Day 4- "Holy Mother, it's the Holy Father!", and other Papal excitement

Well, today was fun. Tiring, but lots of fun.

Got up at the crack of dawn for an early breakfast. Same deal as yesterday: lots of cheese, proscuitto and such, rolls, yogurt. We got dressed and headed over to the Vatican.

Quick side note/rant: I am SICK of wearing pants! Since we're hitting up so many religious things, pants are basically a must. Rome is hot this time of year, and muggy all year round. Today, there wasn't a single cloud in the sky. All I can say is that I was thrilled to get into the shade at lunchtime. But more on that later.

So we went to Piazza San Pietro, flashed our tickets (not! Italians don't care about security!), and got great seats about halfway up the section of seating (which was effectively 3/4 of the way up the circular part of the Piazza). We were right in the middle, along the fenced-off aisle which, we thought, the Popemobile would drive right up.

Since we got there so early (9:30am for a 10:30am audience), we were just sitting there, out in the open, on a cloudless sunny day in Rome, baking. I've basically never been more uncomfortable in my own clothes. But I shouldn't complain; the Padres were both in their clerics (I mean, it's the Vatican... clerics are kind of required dress). In the end, it was worth it for the experience.

Waiting to see the Pope

There was a big old grandstand right there on the steps of San Pietro.

Huge crowd showed up to see Papa Benny. Because he's the man.

Sooo, His Holiness was late, which was very un-German of him. Our people are always on a very tight schedule and are usually good about being on time.At any rate, he came out from the side of the Basilica in the open-top Popemobile, waving to the crowd. At first, we couldn't see his ride, so it looked like he was just floating along like the Mother Superior in The Blues Brothers. Haha...

It was kind of like the beginning of a rock show. But I mean, it's the Pope.

This was about the closest we got to him. Cool!

Okay, I lied. I guess this was a little closer. But there he is! Papa Benny: the man, the myth, the legend.

Your eyes do not fool you; the Popemobile drove right up the front steps of San Pietro.

So after riding around the perimeter of the crowd, he came back to the center and they drove up the ramp on the Piazza to the platform in front of the steps to the basilica. It was really disappointing that he didn't come down our aisle, because he would've been FIVE FEET AWAY! But oh well.

There was a reading from Scripture proclaimed in Italian, followed by Papa Benny's short homily, also delivered first in Italian and then in a number of other languages (French, German, English, Spanish, etc.). Since he's German and has such a thick accent, it was hard to understand him in English... but it was about Jacob wrestling with the angel and how it;s just like our personal struggle with prayer and faith. Basically, he was giving a "don't give up; keep fighting" message. Good and uplifting.

Then, we went through a series of greetings, group introductions, and the Pontifical blessing, again done in the various languages. This was really boring, mostly because we were swimming in sweat and only understood one or two of the languages spoken. That, and all the cheers from the various groups when they were announced. Also, a fair number of the English-speaking groups of pilgrims sang for Papa B when they were introduced. Nice gesture, but again, we were getting hot and impatient. The best part was when Benny made a point to wave to all his German brethren for each group that was announced. No surprise there! haha

Would I do it again? Probably not. The Angelus on Sunday will be much faster and still nice, since we'll get to see him again. It was also just so dang hot today. Would I recommend it? If you've never been before, ans especially if you're like me and have never seen the Pope in person, then yes. Otherwise, no. It was a lot of pomp, but again, still really neat to have done.

The next big item on the day's agenda was lunch at the NAC. The NAC is the Pontofical North American College, the American seminary in the Vatican. Every American diocese can send 2 or 3 seminarians to study there, often to continue with higher degrees as well. It's a beautiful campus, just up the hill from St. Peter's.

We had lunch in the refectory with the seminarians from Washington, DC, since we're visiting from that (arch)diocese. That being said, the majority of the group is from Baltimore, the Premier See, the original archdiocese. Anyway, we had a good time visiting and eating with the guys. They're all very friendly. They're all also members of our Knights of Columbus council. Two are charter members, and one of those 2 was the Charter Grand Knight! Heckyes!!

