Pope Benedict XVI celebrates 60 years of priesthood - Herzlichen Glückwunsch, Heiliger Vater!

Pope Benedict XVI celebrates the 60th anniversary of his priestly ordination today, the Solemnity of Ss Peter and Paul. As part of the celebrations, the Vatican has invited 60 artists from different disciplines to exhibit their work. Musicians, painters, sculptors and poets will contribute to the exhibition, which is due to open to the public on 5 July. Catholics around the world have also been asked by the Holy See to mark the Holy Father's diamond jubilee of priesthood by participating in a 60-hour Eucharistic Adoration for the sanctification of the clergy and for new priestly vocations.

Pope Benedict once reflected on his Ordination Day, writing these words in his autobiography, Milestones: Memoirs 1927 - 1977 (Ignatius 1998, pg 99):

"We were more than forty candidates, who, at the solemn call on that radiant summer day, which I remember as the high point of my life, responded 'Adsum', Here I am. We should not be superstitious; but, at the moment when the elderly Archbishop laid his hands on me, a little bird – perhaps a lark – flew up from the altar in the high cathedral and trilled a little joyful song. And I could not but see in this a reassurance from on high, as if I heard the words 'This is good, you are on the right way.'"

Amongst the other forty candidates that were ordained with Joseph Ratzinger on 29 June 1951 was his brother Georg - so, many congratulations to him, too, for reaching his 60th anniversary of priesthood! All the young men on that day were ordained into the sacred priesthood by Cardinal Michael von Faulhaber at Freising Cathedral, near Munich - Joseph Ratzinger himself became Archbishop of Munich and Freising in 1977, receiving the red hat only a month after his episcopal consecration.

Cardinal Mauro Piacenza and Archbishop Celso Morga Iruzubieta, Prefect and Secretary of the Congregation of Clergy recently invited the faithful to observe a 60-hour Eucharistic Adoration from today until 1 July, which is both the Feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Day of Prayer for Priests. It is hoped that this act of devotion will help all men and women to express their gratitude to God for the priestly ministry of Pope Benedict XVI. It is also an opportunity for faithful Catholics to come before the Lord of the Harvest, asking him to fill his Church with vocations to the priesthood and religious life. As I am not aware of any 60-hour long acts of Eucharistic Adoration in London during the next few days, I might attend the Tyburn Convent for a few hours. The convent is a sanctuary of Perpetual Adoration and a Shrine of the Sacred Heart, open to the public from 6:30am till 8:30pm.

Yesterday, Pope Benedict XVI wrote his first official Tweet, so who knows, he might be online now, reading the various tributes being paid to him from around the world on this special day! My tribute comes in the form of some Mozart. It is well known that, along with Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is the Pope's favourite composer. According to the Pope Benedict XVI Fan Club, Joseph Ratzinger once claimed that Mozart's music "thoroughly penetrated" his soul during his childhood and youth in Bavaria.

According to the NCR, Pope Benedict XVI wrote these words in celebration of the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth:

“When in our home parish of Traunstein on feast days a Mass by Mozart resounded, for me, a little country boy, it seemed as if heaven stood open. In the front, in the sanctuary, columns of incense had formed in which the sunlight was broken; at the altar the sacred action took place of which we knew that heaven opened for us. And from the choir sounded music that could only come from heaven; music in which was revealed to us the jubilation of the angels over the beauty of God. …

“I have to say that something like this happens to me still when I listen to Mozart. Mozart is pure inspiration — or at least I feel it so. Each tone is correct and could not be different. The message is simply present. …

“The joy that Mozart gives us, and I feel this anew in every encounter with him, is not due to the omission of a part of reality; it is an expression of a higher perception of the whole, something I can only call inspiration out of which his compositions seem to flow naturally.”

I couldn't have put it better myself!

Herzlichen Glückwunsch, Heiliger Vater! Ad multos annos!

Ss Peter and Paul, pray for us

[Image: Frs Georg (left) and Joseph (right) Ratzinger on their Ordination Day, 1951; source: Catholic Mom in Hawaii]