Childhood Devotions of the Ratzinger Family

Pope Benedict XVI’s only remaining sibling, Monsignor Georg Ratzinger, answers questions about his younger brother in an interview with the National Catholic Register. Msgr. Georg Ratzinger, a priest in Germany, is known for his work as a director of the Regensburger Domspatzen, the cathedral choir of Regensburg.

During the interview Msgr. Georg Ratzinger describes the childhood devotions that help foster his family’s faith during a troubled Bavaria.

The Mother of God has played an integral part in our spiritual life.

At our parents’ house we often prayed the Rosary, we knelt on the ground, leaning on chairs. That showed us very early how important the Mother of God is for a Christian.

We also observed the many Marian feasts. My mother and my sister were called Maria. Obviously, the name has been important in my family. We also traveled to Altötting [one of Europe’s greatest Marian shrines]. We know we are indebted to the Mother of God and can carry all our worries to her.

The Rosary, the midday prayers on Sunday, the festive Corpus Christi processions in Bavaria: These practices of popular piety makes one’s faith becomes personal — not abstract or formal, but personal, human, kind and precious, a faith which enters our life story and claims an essential place.

This quote tells us something important about family devotion. The social teaching of the Catholic Church very clearly refers to the family as the first seminary. This was obviously true with the Ratzinger brothers. Devotional practices and prayer shape the faith perspective of the participants. Rituals and devotions are not impersonal and abstract but aide in reaffirming the sacredness of life by stressing the importance of God.

Msgr. Ratzinger, like his brother, also spent time in an American prisoner of war camp until the end of the war. He recalled the uncertainty of knowing the whereabouts of his parents and siblings and the state of his home. Fortunately the Ratzinger family had a happy reunion at the end of the war.

In describing his relationship with Pope Benedict, Msgr. Ratzinger cited the practical benefit of attending divine liturgy with the Holy Father.

There is also an important dimension in the Eucharist: Here is the Vicar of Christ celebrating Mass. There is a special atmosphere around that.