After lunch, a couple of the guys took us up to the roof to see the gorgeous view of the city. Since it's up on a hill, you can see the entire city. WOAH! Talk about lucky. The rooftop is about the same level as halfway up the dome of St. Peter's, so we were way up there. Got some awesome pictures and had a nice visit with the seminarians.

We then made the trek back to the house, which wasn't too bad, although we were all dead tired. Fr. Frank took the opportunity to give us the St. Vincent Pallotti tour inside the house itself. If I haven't explained before, the Pallottine Generalate is actually 3 buildings combined: an old convent and 2 other large houses that have been connected. Unfortunately, they weren't connected inside, except on the 1st floor. So to get from our rooms to the rooftop terrace, we have to go all the way down, then all the way up. The place is like a maze!

Anyway, Fr. Frank took us to St. Vincent's old room, where he spent most of his ministry and where he died. It's been kept in its original state since then, even his bed is there. (Apparently one of the fathers used to climb into the bed every year on the anniversary of St. Vincent's death and hope to die there. So they enclosed it in a glass case. LOL!) St. Vincent was very focused on Jesus's humanity, and tried to align himself with His suffering, to the point that he would kneel in prayer for hours on a very uncomfortable, slanted wooden kneeler. He also used crucifixes that typically depicted Jesus with lots of blood, as a reminder of the extreme act of love our Lord performed for us.

Fr. Frank also took us into St. Vincent's personal chapel, which was loaded with 1st class relics (bone fragments) of various saints... felt like a really holy place. There was also another room with artifacts from St. Vincent's life: cassocks, religious articles, and even his snuffbox. (We thought that one was funny, just because Fr pointed it out nonchalantly and very quickly moved on... haha) One cool thing in there was a little reliquary St. Vincent would carry up his sleeve (literally). It was common practice in his time for laypeople to kiss the blessed hands of priests, because of what they do on a daily basis in the Mass. St. Vincent abhorred this, so when folks went to kiss his hand, he'd whip out his reliquary. It had a picture of Mary and the baby Jesus on the front, and inside was a fragment of the True Cross, relics of the apostles, and something else which I honestly can't recall (and obviously isn't as cool as the other contents anyway).

So St. Vincent was pretty much the man. He was really big on priests' personal holiness, so they could guide others to the same holiness. He was also a big supporter of helping people become better apostles of Christ, hence the name of the order: Society of the Catholic Apostolate. St. Vincent was also kind of a rockstar, but not. A very humble man, he made sure to take credit for absolutely nothing. In reality, he did a LOT:
- He was wicked smart... He was offered many academic honors (which he turned down), and even mused on how science and knowledge can lead one to God's infinite love and wisdom.
- He was very holy, but not in a holier-than-thou way. He was confessor and spiritual director to a number of popes, saints, and other important people. So he was to the Church, in a way, what the Secretary of State is to the USA... he was a very respected adviser to those high up in the hierarchy.
- He bilocated AND levitated. Come on now, that's just cool!

Fr requested that I talk up San Vincenso, so there you go. You can find out more about the Pallottines here: http://www.sac.info. And you can "Like" St. Vincent Pallotti here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/St-Vincent-Pallotti/156609348536?ref=ts

Moving on quickly, because I'm tired and we're getting up early tomorrow... Dinner was delicious again. We went to another traditional ristorante, where I ordered penne in a spicy tomato sauce, followed by homemade sausage. There was also plenty of wine and sparkling water (remind me later to talk about the Italians and their sparkling water). We stopped at another gilatteria for dessert. Today's flavor: Licorice! Multo bene!

So, tomorrow. Stay in tune for our dry trip to Assisi. We'll be chilling with Sts. Francis and Clare, and having Mass in one of the town's lovely churches. Get excited!