The Coronation of Pope Francis (How I wish...)

Before I give you a recap of the Inauguration Mass, let me go on my rant. Since I heard of Benedict's resignation, I have been half joking about how I want the next pope to bring back the papal tiara. HALF joking is not the term I should be using. NOT joking is more like it. Hearing of Pope Francis' humble ways, I knew my dream will have to wait but I will slowly accept that. Doesn't make me love him less!!

Photo Credit: http://orbiscatholicussecundus.blogspot.it/2012/04/paul-in-tiara.html

With the election of Pope John Paul I in 1978, he decided to discontinue the practice of having a "Papal Coronation Mass" which is now "Investitures Mass". This tradition started in the 8th century and the last pope to use the tiara was Venerable Pope Paul VI (depicted above) who was the pope during the Second Vatican Council. It was there where he "descended the steps of the papal throne in St. Peter's Basilica and ascended to the altar, on which he laid the tiara in a dramatic gesture of humility and as a sign of the renunciation of human glory and power in keeping with the renewed spirit of the Council" (Wikipedia). Since that moment, no pope has resumed this centuries-old tradition. 

I think these things are absolutely stunning but I GUESS I can understand why they were discontinued.  The Church has bigger worries than having EPIC head wear for the Holy Father. Creating such a tiara would cost an unnecessary amount of money, unless you go the papier-mâché route like Blessed Pope John XXIII did... Anyways!! Back to the actual topic of this post: Pope Francis' Inauguration Mass!!

In typical Bernardi fashion, we woke up around 4:30 to be out the door by 5:00 am. In usual Brandon Miranda fashion, I woke up at 5:20 to leave with a group leaving at 5:30 am. The streets were empty but lines had already formed near St. Peter's Square to enter the papal Mass. The announcement was made the day before that only clergy, other denominations' leaders, world leaders, and seminarians will have seats if they were available. The laity would 100% be standing in the Square, unless of course you happened to be the Vice President of the United States or the former Speaker of the House...

As usual, we made our stop at the 24-hour bakery to get our cornetti fix. With two bombe and two ciambelle in hand, I was ready to face the day!! We arrive at the Square at around 6:15 for a 10:30 am Mass. Yes, we are that crazy.

We have a decent spot but the earlier group draws us to a closer spot behind barricades. I drank all my water and decided to go fill my bottle back up in the Square's center but discovered that I could not return to my group. The Swiss Guard stopped me and said in choppy English "no enter if no ticket." OKAY Swiss Guard. I just spent the last two hours sitting in your ticketed section which...SURPRISE!! There were no tickets for this event. I did what I learned from my father and started him down without moving in the slightest. HE tried to ignore me but eventual he turns and gestures for me to enter. VICTORY!!!

Before the Mass starts, Pope Francis comes out and greets the crowd. THE CROWD GOES WILD!!! People were running towards the barricades to try and get as close as they can to the Holy Father. As you have probably heard, he stopped and got off to kiss and blessed a disabled man in the crowd. It was evident that Pope Francis really cares about his flock. He embodies the Servant of the Servants of God!! Just as he came out to greet the crowd, he disappears back into the interior of the Square to prepare for Mass.

The Mass was great as always. With the readings in English and Spanish, I was able to understand the Word of God in languages I can comprehend. The Gospel was in Greek which was interesting but awesome!! All the ceremonial presentations of the papal vestments given to Pope Francis were beautiful. Everything was reverent and great. Seeing the Successor of St. Peter saying Mass for the second time since I've been in Rome was as grace filled as ever. I enjoyed every second and continued to fall deeper and deeper in love with the Church.

The time came for the Mass to end and it was clear to me that the Church will have some great years to come. Pope Francis will be our Holy Father for several decades hopefully and he will be the beacon of faith this world needs right now. This is the man that will inflame the hearts of many as he leads the Church on a path of holiness. His devotion to our Blessed Mother and to her son and our Savior Jesus Christ will hopefully inspire many to love them too. The future looks bright from my perspective.

"The walls of my town, they come crumbling down"

After some worries that this wasn't going to happen (though I was 100% in my mind), dreams became reality. Was I really here? And in FLORENCE? Yes. You may think I speak of a papal election (been there, done that) or something but no. I am at a Mumford and Sons concert...in Florence!!

