Cobblestones and Crowds: The Great Canonization Adventure
Am I exhausted? Yes. What language do I not want to hear again for another year? Polish. What road covering would I like to never see again? Cobblestones. Likelihood of coming down with some random disease passed on by one of a million strangers: 80% probability. Am I certifiably insane? Almost definitely!
These few basic questions essentially sum up my adventure of the last 24 hours. To make a long story short (don't worry, not too short) I camped in/curled up on/shuffled across the streets of Rome for about 20 hours for the sake of attending a most historic event, the canonization of St. John Paul II and St. John XIII. There you have the certifiably insane part. You'd be surprised how comfortable it is to curl up on cobblestones and a backpack at 3 in the morning! Round about that time, I started looking forward to a shower and clean clothes.
To start from the beginning! I joined my fellow campers around 5 pm on Saturday, and by 6.30 we had a decent spot staked out.
[caption id="attachment_1702" align="alignnone" width="645"]
The area around us looked like this.[/caption]
There were already thousands of people camping out, with their little yoga mats and their folding camp stools. We were somewhat less prepared, although we did have enough snack food to sink a ship. Most of it got rather squished, though! All 15 or so of us piled our bags in the middle of a circle and sat back-to-back, playing cards or studying for finals. We discovered that in a crowd, the best or the worst side of people comes out. (Forget the grammar in there, I'm barely functioning.) I can't tell you how many people I am praying for right now, the ones that helped us get through a scarily packed crowd of people when a friend and I had to leave to go to the bathroom. Some people were just so sweet - like the German girl that persuaded her friends to help us through, the Capuchin friars, and the American from Philadelphia. I offered prayers for them at Mass, but I honestly can't be grateful enough.
Everything changed at midnight, when they suddenly opened the gates to the street and started to let people in. Unfortunately, we thought it was another false alarm, so got pushed further back than we intended. There had been one or two false alarms already, and we weren't expecting the gates to open until 5.30. Christendom got separated, and to be quite honest I have no idea where anyone else ended up. So this is entirely my story, because I haven't talked to anyone else yet. Sarah and I made it through the whole thing together, which was really good. As we rushed into the street, I had a brief few minutes of being completely alone, because I'd lost everybody else. Thanks be to God (I said a lot of frantic prayers today...) I happened to find Sarah, and I'm so glad I did.
We spent five or six hours on the street. Every half hour or so, the crowd would shift a few feet forward, and then everyone would sit or lie down and try to sleep. I got maybe a half hour of sleep total, but a bit longer as far as hibernation goes. I would basically curl around my backpack in as small a bundle as I could manage, and try to just shut everything out for a while. I discovered several things. First, exactly how much square footage I take up in various positions, specifically cross-legged; second, the muscles in my thighs, which I have since decided that I dislike; third, how much I pitied the people who did not dress sensibly.
Slowly, by many missteps and snap decisions wrongly-made, we eventually ended up in the corner of the piazza in front of St. Peter's. To make life easier, I will demonstrate via pictorial assistance.
I know, it doesn't look like it's very close. However, trust me, the entire street is full, cross streets as well, and there are tv screens set up all over the city. So relatively speaking, it's close!
[caption id="attachment_1708" align="alignnone" width="645"]
Sarah and I, looking only partially functional. The scarf is because it was sprinkling for a little bit.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_1709" align="alignnone" width="645"]
This is actually the terrace of the building in which we have classes. There were a lot of people in windows or on rooftops.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_1710" align="alignnone" width="645"]
Granted, this is with zoom, but we actually had a semi-decent view, plus a tv screen across the way.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_1707" align="alignnone" width="645"]
We were right next to the main camera stand in the square.[/caption]
Once the canonization and Mass started, it was absolutely lovely. Save for the Gloria, the choir and brass did an amazing job! And I officially love Papa Francesco, as he very kindly kept his sermon to 10 minutes. Oh my gosh - one of the best parts was the fact that Pope Emeritus Benedict was there!!!! He was the pope I was always looking forward to seeing when I came to Rome. I remember his election so well. His presence was a gift today.
Honestly, this whole day has been a gift. God pulled through in so many ways. It was a major test of resignation - I can't tell you how many times I prayed variations of "Jesus, I trust in You" or "Thy will be done". I knew going in that I would end up precisely where God wanted me to be, but it was hard to restrain myself from letting my own ambitions or desires get in the way of that. Yet, every time I freaked out or was worrying about something, I was answered and aided very quickly in every circumstance. I kept reminding myself, and God, that I knew He wouldn't push me farther than what I was capable of handling. Which, in reverse, means that if something was happening to me, then I could handle it! We ran into a number of little mishaps and misadventures, but in the end we were so blessed to be there and to be as close as we were. It's one of those times in your life that is epic and awesome only in retrospect, but the bad parts start to fade quickly. It seems surreal now, but I can honestly say that I was there for an amazing event, thanks be to God, alleluia!
[caption id="attachment_1713" align="alignnone" width="645"]
To finish off, a couple of flag images. There were SO MANY Polish flags in the square...and so many Polish people! My friend joked that the best time to invade Poland would have been today, since the country will basically be emptied.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_1712" align="alignnone" width="645"]
The Bavarian and German flags, just for fun. That Bavarian one was HUGE![/caption]
[caption id="attachment_1714" align="alignnone" width="645"]
I know this is a really bad picture, but here I am and there's the dome of St. Peter's behind me. Photographic proof that I was there![/caption]
UPDATE: There is a really great English broadcast from Vatican Radio at this link, done in part by Sean Lovett, a friend of Christendom, and whom I humbly call my friend as well.
St. John Paul II and St. John XXIII, pray for us!
