Papal Mass

One Sunday in February we rose bright and early for a Papal Mass in St. Peter's Square. Normally, every Sunday a mass held in the square, but only on certain occasions does Pope Francis himself preside over the mass (hence "Papal Mass"). This was one of those special occasions, and since we didn't have the chance to go to a Papal Mass last semester, we didn't want to miss out on the opportunity this semester. We left our hotel at 7am for a mass we thought began at 10:30. Of course, when we arrived, no one appeared to be sitting in the designated chairs for mass-goers, so we concluded that it was because they weren't allowing people into the square yet. We stopped at a bar for some breakfast, and as we headed over to the square, we didn't find people sitting and standing in the square, rather everyone was waiting in a huge line to go into St. Peter's Basilica. Our next thoughts were, is this mass going to be inside? And if it's inside, do we need tickets? When mass is in St. Peter's Square, tickets are available but not always "necessary;" in other words, the guards don't really care and will let you in even if you don't have tickets. Masses inside St. Peter's Basilica are a different story. We had no idea we needed tickets, for we had been told that mass this weekend, although the same weekend Pope Francis had appointed the new Bishops, was open to everyone and tickets were not necessary. Yet as we waited in line, we noticed everyone around us had tickets, and guards were walking up and down the line reminding everyone to be ready to present their tickets. Our group had no idea what was going on and what to do; we didn't want to get out of line and give up, but we didn't want to get stopped at security either. We decided to ask a nearby guard if it was necessary to have tickets. As we were talking to him and realizing that there was no way we were going to get in, some nuns overheard us and gave us their extra tickets! While we weren't sure what order they were from, we expressed our gratitude as most profoundly as we could, for without them, we wouldn't have been able to attend mass in St. Peter's Basilica. While entering St. Peter's, we were counting our blessings and lucky stars! 

Getting a quick breakfast before mass.

Look at that line!

Even though this wasn't our first time to St. Peter's Basilica, something must be said for the atmosphere when mass takes place inside one of the most sacred buildings of the Catholic faith. Mass was predominantly in Latin and Italian, but some sections, such as the readings, were in various other languages, including English, Spanish, Korean, French, and Mandarin. It was an awesome experience; we were only a few seats in from the main aisle so we had a prime view of Pope Francis as he made his way down the aisle at the beginning and end of mass. We are so grateful for this experience, especially because we never thought we would go to a mass not only presided over by Pope Francis, but in St. Peter's Basilica as well! 

We got tickets!

Yep, that's Pope Francis!