An Oasis in French, English and Welsh Catholicism.
JANE MOSSENDEW'S blog; dedicated to the support of His Holiness Benedict XVI through prayer-based apostolic action. Traditional ROMAN CATHOLIC and loyally obedient to his authority as Successor of Peter.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
What are your memories of April 19, 2005? Please share in the com box
My own memories will follow. I will send the whole package to the Holy Father
7 comments:
Anonymous
said...
Incredulity - so soon? The Conclave had hardly started.
We were glued to the TV, it was so exciting we didn't even make a cup of tea. When the announcement came we could hardly believe it. We forgot the tea, and after I leaped around a bit in glee as the news sank in, received a glass of wine from husband and drank a toast to the new Holy Father when he emerged on the balcony! An amazing, blessed, and truly happy day, one we'll never forget.
Late afternoon... BBC Radio4 hinted the conclave would be over soon, so there was a disconsolate howl from the children when their favourite Cartoon show 'Yu-gi-oh' was replaced with BBC news 24. Who was it going to be ? That Ukrainian ? Arinze or his protege? Crom Cruach [Cardianl Cormac?] - Heaven forfend!!!? Martino - please no!!!? That Latin American Opus Dei guy the US blogs were recommending ? My other half arrived home with a mountain of stories ready to relate about work,after my abrupt shushing her and two minutes of desperate apologes and an explanation as to why I was rude, she charitably calmed down and asked me nonchalantly who it was going to be. My response of how the bl**dy hell should I know went down like a lead balloon ! More apologies ensued. Who did I want it to be ? My reply of "we'll get who the Holy Spirit wants" sounded naiively superstitious and credulous to my over-rationally agnostic spouse; so I changed tack... "We need Ratzinger or someone like him; but there isn't a hope in hell - too many progressive b*stards around - he's a bloody brilliant demi-god - but he's hated by so many ! Your mother has more chance of becoming Pope.'
I turned to the kids... 'say a quick prayer it's not Martino or a liberal !' they obliged having no idea what they were asking for; but trusted my sincere fervour in the request.
Then who should come on the screen but Fr David Barrett?? My best mate from my seminary days - I ended up the shelf-stacker in ASDA, he became Bishop's secretary and diocesan chancellor and a few years away from an episcopacy. The BBC reporter asked him what kind of Pope he wanted - the response of holy praying Pope as not exactly what the reporter expected or wanted...
My partner started recounting to the kids how adorable but 'flakey' Fr David was - how it took him seven years to find time to baptize our youngest...[I had insisted that he HAD to do it]
My eldest started asking about the assassination attempt on JPII and the story of the little girl who needed an operation, but Paul VI was friends with her rural parish priest and he had paid for her operation and told the priest to make sure the girl dedicated her life to the Immaculate heart of Mary [Our Lady of Fatima] It was that cured young girl in the crowd wearing the huge rosette that made John Paul II bend down and the bullets miss his head... {I don't know if the anecdote is true but my kids' eyes light up with wonder at it}
Then came the announcement - Joseph ??? It can't be ??? It is ! Oh My GOD!!!!! IT IS!!!!
The way my wife and kids describe it might be a little 'florid' ; but according to them it was a 'When Harry met Sally moment'...
Neighbours stopped in the street outside our open windows. Passers-by stared in the direction of our house...
A Male voice emanating , screaming 'YES! YES ! YES!!!' for minutes on end, shouting heavenward 'THANKYOU...I LOVE YOU...OH THANKYOU!!! YES-YES-YESSSSS !!!!' ...tears in my eyes, banging my fist on the floor in abject ecstasy...
God gave us Pope Benedict and after this 'exulataion' half my neighbours can no longer look me in the eye without blushing and scuttling off - a story my kids love to embarrass me with at every family gathering...
Now many may state the disappointment of Cardinal Ratzinger's election - my response is an abrupt vociferous anglicism - for a lot of cafeteria Catholics expecting progress and subsumation into the changing spirit of this world - the roof of their smug complacent situationist pragmatic relativist world fell in - to them it was a nightmare made manifest ! Upset? They were livid! It was a cataclysm of cosmic proportion to them....