These few basic questions essentially sum up my adventure of the last 24 hours. To make a long story short (don't worry, not too short) I camped in/curled up on/shuffled across the streets of Rome for about 20 hours for the sake of attending a most historic event, the canonization of St. John Paul II and St. John XIII. There you have the certifiably insane part. You'd be surprised how comfortable it is to curl up on cobblestones and a backpack at 3 in the morning! Round about that time, I started looking forward to a shower and clean clothes.
To start from the beginning! I joined my fellow campers around 5 pm on Saturday, and by 6.30 we had a decent spot staked out.
[caption id="attachment_1702" align="alignnone" width="645"]
The area around us looked like this.[/caption]There were already thousands of people camping out, with their little yoga mats and their folding camp stools. We were somewhat less prepared, although we did have enough snack food to sink a ship. Most of it got rather squished, though! All 15 or so of us piled our bags in the middle of a circle and sat back-to-back, playing cards or studying for finals. We discovered that in a crowd, the best or the worst side of people comes out. (Forget the grammar in there, I'm barely functioning.) I can't tell you how many people I am praying for right now, the ones that helped us get through a scarily packed crowd of people when a friend and I had to leave to go to the bathroom. Some people were just so sweet - like the German girl that persuaded her friends to help us through, the Capuchin friars, and the American from Philadelphia. I offered prayers for them at Mass, but I honestly can't be grateful enough.
Everything changed at midnight, when they suddenly opened the gates to the street and started to let people in. Unfortunately, we thought it was another false alarm, so got pushed further back than we intended. There had been one or two false alarms already, and we weren't expecting the gates to open until 5.30. Christendom got separated, and to be quite honest I have no idea where anyone else ended up. So this is entirely my story, because I haven't talked to anyone else yet. Sarah and I made it through the whole thing together, which was really good. As we rushed into the street, I had a brief few minutes of being completely alone, because I'd lost everybody else. Thanks be to God (I said a lot of frantic prayers today...) I happened to find Sarah, and I'm so glad I did.
We spent five or six hours on the street. Every half hour or so, the crowd would shift a few feet forward, and then everyone would sit or lie down and try to sleep. I got maybe a half hour of sleep total, but a bit longer as far as hibernation goes. I would basically curl around my backpack in as small a bundle as I could manage, and try to just shut everything out for a while. I discovered several things. First, exactly how much square footage I take up in various positions, specifically cross-legged; second, the muscles in my thighs, which I have since decided that I dislike; third, how much I pitied the people who did not dress sensibly.
Slowly, by many missteps and snap decisions wrongly-made, we eventually ended up in the corner of the piazza in front of St. Peter's. To make life easier, I will demonstrate via pictorial assistance.
I know, it doesn't look like it's very close. However, trust me, the entire street is full, cross streets as well, and there are tv screens set up all over the city. So relatively speaking, it's close!
[caption id="attachment_1708" align="alignnone" width="645"]
Sarah and I, looking only partially functional. The scarf is because it was sprinkling for a little bit.[/caption][caption id="attachment_1709" align="alignnone" width="645"]
This is actually the terrace of the building in which we have classes. There were a lot of people in windows or on rooftops.[/caption][caption id="attachment_1710" align="alignnone" width="645"]
Granted, this is with zoom, but we actually had a semi-decent view, plus a tv screen across the way.[/caption][caption id="attachment_1707" align="alignnone" width="645"]
We were right next to the main camera stand in the square.[/caption]Once the canonization and Mass started, it was absolutely lovely. Save for the Gloria, the choir and brass did an amazing job! And I officially love Papa Francesco, as he very kindly kept his sermon to 10 minutes. Oh my gosh - one of the best parts was the fact that Pope Emeritus Benedict was there!!!! He was the pope I was always looking forward to seeing when I came to Rome. I remember his election so well. His presence was a gift today.
Honestly, this whole day has been a gift. God pulled through in so many ways. It was a major test of resignation - I can't tell you how many times I prayed variations of "Jesus, I trust in You" or "Thy will be done". I knew going in that I would end up precisely where God wanted me to be, but it was hard to restrain myself from letting my own ambitions or desires get in the way of that. Yet, every time I freaked out or was worrying about something, I was answered and aided very quickly in every circumstance. I kept reminding myself, and God, that I knew He wouldn't push me farther than what I was capable of handling. Which, in reverse, means that if something was happening to me, then I could handle it! We ran into a number of little mishaps and misadventures, but in the end we were so blessed to be there and to be as close as we were. It's one of those times in your life that is epic and awesome only in retrospect, but the bad parts start to fade quickly. It seems surreal now, but I can honestly say that I was there for an amazing event, thanks be to God, alleluia!
[caption id="attachment_1713" align="alignnone" width="645"]
To finish off, a couple of flag images. There were SO MANY Polish flags in the square...and so many Polish people! My friend joked that the best time to invade Poland would have been today, since the country will basically be emptied.[/caption][caption id="attachment_1712" align="alignnone" width="645"]
The Bavarian and German flags, just for fun. That Bavarian one was HUGE![/caption][caption id="attachment_1714" align="alignnone" width="645"]
I know this is a really bad picture, but here I am and there's the dome of St. Peter's behind me. Photographic proof that I was there![/caption]UPDATE: There is a really great English broadcast from Vatican Radio at this link, done in part by Sean Lovett, a friend of Christendom, and whom I humbly call my friend as well.
St. John Paul II and St. John XXIII, pray for us!
Funny how it's probably one of the biggest experiences of one's life and everyone was tired and probably feeling a bit bedraggled. Love the 'where's Rebecca?' picture. :) Nice post It's great to be Catholic!
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