The former secretary of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, Bishop Georg Gänswein, recalled his prayer life.
In an interview with EWTN, Bishop Gänswein assured that “prayer times were sacred” for Benedict XVI.
“What I experienced with him as a Cardinal, but also as a Pope – after all, I lived with him – was that we always had fixed times for prayer. There were exceptions, of course, for example when we traveled. But the times of prayer were sacred to him ”, the German Archbishop indicated.
The Prelate also pointed out that Benedict XVI said: “ The most important thing is that God always comes first. First you have to seek the Kingdom of God, everything else will be given by addition “.
Along these lines, the former secretary of Pope Emeritus added that it is “a simple phrase and it sounds good. But – he recognized – it is not so easy to stick to it ”.
“The times were fixed, and my task was to abide by them”, Bishop Georg Gänswein specified.
Speaking about the book “Jesus of Nazareth” by Benedict XVI, the German Archbishop pointed out that ” these three volumes contain his entire personal being as a priest, bishop, Cardinal, and Pope.”
In addition, he stressed, they collect “all his theological research, his entire prayer life .” These are texts “written in such a way that, thank God, they can be easily understood; written with the greatest academic rigor, but which will also, for the faithful, be the most attainable and lasting personal testimony of him ”.
“That was precisely his intention. With that book, with that way of proclaiming the faith, I wanted to strengthen people in the faith, lead them to the faith and open the doors to the faith”, concluded Mons. Gänswein.