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Views from the Choir Loft

How Does Benedict XVI Perceive His Retirement?

Fr. David Friel · December 1, 2018

JulianNorwich IGHT YEARS have passed since Pope Benedict XVI participated in a rather ordinary, Wednesday general audience. The date was December 1, 2010, and the Holy Father offered a thoughtful catechesis on Julian of Norwich, the English mystic of the late-14th/early-15th centuries whose Revelations of Divine Love is counted among the spiritual classics.

At the time, the speech delivered at this audience seemed like a nice, albeit inconspicuous, reflection. At various points in his life as a cardinal and as the Roman Pontiff, after all, Benedict XVI had spoken admiringly of such notable Catholic women as Hildegard of Bingen, Catherine of Siena, Bridget of Sweden, Teresa of Avila, and Clare of Assisi.

In hindsight, however, his reflections upon Julian stand apart.

From our present vantage point—knowing that Benedict XVI would ultimately step down from the chair of Peter and become the Pope Emeritus—the 2010 catechesis on Julian of Norwich appears prescient. In that talk, the Holy Father made the following observations:

Inspired by divine love, Julian made a radical decision. Like an ancient anchoress, she decided to live in a cell located near the church called after St. Julian, in the city of Norwich—in her time an important urban center not far from London. . . .

This decision to live as a “recluse,” the term in her day, might surprise or even perplex us. But she was not the only one to make such a choice. In those centuries a considerable number of women opted for this form of life, adopting rules specially drawn up for them, such as the rule compiled by St. Aelred of Rievaulx.

The anchoresses, or “recluses,” in their cells, devoted themselves to prayer, meditation and study. In this way, they developed a highly refined human and religious sensitivity which earned them the veneration of the people. Men and women of every age and condition in need of advice and comfort, would devoutly seek them. It was not, therefore, an individualistic choice; precisely with this closeness to the Lord, Julian developed the ability to be a counsellor to a great many people and to help those who were going through difficulties in this life.

We also know that Julian received frequent visitors, as is attested by the autobiography of another fervent Christian of her time, Margery Kempe, who went to Norwich in 1413 to receive advice on her spiritual life. This is why, in her lifetime, Julian was called “Dame Julian,” as is engraved on the funeral monument that contains her remains. She had become a mother to many.

Men and women who withdraw to live in God’s company acquire by making this decision a great sense of compassion for the suffering and weakness of others. As friends of God, they have at their disposal a wisdom that the world—from which they have distanced themselves—does not possess, and they amiably share it with those who knock at their door.

The entire address is available on the Vatican website.

ITH THE PERSPECTIVE afforded by a few years’ distance from Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation, it is not unreasonable for us to believe that his reflections on the solitary life of Julian of Norwich might serve as a point of access into his own view of his present existence. Secluded in the near-silence of a former convent inside Vatican City, does the Pope Emeritus see his retirement as an entrance into the life of the “recluse,” poised for growth in compassion, wisdom, and holiness?

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Pope Benedict XVI Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Fr. David Friel

Ordained in 2011, Father Friel is a priest of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and serves as Director of Liturgy at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary. —(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    “Yahweh” in church songs?
    My pastor asked me to write a weekly column for our parish bulletin. The one scheduled to run on 22 June 2025 is called “Three Words in a Psalm” and speaks of translating the TETRAGRAMMATON. You can read the article at this column repository. All of them are quite brief because I was asked to keep within a certain word limit.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Music List” • Pentecost Sunday
    Some have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I prepared for Pentecost Sunday (8 June 2025). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. Because our choir is on break this week, the music is relatively simple.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Truly Great Processional” • (Pipe Organ)
    I stumbled upon this live recording of a PROCESSIONAL I played on the pipe organ in 2002. It’s an excerpt from a much longer composition by Sebastian Bach. In those days, there weren’t sophisticated recording devices allowing one “fix” wrong notes. (Perhaps they existed, but we didn’t have machines like that.) So it was necessary to play the entire piece from beginning to end. If you’re a church organist, feel free to download the PDF score. I suppose it’s only a matter of time until some joker uses “artificial intelligence” to play music at church … but there’s something so satisfying about playing an organ in real life.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Antiphons Don’t Match?
    A reader wants to know why the Entrance and Communion antiphons in certain publications deviate from what’s prescribed by the GRADUALE ROMANUM published after Vatican II. Click here to read our answer. The short answer is: the Adalbert Propers were never intended to be sung. They were intended for private Masses only (or Masses without music). The “Graduale Parvum,” published by the John Henry Newman Institute of Liturgical Music in 2023, mostly uses the Adalbert Propers—but sometimes uses the GRADUALE text: e.g. Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June).
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    When to Sit, Stand and Kneel like it’s 1962
    There are lots of different guides to postures for Mass, but I couldn’t find one which matched our local Latin Mass, so I made this one: sit-stand-kneel-crop
    —Veronica Brandt
    The Funeral Rites of the Graduale Romanum
    Lately I have been paging through the 1974 Graduale Romanum (see p. 678 ff.) and have been fascinated by the funeral rites found therein, especially the simply-beautiful Psalmody that is appointed for all the different occasions before and after the funeral Mass: at the vigil/wake, at the house of the deceased, processing to the church, at the church, processing to the cemetery, and at the cemetery. Would that this “stational Psalmody” of the Novus Ordo funeral rites saw wider usage! If you or anyone you know have ever used it, please do let me know.
    —Daniel Tucker

Random Quote

The 1960s reformers had no chance of success since their goal was “recasting from top to bottom—and in a few months!—an entire liturgy which had required twenty centuries to develop.”

— Professor Louis Bouyer, close friend of Pope Saint Paul VI

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