I need to return to Florence because there is A TON of beautiful Renaissance Era artwork and world-renowned churches but the only thing I got around to doing was going to Mumford and napping. We stood in line for more hours than I can remember playing Ten Fingers and such other activities. At first, the crowd looked incredibly small for a Mumford and Sons concert then I remembered: I'm in Italy! No Italian actually shows up early for anything.

Once those gates opened to enter Nelson Mandela Forum, it was the purest of all chaos. People were full on sprinting towards the Forum. I had twisted my ankle before Pope Emeritus Benedict's last audience so running and me don't get along at the moment. Luckily, I had Emily Brom in wedge heeled boots running with me at my speed :)

We had quite an international crowd with us in that Forum. Chants of "Moom-Faird" arose and it took me a couple of seconds to realize they were trying to say Mumford. It was a typical concert environment so not exactly a fount of holy example but whatever!! I didn't expect anything more from a Mumford and Sons concert! The transcendent experience will kick in when those four men hit the stage and do what they do.  

The first opening act to hit the stage was Jesse Quin, who was very folky and from the UK. I felt bad for him because the crowd was just talking over his set and he wasn't very loud. From what I heard, he sounded good but I won't be hearing me play his music on KUST. He has very calming music and I am already tired from standing in line. I don't want to fall asleep for if he keeps playing, I'll be out cold before Mumford hits the stage!! But I will give him a second chance via iTunes to see if I change my mind.

The second opening act was Deap Vally, a Los Angeles based band of two INSANE women who were drinking straight hard liquor on stage. When I say these women were crazy, that is an understatement on my part. Any ounce of tiredness in me was pounded out by the blaring rock music that poured forth from the amps. These women, as crazy and psychotic as they make have been, were extremely talented. I will most definitely play them on KUST if Emily lets me. They were a riot but the crowd started getting antsy and started to beg for Mumford to come out while they were playing. These women just drank more and carried on.

 Finally, Mumford and Sons hit the stage and went straight to it by opening with "Babel", which got the crowd pumped for every second to follow. If you are interest here is the setlist:

1. Babel
2. I Will Wiat
3. Whispers in the Dark
4. White Blank Page
5. Holland Road
6. Timshel
7. Little Lion Man
8. Lover of the Light
9. Thistle & Weeds
10. Ghosts That We Knew
11. Hopeless Wanderer
12. Roll Away Your Stone
13. Dust Bowl Dance
14. Where Are You Now?
15. Winter Winds
16. The Cave

Aside from the drunk/high crowd and the constant pushing and the sardine packed space and the shouts that were singing along, the concert was AMAZING!! Mumford and Sons are truly musicians and have a gift that few possess. I think an outdoor venue would have served the environment better but I take what I get and appreciate it!! I'd suggest to anyone I meet to try and see Mumford and Sons live because they are truly something else.

As the night continued on, we walked out in peace and happiness that Mumford and Sons had just performed a wonderful concert. It's moments like these that I will remember for the rest of my life.

Photo Credit: Emily Pohl

HABEMUS PAPAM!!

Earlier last week, Fr. Carola had announced at our community dinner that if we did not have a pope by the night of our community night on Wednesday, we will move our gathering to the Square where we will most likely be praying for the cardinals as black smoke would rise for a third time. All of us in Bernardi had one wish for the upcoming week: PLEASE let it be Wednesday night when the new Holy Father is elected.

Everyone was getting ready throughout the house to prepare for our short trek to the Square. The lay people are bundling up as the seminarians are weather-proofing their cassocks and I am dragging my feet because I am always one to wait until the last minute to do things and old habits die hard. Greg Billion and I went off to the Square with plans of meeting up with some of his friends and chilling with them as we await the smoke. As I said, there wasn't much of an expectation for a pope to be elected that night so we were not watching the chimney intently like last time.

That's when it happened. As we heard the usual "Ohhhhh...." rising from the crowd, we looked at the chimney and saw it was the usual grey color before the real color starts coming through. I thought, "Alright. It's going to turn black now. Or now. It is going to turn black. Why isn't that smoke turning black?! OH MY GOSH WE HAVE A POPE!!!!" After some jumping up and down with those around we, we full sprinted towards the facade of St. Peter's so we can get closer to the window. Everyone was singing and laughing and crying and cheering out of pure joy. Habemus Papam!!

In our sheer excitement, the question arose in our minds: who is our next Holy Father? We all sat there and heard rumors circulating within the crowd. Reporters were swarming and asking who we thought the cardinals chose. It's moments like these where I am glad I'm surrounded by solid Catholics because you'll only hear one response from us: Whoever the Holy Spirit chooses, I'm happy with him. Soon we had the cardinal come out and announce the name of the cardinal...

