F 6th Day Pilgrimage to Rome

6.5.02.
Margaret and I went to Mass at 7.30 am at a Franciscan church next to
Cook's office.
This morning the coach arrived at 10 am to take us to St. Peter's for
the Papal Audience, which was
divided into sections for the different groups. Margaret and I lost our
main group at first but after a
while succeeded in finding them amidst a huge crowd which filled St.
Peter's. Immediately behind us
were some Americans. There were many nationalities present.

First of all the whole crowd, while waiting for the Pope (we waited
about two hours) sang a hymn
"Christus Vincit" in Latin. It was very beautiful. The Germans were a
large crowd who sang beautifully
in their own language. We were in the minority.

When the loudspeaker announcement gave us our directions in English we
said part of the Holy Year
Prayer and sang "Hail, Queen of Heaven" and later on "God Bless the
Pope."

Then the Credo was sung in Latin by all present. This was very
inspiring and united us all. Gone were
all the barriers by which our difference of race and language separated
us, and we were truly one, in
the unity of the Church.
The great moment arrived. An electric thrill seemed to ripple through
the multitude. The Pope arrived
and was borne in his special chair down to the central aisle
accompanied by various guards, high above
the heads of the crowd. All sang "Christus Vincit" as he entered.
Margaret and I were at the back of
the crowd midway down the central aisle, and had a distinct view of the
Holy Father as he passed by
and gave his blessing to us all.

After the Pope had been installed on a special dais, he addressed us in
seven languages, Italian, French,
English, German, Spanish, Portuguese and Hungarian. When the Holy
Father spoke in English he said
that he welcomed us, then listed the English-speaking contingents,
including us "The Pilgrims from
Liverpool" and said that he gave his blessing to us, to our families
and homes and to all objects of piety
which we might have with us.

When the Pope mentioned the Pilgrims from Liverpool, our little group
all waved handkerchieves. He
pronounced it as "Leeverpool". Every little group waved to the Pope in
turn.

Having finished his speeches, the Pope was borne in his chair 'The
Sedia Gestatoria" around the central
aisle of the basilica, giving his blessing to all parts of the immense
gathering and finally passed down
the centre aisle amid the cheers, hand-waving and "Viva's" of all,
whence we could again glimpse him.
Then he was borne into the Vatican by the door at the left of the
interior of St. Peter's.

In the afternoon Father McKenna took most of our hotel group to St.
Peter's. He is an excellent guide.
Unfortunately some sections of St. Peter's were shut off in preparation
for the morrow's canonization.
However we saw a great deal of it and walked round the gigantic cupola
on the inside. We had a good
look at the Papal Altar covered by the immense decorated canopy and
visited the Blessed Sacrament
Chapel. We also went on to the roof of St. Peter's, where Margaret and
I bought some photographs
and medals. When we emerged from the shop, the others of our party had
disappeared. We could not
catch them up, as Margaret could not find the ticket for her camera
which she had given up at the
entrance to St. Peter's. Having to stay behind to look for this, we
could not attempt to catch the others
up. Enquiries in the shop where we had bought some articles produced no
result. Downstairs Margaret
tried to obtain her camera without a ticket but the attendant, who
could not speak English would not
let her have it. Argument seemed fruitless for he could not understand.
Luckily a lady from the shop
upstairs brought the ticket down, having I suppose just discovered it,
and the attendant then allowed
Margaret to have her camera.

As the others had gone Margaret and I decided to go to St Maria
Maggiore, caught a bus easily and
visited this lovely church. We saw the relics of the crib downstairs on
a little altar in front of which
was a statue of one of the Popes praying, but we did not realise what
it was until afterwards when
someone informed us. The side chapels and the roof were a blaze of
glory, a fitting tribute to Our
Blessed Lady. Pilgrims from all nations were here, some making Jubilee
visits, all giving honour to Our
Lady, Mother of God and of the human race. This seemed especially the
right place to say the prayer
for the conversion of England and so I said it in front of the crib
(though I did not then know what it
was).

We had some difficulty in finding our way home but eventually arrived,
to find that the others had been
visiting the Church del Gesu, which Margaret and I had visited on
Thursday.