Benedict XVI ate dinner, watched the news with Archbishop Georg Gänswein
and slept soundly during his first night as a retired pontiff.
“We spoke with Archbishop Georg Gänswein this morning and he told us
that both of them slept very well, had dinner and watched two Italian
newscasts of the days events,” Vatican press office director Father
Federico Lombardi said March 1.
“The Pope was immersed in the profound and beautiful expression of the
people at Castel Gandolfo,” Fr. Lombardi told journalists at a daily
briefing.
The Pope emeritus prayed Evening Prayer after dinner, read messages that
people sent to him and took a walk through the halls of Castel
Gandolfo.
Another activity that he is expected to take up is playing the piano. It
emerged Feb. 28 that Benedict XVI had been playing the piano every
evening after dinner in the weeks leading up to his resignation.
Fr. Lombardi noted “Benedict brought CDs of his favorite music and many
books of theology, spirituality and history. And he will probably soon
resume playing the piano.”
“He was very peaceful and he woke up very peacefully after having slept
well,” said Fr. Lombardi. “He has shown a great interior serenity that
was reflected in his face.”
He woke up this morning in time to celebrate Mass at 7:00 a.m., as he
normally does, and at 4:00 p.m. he walked through Castel Gandolfo’s
gardens praying the Rosary.
Archbishop Gänswein also reported that among the books Benedict XVI took
with him was “Hans urs von Balthasar’s Theological Aesthetics,” which
he bought as soon as it was released.
In 1988 then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger went to the funeral of von
Balthasar, who is considered to be one of the most important theologians
of the 20th century.
Benedict XVI will live at Castel Gandolfo until restoration work is
finished at Mater Ecclesiae monastery, where he will be permanently
living a life of prayer inside the Vatican walls.