You may not know this about me but I'm not exactly an expert in Latin. Did he say George? The only cardinal named George that I know is from Chicago but that is highly unlikely. But did he say Francis? Now I'm just confused. 

The international crowd had a hard time trying to communicate within ourselves to discuss what we just heard. As you can probably suspect, I was not surrounded by people versed in Latin so we tried to decipher the name he took as pope. At first I heard Gregory but then I knew definitively the real answer. Slowly rising from the crowd, I heard the Roman flock chanting quietly at first but it grew louder and louder as everyone joined in. "Francesco! Francesco!! Francesco..." At that moment, I understood that Pope Francis will be walking out to address his flock. Then I heard he was from Argentina? Well that's sick!! I would love him regardless of where he was from but he's Latino? ¡¡Gracias a Dios!! That is just a cherry atop this papal sundae!! 

Then the moment finally came...

No video, no news coverage, no article can truly represent how everyone felt in that Square. This man has something about him that you can sense by simply being in his presence. Again, I can tell you more about this when I retell this story over and over again but I don't have much else to say in writing! 

Jorge Mario Cardinal Bergoglio was elevated on March 13, 2013 to be the 266th Holy Father of the Holy Catholic Church and took the name Francis, making him the first pope to take that name. And I was there to witness this from resignation of Benedict XVI through Sede Vacante through Conclave and now this. I am so undeserving of all these graces and blessing from being present here but God chose to send me to Rome for this. 

Viva il Papa!! Viva Papa Francesco!!

In the Time of Conclave and Smoke

The hype on the streets of Rome proceeding the Conclave?? The Next Pope's cassocks are on display!! Wait...

Yes, I'm not kidding you. People were crowding around this storefront window to look at cassocks. Not something you see everyday!! Even reporters from around the world were doing stories on this garments  I ran into a reporter from Los Angeles who said, I quote: "This is the closest some will ever get to a pope in their lifetime." I'm sorry sir. If you are in Rome, it is easier to get tickets to a papal audience than it is to get a flat screen on Black Friday. If looking at these cassocks is the closest experience you will have with a pope, you must be in Rome for the wrong reason!! Anyway, back to Conclave news...

As we arrived at the Square for the Conclave Opening Mass, I noticed a new addition to the facade of the Basilica: the red curtains!! In a matter of days, out next Holy Father will be walking out of that window and we can scream the phrase that is on the tongue of every Catholic in the world: HABEMUS PAPAM. 

It is roughly 8 a.m. but I am excited for this Mass to begin. I have come to terms that Pope Emeritus Benedict is no longer our Holy Father but now I have a new thing to come to terms with. As all the Cardinal-Electors process in for Mass, I realized that one of these men will be elevated to the Throne of St. Peter. I am in the same room as the next Holy Father and I have no idea who the Holy Spirit will pick. CATHOLIC CLIFFHANGER!!!

Cardinal Dolan. Gotta love him!!

As usual, the Mass was very reverent and holy. The readings were in English and Spanish so that got me excited!! The offertory petitions were in some crazy languages like Arabic and Swahili. The universal Church under one roof!! All of this was going too exciting to handle! I could not go another day without hearing someones name in the Eucharistic prayer. The whole "for the Order of Bishops" was just not cutting it for. I want a pope!! And luckily for me, I will have one soon.

I was in the Square when the first ballot was burned. Even though I knew it was highly unlikely that they would have a pope this early on, I was still antsy. As you will come to know when I tell my stories in greater detail, my faith blossomed even more when that black smoke came out of the chimney. All of this was happening and now the Church is completely in the hands of God. I am pleasantly awaiting the days to follow!!

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. 

Sede Vacante

I never thought I would be here for this but the Lord has a different plan for me and all of us here on our pilgrimage in Rome. As of yesterday, February 28th, at 7:00 PM CET, Pope Benedict XVI, 265th Successor of St. Peter, has become Pope Emeritus, a title we have not seen in over 600 years. To be honest, it is kind of awkward to know that our formal Holy Father is has stepped down to make way for whoever the Church needs at this moment. I have no doubt that Benedict is following the will of God, but I would be lying if I said I was not saddened by this all.

