The Day I Wished I Were a Baby

+JMJ+
Ok, I owe y'all some posts, so let's get started.

Today I went to Pope Benedict XVI's last papal audience.  Oh wow.  What a blessing!!!  He had his audience in St. Peter's square instead of inside.  The entire square was PACKED and overflowing!!  It made the busses I've been squeezed on feel spacious.

My view from the line this morning...we got in line at 6:30, 2 hours before the gates were supposed to open, 4 hours before the audience.  So worth it.

Once we got in, the seating set up all through the square was already full!  We (one of my classmates and I) got a great spot though, right up against one of the barriers blocking the path the pope mobile would take.  We could even see Papa during the audience while he was speaking!

My view from where I was standing

When the pope came out, he came out in his pope mobile and drove through all of the aisles to greet the people.  And kiss all the babies.  Babies were literally being crowd-surfed to the pope mobile to be held and kissed by Pope Benedict XVI.  I wanted to be one of those babies!  We were SO CLOSE.  I could see his his gestures, facial expressions, even the expression in his eyes.  It was so good to see this man up close, who I've seen six times from afar, who I've been praying for ardently and following religiously (ha...get it?).  Truly indescribable.  He is so close to God and filled, no, overflowing with, exuding love for the Church.  I could see his unconditional desire for the salvation of and love for all people just in the gift he gave of himself there at the audience today, a small extension of the gift of himself he gave as a priest, as pope, and finally now, in his resignation.  In all of these acts of selfless gift, the Holy Father has always ultimately been giving himself to the will of God, which in turn, is a gift of himself to the Church, to the world.  Whenever we give ourselves to the will of God, we also give a gift to the world.  Pope Benedict has given us a great model to follow in giving that gift of self to the will of God and to the world courageously, totally, and unconditionally.  

Pope Benedict greeting the crowd (heading toward me!) in the pope mobile

I picked out a couple highlights from Pope Benedict's address to share with you.  This first one is part of the long, general address he gave at the beginning in Italian:

"I feel I [ought to] carry everyone in prayer, in a present that is God’s, where I recall every meeting, every voyage, every pastoral visit. I gather everyone and every thing in prayerful recollection, in order to entrust them to the Lord: in order that we might have full knowledge of His will, with every wisdom and spiritual understanding, and in order that we might comport ourselves in a manner that is worthy of Him, of His, bearing fruit in every good work (cf. Col 1:9-10)."

This second highlight is from his message to the English-speaking pilgrims:  

"The decision I have made, after much prayer, is the fruit of a serene trust in God’s will and a deep love of Christ’s Church. I will continue to accompany the Church with my prayers, and I ask each of you to pray for me and for the new Pope. In union with Mary and all the saints, let us entrust ourselves in faith and hope to God, who continues to watch over our lives and to guide the journey of the Church and our world along the paths of history.

I commend all of you, with great affection, to his loving care, asking him to strengthen you in the hope which opens our hearts to the fullness of life that he alone can give. To you and your families, I impart my blessing. Thank you!"

Here's the full text of his general address, and the full text of his address to the English-speaking pilgrims.  Read what the Holy Father wants to tell you!!

On a slightly different note, the best dressed award of today goes to....*drum roll please*...

Hot pink ankle boots with American flag elastic!!  Haha...and it was obvious that the person wearing these was not American...

Well, I have yet another early day tomorrow (it's been a week full of those!) and I learned the hard way that if I don't let myself get some sleep, then I will sleep right through my alarm.  Hence, I must leave my blog at this for tonight and tell you about my grand adventures of Tuesday tomorrow.  I bit out of order, but bear with me.   

Coming soon on Erin's blog:

• The Villa Borghese: The Art of Art
• A Walk through the Park
• The Spanish Steps: Just Call Me Aubrey Hepburn
• Erin and Gracie's Guide on How to Use the Metro
• The Scavi Tour: Erin Goes Underground!
• February 28: Goodbye, Papa Benedict!!

Warning: this list may be idealistic