Wednesday, April 27, 2005

That Chasuble

I promise I'm eventually going to 'blog about something unrelated to the Pope... but Zenit has an interesting article about a convent of Benedictine nuns who used to host Cardinal Ratzinger on a regular basis:
ROSANO, Italy, APRIL 26, 2005 (Zenit.org).- A spiritual haven of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Benedict XVI, was a cloistered convent of Benedictine nuns in this town in the central Italian region of Tuscany.
Cardinal Ratzinger "came often to our abbey," said the Benedictine nuns of St. Mary of Rosano, in a statement.
"The first time was in 1985, on the occasion of a novice's profession," the statement added. "Before leaving, when saying goodbye to the mother of the newly professed, he told her to be happy, as her daughter was in a safe place, in which the Rule of St. Benedict was lived with unique serenity, consistency and joy.
"Since then, His Eminence returned on various occasions, especially on the occasion of Corpus Christi. On that day, our church is full and he captivated everyone with his very profound homilies and the cordial simplicity with which he spent time with each one in the courtyard at the end of the Mass. He used to like to carry the Most Holy Sacrament during the procession, which went through the cloisters and the garden."
"He came to Rosano in June 2001 with his brother priest to celebrate [his] 50th anniversary of priestly ordination," added the religious in their statement.
[snip...]
At John Paul II's suggestion, the Holy See asked the nuns of Rosano to guide and shape the Benedictine community, made up of women religious from various countries, which last October began a five-year residence in the Vatican's Mater Ecclesiae convent.
At the Mass for the official inauguration of his pontificate, Benedict XVI wore a chasuble made for John Paul II by the Benedictine sisters of Rosano.
That last paragraph answers one of the most talked-about questions in Rome this week... Where did the chasuble come from and had we previously seen it worn by the late Holy Father?

No comments: