MikeLigalig.com

Who Says The World No Longer Has Superheroes?

He's my hero.

A Portrait of the Superhero as a Young Priest

Viva Il Papa! Viva Il Papa!

Joseph Alois Ratzinger, the boy who became Pope Benedict XVI

What little Joseph Ratzinger
wrote the Christ Child when he was 7

All his Christmas wishes had to do with Mass

by ALBERT LINK
December 15, 2012

ROME â€" The boy Joseph was seven when he promised the Christ Child in writing that he 'would always be good'. And 78 years later, it was heart-warming for the 85-year-old Pope to be reminded of the note he left on the family creche in Aschau, where the Ratzinger family lived at the time.

The note was discovered among his sister Maria's belongings during the recent renovation of his house in Pentling, outside Regensburg, which has now become a meeting-center for the Institut Papst Benedikt XVI and a small museum with a room dedicated to each of the three Ratzinger siblings.

The Christmas-wish note is now on exhibit at the Pope's birthplace museum in Marktl am Inn.


Found the picture on the Passau diocese site - on the left is Maria Ratzinger's own letter.

In sharp Sutterlin-script [an old German style of handwriting], the second-grader writes the "Dear Christ Child" what he wishes for at Christmas 1934:

Dear Christ Child!

You will soon come down to earth. You will be bringing joy to children. You will also bring joy to me. I would like a Volks-Schott, a green garment for Mass, and a Heart of Jesus. I will always be good!

With best greetings
from
Joseph Ratzinger.

what he wanted:
*Volks-Schott - a popular version of the Schott Missal, which contained all the prayers and readings for the Masses during the year
*green garment - a chasuble to wear when playing Mass
*Heart of Jesus - a Heart of Jesus icon


Left, the most famous schoolboy photo in the world was taken in Aschau when Joseph was five; right, Joseph in Aschau two years later, around the time he wrote the Christmas note.

Georg* (L) and Joseph Ratzinger during their first Mass processional in Traunstein, Germany in 1951. Photo courtesy of Ignatius Press.

*georg, 3 years older than joseph, is also a priest, currently serving in germany.


The Ratzinger children: Maria, Georg, Joseph

1951: Brothers Georg and Joseph confer their first blessings as priests.  They were ordained together on the same day.

Msgr. Georg Ratzinger is an accomplished musician, known for his work as the conductor of the Regensburger Domspatzen, the cathedral choir of Regensburg, Germany.

Beautiful ! Beautiful ! Viva Il Papa...