Our Time With The Pope!

The Lady Julieta and I ended up seeing the pope three times during our pilgrimage to Italy.  The first time was on Sunday after we had been to the Sistine Chapel.  We made our way back into St. Peter’s Square
where a huge crowd had already gathered.  This is quite typical of Sundays in the Square, for at noontime the pope comes out to the balcony of his apartment and does both the Angelus prayer and a talk to the crowd (and subsequently to the world through the media).  The atmosphere was very festive, with music blaring and the people quite enthusiastic with anticipation. 

Finally the noon bells rang and out came the Holy Father himself!  He was way, WAY up there, basically a white speck at the window, but it was him.  I cannot begin to tell you how excited I was to see him with my own eyes in person, being that I have followed his career and writings from the time he was known as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger to now as Pope Benedict XVI.  What a thrill to see him, even if only at a far distance!  The pope addressed us mostly in Italian, with his voice booming through the amazing sound system in the Square.  He did switch briefly in sequence to Spanish, French, German and English, then did the Angelus Prayer in Latin, leading us through it as we all prayed it with him.  He then waved at us and eventually went back inside, just as some raindrops were starting to fall.  Lita and I quickly made our way into the Basilica for Sunday Mass.

The second time was on Wednesday for his General Audience.  Here Lita and I were completely blessed, for we arrived at the Vatican’s Pope Paul VI Conference Center about two hours before the address and found ourselves in some excellent third row seats!  Thanks once again to the Diocese’s bishop’s office for arranging for our tickets.  We spent the time before the audience conversing with a nice older couple seated ahead of us and also with an Indonesian bishop that we initially mistook for Filipino!  The only drawback during our waiting time was this idiotic girl behind us, some theology student from DePaul University (so she said).  She kept droning on and on with irrelevancies like, “Oh my god, like, I don’t understand why this is so important, like, I know the pope’s important and all that, but like oh my god, for sure, like, this is all too much and not all that important!”  I kept my mouth shut and ignored it, but if my good friend Rushad  had been with us, he certainly would have turned around to the girl and in his most polite way would have told her to stuff it!

Finally, the time came and it did not disappoint.  The doors opened and out came the pope!  What a great line of sight to see him this time.  He was all happy, waving to the crowd as we all went absolutely nuts in greeting him!  He took his seat and began addressing the crowd (about 3,000 people) in various languages, essentially a message of examining the life of St. Teresa of Avila and how close she was to our Lord Jesus Christ.  By her example of devotion to him, may we do the same! 

The audience was marked by a very humorous incident: a young boy, about 5 years old or so, somehow got by the security and came running up to the pope!  He got there with the security men trying desperately to catch up, but the boy made it and immediately knelt in front of the Holy Father to ask for his blessing.  The delighted pope talked with the boy for a minute or so before he was led back to his father.  Definitely an event to remember! 

Once the audience was completed and we all filed out, the Lady Julieta and I made our way to Piazza Navona and discovered this most excellent restaurant named Tucci’s.  We had an excellent lunch of pasta and mushrooms and risotto, and finished with this chocolate dessert that almost made me want to weep since it was so perfect! 

After lunch we made our way back to St. Peter’s Basilica for the third sighting of the pope, Evening Vespers.  Since it was a solemnity on this day (Presentation of Our Lord in the Temple), the pope was going to lead a special evening prayer service (Vespers).  But despite our tickets, we had to get there early.  And were we glad we did, for after we got into the line it soon stretched literally around the circle of the columns (and then some)!  We were in a good position for a good seat. 

After waiting two hours in the line, we finally got into the Basilica and immediately made our way to the aisle seats.  It was not really that important to get close, for what we were going for was a great view of the pope as he both entered and later exited.  And we were not disappointed - the seats were perfect!  A bit far to the back, but they would provide an excellent opportunity to see the Holy Father up close.

Vespers began with Lita and I being literally crushed up against the railing by these overly enthusiastic nuns who were likewise determined to get a good view of the pope as he passed.  I swear, they were like crazy teenage girls at a Justin Bieber concert!  Still, we were in prime position as the procession began and a long line of priests and servers went by, followed by some bishops and cardinals.  Then there he was - Pope Benedict up close and almost within reach!  He was surrounded  by tight security, but we still got an excellent view of him as he made his way to the altar up front to begin Vespers. 

The service was very well done, mostly in Latin and followed along by us with our programs that were given earlier.  All the while I bowed down and worshiped my Lord, God, and Saviour Jesus Christ, giving Him thanks for blessing me with this wonderful opportunity to be with my Lady Julieta in St. Peter’s Basilica and praying with the pope!  That I did not die last year in my MG health crisis overwhelmed me with great significant joy that I cannot describe! 

Vespers eventually was completed and the pope made his way down the aisle to depart.  The crazy nuns went wild again as I made sure to capture the moment of my beloved “Papa Ben” going by me one more time.  And he did not disappoint, smiling and waving all the way.  And I got it all on iPhone video!  The perfect end to a great day of pope-seeing.

We made our way out of the Basilica along with a huge wave of nuns and got onto a bus that took us to an area of Rome where we were going to meet up with a good friend of Lita’s from her 1980's Rome days: Remy!  And how it was a great reunion of old friends!  This always warms my heart. After proper introductions, Remy led us to this really delicious pizzeria where we stuffed ourselves silly with some great and authentic fare.  But unfortunately the time moved by too quickly, so we had to make a quick goodbye and return to the hotel.  We would see Remy again on Friday, but Lita and I needed our rest as we prepared for a great Thursday in Florence! 


More to Come ---