Banners like this hung all over Rome during the week of the Beatification

That was the week that was.  Five days of inspiring encounters, amazing introductions, challenging conversations.

In the first week of May 2011, it was my great privilege to be in Rome for the first-ever Vatican Blogfest and, not coincidentally, the Beatification of our beloved Holy Father, Pope John Paul II.  I thought I’d share some photo memories from my Beatification album with you today, on JPII’s feast day.

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Castel Sant’Angelo from the Tiber River

On May 2, I watched the sun rise over the Tiber River with a million of my brothers and sisters  in Christ.

By 2:30 in the morning, the crowds were gathered for the 10:30 Beatification.  Security was in place.

On the Via Aurelia, pilgrims still in their sleeping bags will rise soon to join in prayer

Pilgrims came from many lands.  Hotels were at capacity, and hundreds–perhaps thousands–of people slept on the street.  For some, a hotel may have been too much of an extravagance; for others, just the opportunity to be close to the action may have been the impetus to remain on the sidewalks.

A view of the crowd gathering to catch a glimpse of Pope Benedict

I met so many really interesting people from around the world.  From college students to backpacking nuns…. Polish families with young children to an elderly Slovakian couple….  Writers and reporters and editors and publishers….  So many people from so many places, unified in their love for Pope John Paul II and for the Church.

Really? This young man really slept through the Beatification.

I loved the backpacking nuns! These sisters were actually sleeping on the street down the road from our apartment.

Attending a Beatification is hard work! We had planned to leave the apartment at 4:00 a.m. Our group learned, though, that others in our residenza would depart for St. Peter’s Square as early as 3:00 a.m.—so Lisa Wheeler, grand taskmaster and organizer extraordinaire, revised the plan and we planned instead to leave by 2:30. That’s 2:30 In The Morning!!

We set off at a brisk pace. Lisa has firsthand knowledge of the winding streets of Roma, and she led us to a spot on Via S. Pio X. There, 20 feet from the front of the throng, we stood and waited so that, in six hours or so, we could move forward and stand and wait again. My middle-aged knees screamed “NO!” and I took off to explore other corners.

Roomies Lisa Wheeler and Alexis Walkenstein (Maximus Group) in St. Peter’s Square

So I walked the banks of the Tiber River, crossed over the Bridge of Angels near Castel Sant’Angelo, then sat in a trattoria and made friends from northern Italy and from France. My new French companion told me she helps “ancient people”—that means she works at a home for the elderly and infirm, so by “ancient” she means, oh, sixty-five or so.

Rome’s firemen join in the preparations and the celebration

I ordered coffee—and it came–espresso, maybe two tablespoons of it, in a plastic cup smaller than a shotglass.

I have never before experienced the press and the passion of a million fervent souls. In the pre-dawn they huddled on cobblestones and some slept on sidewalks, young men and entire families deep in their sleeping bags along the Via Aurelia. As the sky brightened from black to midnight blue to azure, they stood, waved flags, and joined the birds in exuberant songs of praise.

For those who couldn’t get near enough to see, large screens broadcast the Beatification live.

Finally, I found my way back to St. Peter’s Square. As I approached our original spot on the Via S. Pio X the Carabinieri, the Italian police, opened the barricades and I was in—walking, then running along the Via della Conciliazione past the Palazzo Cardinal Cesi, my favorite hotel from years past, past religious articles stores and gelato stands, until I stood beside the Domus Artis, the great mosaic store which occupies the corner in front of the great Basilica of San Pietro.

The Missionary Sisters of Charity throw their doors open–welcoming Rome pilgrims.

I am short and I was about a block away, so my view was less than perfect; but the choral voices were angelic, the Mass prayers were the familiar Latin that I remember from my youth (and, of course, from EWTN and the occasional local liturgy).

I have been at Mass with Pope Benedict twice before—a few years ago at Yankee Stadium, and before that when, as Cardinal Ratzinger, he celebrated for an infirm Pope John Paul II on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the deaths of the pope’s predecessors, Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul I.  This time, though, was all the more glorious because of the high esteem with which I (and the rest of the world) regard JPII.

Why is there all this mess? In Rome, there are no trash barrels, as we have in the U.S. There are people whose job is to clean the streets after an event–and they depend on this for their income.

When Pope Benedict recited the words that elevated his predecessor, the crowd chanted a robust and emotional “Amen.” When the papal portrait was unveiled, cheers broke out across the Square.

The day was tiring, but the memories will last a lifetime. Like the apostle Peter, present with James and John for the Transfiguration of Jesus, I was inspired to respond, “Lord it is good for us to be here.”

This banner was erected after the Beatification–I suppose because had it been there for the event, it would have blocked the view.