Papal portholes at St. Paul Outside the Wall

Since his announcement on February 11th, I really hadn't felt like much of this was real. I remember the day that Pope Benedict was announced back in 2005 and I grew to love him as my faith grew. He was the pope during my reversion. He was the pope as I grew into spiritual maturity. The thought that he was no longer going to be the Supreme Pontiff was far from setting in. To think that soon another another man's face will fill the porthole to the left of Benedict soon. Was any of this possible?

I have been here for almost a month and I have already experienced the joy he brings to his flock. People are happy to see him as he waves out to the crowds at his audiences. He has inspired so many to pick up the torch of faith and set the world on fire with the love of Christ. I attended his last audience and it did not feel like this was REALLY the last time we would see him on that stage tending to his flock. 

Image from Charlotte Observer

It wasn't until we went to the Square to prayer Vespers and a rosary at the clock struck 7pm that things started to get real. After being interviewed by a reporter in Spanish by a reporter from Nicaragua (whole story in itself), I went off to pray and soon we were surrounded my reporters snapping pictures of us. We were also joined by many people passing by who hesitantly approached us and nervously joined us as we prayed the rosary. As our candles burned on, a crowd had formed around us mostly in prayer. As we knelt on the ground and heard Fr. Carola read Benedict's last statement from Castel Gandolfo, it was about time. I will never forget the tolling of those bells. At every toll, reality started to hit me one brick at a time. We all started to chant the Salve Regina as the bells continued to toll. We no longer have a man to call pope.

We have officially entered Sede Vacante, or Vacant See. The Church is without a Holy Father.

Pray for us O Holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Following the Throne of St. Peter

Let me share with you a small, little story. I have only been in Rome since the beginning of the month but I have had some experiences that take people years to see. Thus far, everything revolves around one thing here in Rome: the Throne of St. Peter.

The history of this city is so closely tied to the papacy and many do not even realize this. Sure, everyone realizes that the churches here are a product of the papacy but there is so much more things besides these magnificent places of worship. First bridge to cross the Tiber since ancient Rome? Commissioned by a pope. Restoration of the aqueduct system? Done by a pope. The Trevi Fountain? Commissioned by a pope. The iconic symbol of Rome, the Mother Wolf with Romulus and Remus? Commissioned by a pope. First public museum? You guessed it!! Done by a pope.

Now starts my story. Students who study abroad in Rome find themselves in St. Peter's Square for a blessing from the Pope. This is always an exciting moment for students and they have their group usually called out during the Pope's Angelus on any given Sunday. They cheer and life is great!! I was expecting this same experience and assuming it was the typically distance from the window like in the picture below:

This was all I expected. The Holy Father speaks to us from the window of his apartment. Many of my friends who came for a J-Term program or for the John Cabot program had this type of papal blessing so this is what I assumed. MAN!! It's amazing how wrong I was about our Wednesday audience. It was pouring rain and as my group went to St. Peter's for the papal audience, it was not to the Square that we were going but to the Paul VI Auditorium. And the Pope was not ant-sized for me. Rather, I was quite close to the Holy Father as you can see below:

Needless to say, I was "a little kid in a candy shop" excited about this opportunity!! I would probably say it was the best Wednesday EVER!!! (Well, soon to be second best Wednesday...) To be in the same room as the Holy Father was a truly blessed experience and one that I will cherish for the rest of my life. It really brought me to see how Benedict XVI is a man just like us and has this gentleness to his  aura. Yet, this man is the leader of the universal Church. This man wields the power of the largest congregation of faithful followers in the WORLD. And he is right in front of me. A true blessing!! 

That following Friday, we had the opportunity to take the Scavi tour under St. Peter's Basilica. While everything we saw down there was amazingly historical, I had a clear favorite five minutes or so. Our tour guide said, "See that red light in that crevice WAAAY over there? That's the tomb of St. Peter. That's the closest you'll see the tomb." It was a clear twenty or thirty feet away but I was happy to see the tomb of The Rock. Then, a twist in the story!! 

The Prince of the Apostles, The Rock upon which Jesus built his Church, the Gatekeeper of Heaven and first Pope of the Holy Catholic Church was moved from his original grave!! Since I could not take pictures in the Scavi itself, I cannot show up all what I saw but you'll have to have faith. The bones of St. Peter were no more than ten feet away from me and completely visible. The man God himself entrusted the Church to was right in front of me. Absolutely incredible!! Why am I so blest with these opportunities? 

