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| Crowd in St. Peter's before the Altar |
(Ash Wednesday, 2/13) Today was a complete fiasco! Not only was it Ash Wednesday, but it was the day the Pope was going to celebrate his final public mass, at the same time as our class and our formation. Although we got our formation rescheduled, it was a little more difficult avoiding class. We didn't want our teacher to show up to an empty classroom, but we also didn't want to miss the Pope. Since we hadn't heard a response from her yet about rescheduling, I stayed back to problem-solve and the group went over to save spots in line outside St. Peters. The computer lab was locked, the library unavailable, I tried calling our program director, his assistant, the receptionist, the other Italian teacher, the office directory at the Ang, and even tried texting her....all to no avail. We sat on the cobblestones almost defeated, when we decided to try calling her one more time from Taylor's emergency cell. She picked up! First Challenge: Accomplished. Next Challenge: Oh. She doesn't speak ANY English. Without the help of body language, this made it very difficult/entertaining for me (who only knows about 3 words in Italian) to explain to her the situation. I decided Spanish was close enough, if I just took the "O" off the end and put "Te"....but that didn't work. So I decided to keep it simple. "Papa Bene. uhhh Final Mesa......NO CLASE." "Si!" She responded. And we were off to St. Peters to join the group!
The line was super long. It wound all the way around the huge square and past St. Peters itself! We got coached on Italian line etiquette the night before (aka, there is none) and so we were patiently prepared. Fortunately, we were towards the front of the line since the group had arrived around 1pm. The crowd rushed in as security opened at 3:30 for the 5:30 liturgy. We got a spot about 30 rows back on the right side of the Altar. We were lucky to even get in. The room was packed with media reporters and pilgrims from all around the world, buzzing with excitement. The pope glided in on his little "mobile" and climbed the Altar (where the canopy alone is 7 stories high)! He looked very tired (as I can imagine with all the Pope's duties!) but as always, full of peace. During the procession and the mass, I soaked it all in, knowing I only had a few precious moments in this momentous occasion. The part of the mass that struck me the most was during the distribution of the ashes, when a bishop placed ashes on the
Pope's forhead and recited, "You have come from dust and to dust you shall return." Seeing this incredibly holy man, who was chosen to lead the church and who has shown such great faith and humility these past few days get reminded he will still return unto dust, hit my heart with force. If the Pope of the universal church is dust, what then am I? My gaze and attention was then lifted to where it should be for the remainder of the mass...on the magnificent and loving mercy of God. And as the pope rode out of the square, and the longest applause I've ever experienced died down, I was filled with peace, acceptance and excitement for the start of a new age: The age of the New Evangelization led by a new shepherd!
The line was super long. It wound all the way around the huge square and past St. Peters itself! We got coached on Italian line etiquette the night before (aka, there is none) and so we were patiently prepared. Fortunately, we were towards the front of the line since the group had arrived around 1pm. The crowd rushed in as security opened at 3:30 for the 5:30 liturgy. We got a spot about 30 rows back on the right side of the Altar. We were lucky to even get in. The room was packed with media reporters and pilgrims from all around the world, buzzing with excitement. The pope glided in on his little "mobile" and climbed the Altar (where the canopy alone is 7 stories high)! He looked very tired (as I can imagine with all the Pope's duties!) but as always, full of peace. During the procession and the mass, I soaked it all in, knowing I only had a few precious moments in this momentous occasion. The part of the mass that struck me the most was during the distribution of the ashes, when a bishop placed ashes on the Pope's forhead and recited, "You have come from dust and to dust you shall return." Seeing this incredibly holy man, who was chosen to lead the church and who has shown such great faith and humility these past few days get reminded he will still return unto dust, hit my heart with force. If the Pope of the universal church is dust, what then am I? My gaze and attention was then lifted to where it should be for the remainder of the mass...on the magnificent and loving mercy of God. And as the pope rode out of the square, and the longest applause I've ever experienced died down, I was filled with peace, acceptance and excitement for the start of a new age: The age of the New Evangelization led by a new shepherd!
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