I hit my knees at ever opportunity and thank God for the overwhelming bounteous grace He has bestowed upon His undeserving Church by giving us Benedict XVI.
When I heard the name Ratzinger,I felt a small,very small I have to admit,glimmer of hope.I had seen him at the funeral of Blessed John Paul,and thought how alone and detatched he seemed to be,and if the press reports of him were true then maybe that kind of Papacy was what the church might need.Then he came out onto the balcony,and I saw him embrace with joy something which he didnt want.I think I loved him from that moment.He is a beacon of light to me now,and walks in the footsteps of his Master.I do not think he is a good Pope only, I think he is a holy and a great one.Time will tell. God bless him on this anniversary,and give him strength not to flee the wolves.
I too remember the funeral of Bl. John Paul II and particularly the detachment of Cardinal Ratzinger. I have to say that I would not have dared hope that Ratzinger might be elected. His reputation in the then dicastry he was responsible for had accentuated his reputation as a 'rottweiler'. That we could expect a Pope who would begin to address some of the negativity that seemed to have engulfed the Church since Vatican II would have seemed at best a pious hope, with no chance of ever becoming a reality.
The Holy Father that we now know a little more, was, without a doubt God's provision for His Holy Church, and I join with the universal Church in wishing this saintly man ad multos annos.
I remember the day well. I was in the garden with an old friend enjoying the sun and I had left the television on and the door open so as not to miss the announcement while we chatted. Eventually my friend could wait no longer for the result and had to leave and shortly after her departure came the momentous announcement 'Habemus Papam.'
By coincidence my visitor on that day was German and now we had a German Pope. At first I have to admit that I could not help wondering how I was going to feel with a Pope who was German. Unlike others I knew little about him though like others I had been deeply impressed with his celebration of the funeral of Pope John-Paul.
Since that day I have been privileged to have attended two Papal Masses in Lourdes together with the Hyde Park Vigil in London and feel that we have indeed all been blessed with another great Pope.
7 comments:
Incredulity - so soon? The Conclave had hardly started.
Concern - such an old man
Memories - Good Pope John
We were glued to the TV, it was so exciting we didn't even make a cup of tea. When the announcement came we could hardly believe it. We forgot the tea, and after I leaped around a bit in glee as the news sank in, received a glass of wine from husband and drank a toast to the new Holy Father when he emerged on the balcony! An amazing, blessed, and truly happy day, one we'll never forget.
Disbelief, incredulity, wonder - turning to great joy and awe at the power of the Holy Spirit.
Late afternoon...
BBC Radio4 hinted the conclave would be over soon, so there was a disconsolate howl from the children when their favourite Cartoon show 'Yu-gi-oh' was replaced with BBC news 24.
Who was it going to be ? That Ukrainian ? Arinze or his protege? Crom Cruach [Cardianl Cormac?] - Heaven forfend!!!? Martino - please no!!!? That Latin American Opus Dei guy the US blogs were recommending ?
My other half arrived home with a mountain of stories ready to relate about work,after my abrupt shushing her and two minutes of desperate apologes and an explanation as to why I was rude, she charitably calmed down and asked me nonchalantly who it was going to be.
My response of how the bl**dy hell should I know went down like a lead balloon ! More apologies ensued.
Who did I want it to be ?
My reply of "we'll get who the Holy Spirit wants" sounded naiively superstitious and credulous to my over-rationally agnostic spouse; so I changed tack...
"We need Ratzinger or someone like him; but there isn't a hope in hell - too many progressive b*stards around - he's a bloody brilliant demi-god - but he's hated by so many ! Your mother has more chance of becoming Pope.'
I turned to the kids...
'say a quick prayer it's not Martino or a liberal !' they obliged having no idea what they were asking for; but trusted my sincere fervour in the request.
