This
week we were able to have special guests over for dinner at our house to
celebrate mass and visit with us.
The terrific two were Monsignor Marini (The Pope’s MC-Master of
Ceremonies…his right hand man and the leader of all the Papal liturgies) and Cardinal
Burke (who is also the President of the Commission for Controversies in the
Vatican, as well as built the shrine to Our Lady of Guadalupe in Lacrosse, WI).
We had Eucharistic adoration and celebrated a beautiful Latin Mass, with all
the traditional fixin’s. Since
Monsignor Marini only spoke Italian, Fr. Carola translated his homily and his
discussion with us afterwards.
During the discussion on both nights, we were able to ask them questions. The first night we were able to hear
from Msgr Marini. One Bernardian
asked what it was like serving Pope Francis. He replied that it was beautiful to serve a mass for the
Pope. Since he has had the unique
experience of serving both Benedict XVI as Pope and now Pope Francis, he said
that there is a beautiful contrast but complimentarity between how the two
celebrate mass. He then told us a
story of his personal connection with Pope Francis:
2 days after the election of Pope Francis I
was in my office and I heard the phone ring. I answered it and hear a familiar voice on the other
end. It took me a second to
realize it was our Holy Father. I
said, “Of course, Most Holy Peace!
You know, in all of my years of serving the Pope, this is the first time
a Pope has contacted me directly.”
Pope Francis said, “Oh!
Well wonderful! You should
probably write this down in your spiritual journal.” The next day, the phone rang again. Once again, it was the pope. He said, “Now this is the second time a
Pope has contacted you directly.
You should write this one down in your spiritual journal!” Monsignor said that although he
continued to receive frequent phone calls directly from Pope Francis himself,
he still found himself a little agitated when he answered, because, well, it’s
the Holy Father! In fact, in one
of their discussions about how the Pope would like to perform the liturgy,
Monsignor timidly said how Pope Benedict had done it in the past and, if the
Holy Father would like, he could maybe share what he (Monsignor) thought about
what to do. Pope Francis cheerily
said, “Well you can just keep sharing your opinions and talk about everything
you think we should do. The worst
that could happen is I’ll just be uninterested. I don’t bite!”
 |
| Msgr Marini on right |
The
following are Q&As from Monsignor Marini and his close personal experience
with both Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Franics:
1. What was it like when Pope Benedict XVI
resigned?
Monsignor grew quiet and searched for
the words to say.
“It was very emotional,” he said. He had had a prolonged emotional
experience because he was notified in the middle of January, before the
February 11th announcement.
He said his initial emotion was complete shock. But the good thing about being notified
earlier was he was able to give an outward appearance of serenity when the
announcement was made (meanwhile, the camera picks out the bishop next to the
straight-faced Marini who is wide-eyed and wide-mouthed with shock)! Monsignor told us that Pope Benedict
XVI must have been going through a spiritual struggle regarding this decision a
year before he made the announcement.
And it wasn’t until autumn of 2012 that he knew for certain what God
wanted him to do. His personal
doctor even asked him, “How do you know that this is what the Lord wants you to
do?” He replied, “I am absolutely
certain.” At his final mass on Ash
Wednesday (which we were all present for), Monsignor Marini was a part of the
procession. Before mass, they all
gathered in the sacristy and Pope Benedict told them, “This is the final time I
will be processing into St. Peters.”
He knew and had accepted that this was to be his final service as
Pope. For Monsignor, (and I’m sure
for Pope Benedict), It was a very emotional experience. Throughout his final mass, his
final audience, and his final angelus, Pope Benedict was amazingly detached
from himself and completely put the Church’s mission before himself. He tried very hard during this process
to not become the center of attention, but put the Church, His Bride, at the
forefront. During his announcement
to resign he was amazingly serene and at peace. Monsignor
said we can all learn something from the intense humility that Pope Benedict
had, placing the Church’s needs and God’s will before himself.
2. What were a couple of the funniest moments
that happened while you were MCing?
1. During
the Vigil Mass at world youth day in Madrid, Spain, it was pouring rain. Pope Benedict was clutching his speech
notes to his chest as the MC’s (including Monsignor Marini) were clouding him
with umbrellas. He asked the Holy
Father if he would like to do mass later on account of the weather and he said,
“No. All of these people came out
here and I must stay with them.”
A they go back into the sacristy to prepare and as they process out for Eucharistic
Adoration, Monsignor notices that the white foot stool in front of the seat
where the Holy Father was just sitting before on the stage was covered in a
pool of water. Not only that, but
the water was bright red! As they
approached, Pope Benedict whispered to Monsignor….”do you notice how my shoes
have lost their color?” Apparently,
the Pope’s shoes had been drenched by the rain and the dye ran all over the
stage!
2. Pope Benedict was to say mass in Malta, and while preparing
for mass, Monsignor noticed that the Pope was a little off. Marini was told that the Pope had not
slept at all the night before so he was to keep an eye on him because the Holy
Father was very sleepy. Monsignor
agreed and continued with the mass.
