I wonder at times if it might be a good thing to disconnect from the media for a while…How much more can we take I wonder? But then, I would miss some of the only people who I truly know have their hand of the pulse of the times we are in and are committed to prayer.
You’re always in my prayers and I’m very glad to know things are better. I’ve had issues, too.
Your prayers would be a blessing– as the Lord leads.
I can’t quite grasp the fact yet, that we will be welcoming a new pope perhaps before Easter.
I’ve missed you …It’s awful quiet without you.
Hugs, love and + always