That following Sunday, after attending a ROCKIN' Mass at Chiesa di Santo Spirito in Sassia just a block away from the Vatican (recommend it for any English speaker for a Sunday Mass in Rome), we went to St. Peter's Square to attend the Pope's public Angelus. Then I had that awkward moment when I realized Franz Biebl's Ave Maria is actually the Angelus put to music... here is the song for those unfamiliar with it:

So I stood there and shared this midday prayer with the Holy Father and about a thousand people or so (in Latin may I add!!). It was the second time I saw the Holy Father in a week, which I thought was pretty awesome!! To give everyone a frame of reference, this was Sunday, February 11th.

Well, the next day I was checking my Yahoo! email when I saw something I could not believe. Then I saw that CNN, Fox News, NY Times, MSNBC, BBC, and every news outlet in the world picked up the same story:

So as the world already knows, Pope Benedict XVI announced that he will be abdicating the Throne of St. Peter at the end of this month. When I first heard the news, I was sad because he has been an excellent Pontiff for this Church. His intellectual teachings have sparked the hearts of so many and have brought many people back to the faith and to discover their vocations. I will miss him a lot but then I realized something... I'm going to be in Rome for the Conclave!!!! I am going to be IN the Square when the new pope is revealed to the WORLD. 

In the next two days, we organized to attend the Holy Father's last public Mass for Ash Wednesday (best Wednesday of my life!!). Seeing the Pope on two separate occasions was nothing compared to attending the Most Holy Mass where he is the celebrant. We stood in line for three hours and had amazing seats. Many of my fellow classmates were in the seats right next to the aisle but I was off to the side, though I am 100,000% not complaining!! As countless priests, bishops and cardinals filed in, I was overcome with awe. The Holy Father is such an amazing man and I am so honored to have attended a Mass with him. 

As the Mass ended, Cardinal Bertone gave a heart-warming farewell to Benedict before you processed down the center aisle of St. Peter's for the last time as Pope. It was such a bitter-sweet moment to witness and made many cry around me. As the Holy Father exited, he had nothing but a smile on his face. He was so peacefully proceeding out of this Mass and out of Holy Office. He reminded the world in this exact moment what we must do everyday: listen to and accept the will of God.

I leave you with a quote from Mother Theresa of Calcutta that was not written. I learned of it from a sister from the Missionaries of Charity who knew her personally.

"Give to God all that is takes and take from God all that he gives, with a BIG smile."

Thank you Pope Benedict for showing us how to discern the will of God to know what is good, acceptable and perfect.

The Day Finally Came

After a year of knowing I was going to Rome for the Catholic Studies Semester, I am finally here!! This is unbelievable.

We flew in yesterday morning at around 7:45 AM and because of our great lack of sleep, we were walking zombies. The only thing that kept me up was the fact that I was in Rome, Italy not only for a week but for four months. It still hadn't sunk in that this is where I will live for the next four months!!

Nervous? Too awestruck and tired to tell. Excited? Too awestruck and tired to tell.

All I did know at that moment was that I will be getting on this bus and going back to Bernardi, the building owned by St. Thomas specifically to serve as my home for the next few months. This is all real. Someone pinch me!!! Even once I finally set down my bags in my new room, it still hadn't hit me. Was this really happening? Am I really this blessed? God is WAAAY too kind to me. I do not deserve to have this great blessing but I accept it with a beyond opened heart! God had a reason to give me this opportunity and so far, I'm not complaining one bit!!

Anyway, a group of us decided we were going to walk to St. Peter's Basilica and go to Mass down there. It was 14 seminarians in cassocks and two of us non-seminarians dressed nicely. If you want to draw the attention of every Italian walking down the street, travel with 14 men wearing black cassocks!! The walk was hardly anything and I was in awe of how beautiful my surroundings were. Then I saw it:

Seeing St. Peter's Basilica for the first time was beyond words. This is easily one of the most famous buildings in the world and I, a mere college student from Minnesota, am here admiring this stunning architecture from hundreds of years ago. Excitement was inexplicable!!!

Then we entered the basilica to attend Mass and it was there that I finally felt it. As I watched a priest giving a homily and celebrating the Most Holy Mass in Italian, I realized that this is my life. This is all real and this is where I will live for the next few months. This is my new home!! I am in the capital of the Catholic Church and I am here receiving Christ in the Most Holy Eucharist. Absolutely incredible!!

I look forward to the months to come. ARRIVEDERCI!!!