Roma Continued

The week before the beautification pictures of JPII started
 showing up all over Rome. Pictured is Nia, Natalia and
 me in front of one of pictures in St. Peter's Square. 

The next night, we began preparing for JPII”s beautification. 

I was shocked by how many pilgrims came that week. By Saturday night, people were flooding the streets. Because all the hotels were full, there were tons of people camping right on the roads in big groups with sleeping bags. We somehow passed through them and went to a prayer service with the Emmanuel Community where Maria had been invited to give a speech in front of everyone about how Pope John Paul II had impacted her life. There were hundreds of people there and she did an awesome job. 

After that, the students at Nia’s school and a few others carried the World Youth Day Cross (a gift JPII had given to all the youth of the world). We were trying to return the cross to the Centro but were having trouble getting through all the gates to enter close to St. Peter’s square. We kept having to go through security points and were almost denied at most of them. It took us from midnight until about 3:45 a.m. to reach the Centro. After putting the cross back, we prayed then slept for about 45 minutes. Around 5, we woke up, dressed and went outside to join the crowds. 

Carrying the World Youth Day
Cross to the prayer service the
evening before the beautification. 

I’ve never seen anything like that crowd. I felt like the air had been replaced by people. There was no room to move and I couldn’t even turn from side to side. My shoulders were pushed tight against the shoulders of total strangers also there to celebrate our beloved JPII.

The guards opened the gates to St. Peter’s Square at 5:30 a.m. My feet were actually lifted off the ground as the crowd rushed forward. My toes only touched the ground every few seconds at certain parts of the rush. People were singing and cheering and actually one old woman growled at me! Somebody stepped on her foot and I got the blame for it (possibly rightfully but there was no way to tell).

Finally, we got inside and crashed right there on the ground and slept for a couple hours. 

The actual beatification was beautiful. The day has been really cloudy and sort of cold and all the weather forecasts predicted rain. When Pope Benedict appeared people began shouting and chanting his name until the Mass began. Perfectly, just as the Mass started, the clouds left the sky and we were left with brilliant weather. As Pope Benedict revealed the photo of Blessed JPII, people began cheering and the applause lasted at least 20 minutes. Balloons were released into the air and people were waving bright colorful banners against the perfect sky. 

Just waking up after sleeping on
the floor of St. Peter's Square.

I just have to be sappy for a moment: 

I think one of the best things about going to a place like Rome, especially for the beatification of a saint, is that the universality of the Catholic Church sort of smacks you in the face. Now, I know there are Catholics in every country in the world, and some of those Catholics live in great danger because of their faith. I know that the Masses I went to in Texas are the same as the ones I attend in Rwanda and these are the same as those said in Germany, Egypt, India, and Cambodia. Still, knowing this information, and then suddenly being in a situation where millions of people you have never met and never will meet are all shouting “Papa Benedicto” for your shared pope, and then “Papa Giovanni Paulo” for your new saint, and realizing that each of the people with you is in love with Jesus Christ and is on the same journey as you, is an experience I, at least, am not eloquent enough to describe properly. But when I called out our pope’s name, surrounded by friends from all over the globe, and the two million strangers there for Blessed John Paul II”s beatification, I knew I was surrounded by the closest of family. I knew I was home. And I know this sounds sentimental and schumcky, but unless I’ve expressed those feelings, I haven’t explained my experience of Rome, because that is by far the biggest impression I am left with.

The beautification

The next day was my last full day in Rome. Nia, Natalia, and some of the others from the school went with us around the city. Nia wanted me to meet her friend who had been a Swiss Guard. When we met him, he asked if we wanted to go to the Vatican and pray in front of the tomb of JPII. We told him the lines were lasting up to 6 hours and we just weren’t interested in waiting so long, but he said he could pull some strings and took us down. 

We walked straight through the back of the Vatican and the Swiss Guards let us pass. We then got to pray right beside the tomb of JPII for several hours. All the pilgrims who waited in line had to file past quickly, but we were able to kneel on the floor and pray as long as we wanted. Tons of photographers were taking our pictures, I think, because we were the only young people able to do that.

Praying in front of the tomb of
Blessed John Paul II

That night, Nia and I were upstairs with her community when Matthew came up and said Dannielle wanted to talk to us. I had a sneaking suspicion what she wanted to say and sure enough when we entered Dannielle’s room she was sporting freshly painted nails and a brand new diamond ring! Matthew did a great job picking out a beautiful ring (and an even more beautiful fiancee) and his proposal was very sweet and romantic. I won’t be able to tell the proposal story the way they can and it’s their story to tell anyway, but for all of those curious he proposed to her in a chapel after washing her feet. 

We all screamed and cried and laughed and then talked way into the night. Danni and Matthew left early the next morning and I left around noon. Nia and I thought we were going to be late for my train because we were picking up my last Western meal at McDonalds (french fries and a milkshake, obviously) so we ended up sprinting through the train station only to be early for the train. 

I was worried about the flights back because of things going on in the news at that time. Osama Bin Laden had just been killed the day before and I had to fly through Nairobi, where he had staged an attack on the American embassy in 1998. I was worried about revenge attacks; however, my embassy emailed to give me traveling tips and I checked the CIA website and made it back just fine. The girls were all really excited I was home and even more excited when I gave them the prayer cards with a picture of Blessed John Paul II Matthew had bought for them. 

Needless to say, my trip to Rome was very blessed, as was my return to Africa.