Brennan Pursell's Benedict of Bavaria is a warm, richly descriptive, and insightful portrait of Joseph Ratzinger, from his birth in his native Bavaria to his present day mission in the Chair of Peter.
If a biographer is a kind of portraitist in words, Pursell treats his subject with the deep respect, affinity, and understanding of the best of artists. As he readily shares in his Introduction, there is a personal connection at work, a sense of gratitude and indebtedness to one whose writings had such an impact on his own conversion from a "California hedonist" to a committed Catholic. Perhaps due to this sense of personal connection, Pursell does not paint Benedict just from the outside, as a stranger would do. He paints him also from the inside, from an acquaintance born of long hours of study and personal contact with the places and people of Ratzinger's homeland.
Readings for May 22
Daily Divine Office
“Teach me to pray, Lord. Teach me to pray in your name, to pray with faith, to pray unceasingly. Teach me to pray for the people you have entrusted to my care. You want to shower your graces down upon…
May 27th – Pentecost Sunday
Vatican Basilica, at 9:30
PAPAL MASS
Holy Mass
Saint Peter’s Square, at 12:00
Regina Caeli…
“There is nothing more beautiful than to be surprised by the gospel, by the encounter with Christ. There is nothing more beautiful than to know Him and to speak to others of our friendship with him.” ~Pope Benedict XVI…
Be brave
St. Godric of Finchale
Spiritual advice from a Benedictine monastery by Brother Sebastian
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Pasta di San Giuseppe
(St. Joseph Pasta – Pasta with Sardines)
Italians have a great devotion to St Joseph, and the dishes they prepare to celebrate the feast day inevitably have a cute reference to him. Just before you serve…