Everything was great until the Liturgy of the Word began. As soon as the first reading started,
the Pope’s head starting to tilt downwards. Monsignor thought frantically about how he could get the
Holy Father’s attention and wake him up without drawing the attention of the
media cameras that were watching his every move. So, very smoothly, he took his finger and poked Pope Benedict
in the side. His head swung
up…success! But soon enough, the
Pope’s head was nodding back down again.
Monsignor continued to poke the Pope all the way through the 1st
reading (which was incredibly long because it was the story of St. Paul’s
shipwreck in Malta), the responsorial psalms, and the 2nd
reading! Thankfully, the gospel,
homily and the rest of the mass ran smoothly. Monsignor Marini was thankful
that his clever little remedy to wake the pope up worked without drawing
attention. The next morning,
Monsignor walked down to buy a newspaper, and the newspaper guy started smiling
at Monsignor. “What?” He asked. The newspaper man responded, “What did you do to the Pope
yesterday?” Monsignor tried to
play it off coolly by responding, “what do you mean?” Then the guy handed him a newspaper and opened it up. Spread across the entire page there
were 3 photographs in sequence.
The first on showed the Pope with his head down, the second with
Monsignor Marini’s finger pointed towards the pope’s side, and the third with
the Pope’s head up but tilted towards Monsignor as if to say, “what on earth
are you doing?!” Monsingor was
astonished but it was a hoot!
3. What can we bring back with us to the
states/what is it important for churches around the world to know about the Papacy
and about Rome?
1. We
need be tied to the teachings of the Pope because he is attentive to the Holy
Spirit and the church as a whole, and we as individual churches need to listen
to what he is saying. In fact, it
should be a driving force in what we teach and believe. We also need to be
connected with the Pope as a person as well, treating him with Love and
respect, and lift him up in our prayers.
2. We also need to be tied to the faith of Rome,
because the faith of Rome is bonded with the martyrs’ blood. The faith of the martyrs is the faith
of Rome and so that is what we need to be tied to. They died for the Church that was here—for St. Peters
and for the Papacy.
3. There is a statue of St. Peter in St.
Peter’s Basilica. It is a
well-known tradition to touch the foot of the statue in passing, as the
pilgrims have done to ask St. Peter to be merciful and open the gates of heaven
for them. Msgr knew of a holy man who, every time he visited, instead of
touching it he would put his head under the foot of St. Peter as a sign of
rededicating himself to the service of the Church and the Pope. That man should
be our model when we think of our relationship with Rome and the Papacy.
4. What was the most profound thing that Pope
Benedict said to you?
The last day of his pontificat,
Pope Benedict was saying goodbye to each of the Cardinals. He turned to Msgr
and thanked him for his service all of these years saying, “May you continue to
sere the Church, providence willing you still will be here for a long time.”
5. How are we to bring the beautiful liturgy
of St. Peters to our churches back home?
It is important to not let
the Liturgy be about anything else than prayer. We should not get caught up in trying to make the Liturgy a
certain way, but realize what it’s all about. We need to be aware of where we are and what we’re doing,
and not try to fit into a preconceived idea we have. The liturgy is about God and his presence, no matter where
were are or what the liturgy looks like…that’s the beautiful thing.
6. What is something that all of us should
know?
Remember that your time is
short. We have such a short time
to serve God and the Church. Our
time is so short…we have such a short time to serve! So we need to also remember to be formed!
Q&A
with Cardinal Burke:
1. What is one thing you can tell us about the
Conclave?
Well, there is a huge
electronic shield that gets places around the entire Vatican, so nobody can use
any form of electronics (cell phones, etc.) and communicate the process that
goes on inside. Also, when each
Cardinal casts his vote in the Sistine Chapel, he places it before the Altar in
front of the Last Judgment scene and makes a declaration…it’s very powerful.
2. But isn’t there agreement that the
selection of the Pope will be decided by the guidance of the Holy Spirit?
Yes, of course there’s the
Holy Spirit, but the uncertainty comes as to whether or not there will be
obedience to it. We can see where
that obedience failed in the selection of some of the Popes in the past…
3. Can you speak about how the Church is the
same/different back home in America?
There is a vitality in the
Church back home. There is an
increase in those responding to religious vocations and an interest in the
sacred liturgy of the Roman Right among young people. We are working to give glory to God the finest we can. The
challenges come through:
1.
The Government trying to force people to act against their conscience to the
point that we are not free to worship outside of the chapel. This is a leaning towards
Totalitarianism. Our Bishops must
remain united because it is the enemy’s desire to divide it. We must not compromise with evil! (And
taking away the freedom of someone’s conscience is intrinsically evil).
2. The second challenge is poor Catechesis
among Catholics. This is
especially prevalent in modern issues, ex. when one doesn’t understand why
abortion is wrong but same sex marriage would be ok? As Pope
Benedict said, “We have lost our sense of nature” and how we are created.
3.
There are some Catholic Institutions who are not on the ball of the Catholic
faith.
Still, there are those
willing to fight.
I
pray that we are all willing to fight for the truth that saved us, the truth
that remains even in times of conflict, the truth that sets us free!
No comments:
Post a Comment