Then who should come on the screen but Fr David Barrett?? My best mate from my seminary days - I ended up the shelf-stacker in ASDA, he became Bishop's secretary and diocesan chancellor and a few years away from an episcopacy. The BBC reporter asked him what kind of Pope he wanted - the response of holy praying Pope as not exactly what the reporter expected or wanted...
My partner started recounting to the kids how adorable but 'flakey' Fr David was - how it took him seven years to find time to baptize our youngest...[I had insisted that he HAD to do it]
My eldest started asking about the assassination attempt on JPII and the story of the little girl who needed an operation, but Paul VI was friends with her rural parish priest and he had paid for her operation and told the priest to make sure the girl dedicated her life to the Immaculate heart of Mary [Our Lady of Fatima] It was that cured young girl in the crowd wearing the huge rosette that made John Paul II bend down and the bullets miss his head... {I don't know if the anecdote is true but my kids' eyes light up with wonder at it}
Then came the announcement - Joseph ??? It can't be ??? It is ! Oh My GOD!!!!! IT IS!!!!
The way my wife and kids describe it might be a little 'florid' ; but according to them it was a 'When Harry met Sally moment'...
Neighbours stopped in the street outside our open windows. Passers-by stared in the direction of our house...
A Male voice emanating , screaming 'YES! YES ! YES!!!' for minutes on end, shouting heavenward
'THANKYOU...I LOVE YOU...OH THANKYOU!!! YES-YES-YESSSSS !!!!' ...tears in my eyes, banging my fist on the floor in abject ecstasy...
God gave us Pope Benedict and after this 'exulataion' half my neighbours can no longer look me in the eye without blushing and scuttling off - a story my kids love to embarrass me with at every family gathering...
Now many may state the disappointment of Cardinal Ratzinger's election - my response is an abrupt vociferous anglicism - for a lot of cafeteria Catholics expecting progress and subsumation into the changing spirit of this world - the roof of their smug complacent situationist pragmatic relativist world fell in - to them it was a nightmare made manifest ! Upset?
They were livid!
It was a cataclysm of cosmic proportion to them....
I hit my knees at ever opportunity and thank God for the overwhelming bounteous grace He has bestowed upon His undeserving Church by giving us Benedict XVI.
When I heard the name Ratzinger,I felt a small,very small I have to admit,glimmer of hope.I had seen him at the funeral of Blessed John Paul,and thought how alone and detatched he seemed to be,and if the press reports of him were true then maybe that kind of Papacy was what the church might need.Then he came out onto the balcony,and I saw him embrace with joy something which he didnt want.I think I loved him from that moment.He is a beacon of light to me now,and walks in the footsteps of his Master.I do not think he is a good Pope only, I think he is a holy and a great one.Time will tell.
God bless him on this anniversary,and give him strength not to flee the wolves.
Sandy.
I too remember the funeral of Bl. John Paul II and particularly the detachment of Cardinal Ratzinger.
I have to say that I would not have dared hope that Ratzinger might be elected. His reputation in the then dicastry he was responsible for had accentuated his reputation as a 'rottweiler'. That we could expect a Pope who would begin to address some of the negativity that seemed to have engulfed the Church since Vatican II would have seemed at best a pious hope, with no chance of ever becoming a reality.
The Holy Father that we now know a little more, was, without a doubt God's provision for His Holy Church, and I join with the universal Church in wishing this saintly man ad multos annos.
I remember the day well. I was in the garden with an old friend enjoying the sun and I had left the television on and the door open so as not to miss the announcement while we chatted. Eventually my friend could wait no longer for the result and had to leave and shortly after her departure came the momentous announcement 'Habemus Papam.'
By coincidence my visitor on that day was German and now we had a German Pope. At first I have to admit that I could not help wondering how I was going to feel with a Pope who was German. Unlike others I knew little about him though like others I had been deeply impressed with his celebration of the funeral of Pope John-Paul.
Since that day I have been privileged to have attended two Papal Masses in Lourdes together with the Hyde Park Vigil in London and feel that we have indeed all been blessed with another great Pope.
May he guide us for many years to come.
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