The next was Holy Thursday at St. John Lateran. Although we got there really early, through a badly organized waiting system, we ended up not getting seats...but we were standing in the back of the nave, so still had an ok view. By this time, a lot of people from other Notre Dame study abroad locations had arrived in Rome, and some of them were able to come to mass too. Oh, and also along the lines of seeing people I hadn't in awhile...while at mass I saw a girl who had been in our high school program at one of my Totus Tuus parishes over the summer, and also one of my Young Disciple leaders from the summer before freshman year of college. What a small and wonderful Catholic world:-)
But anyway, mass itself was awesome. I realized partway through why they picked St. John Lateran to have this particular mass in. It was right after the washing of the feet, in which the Pope washed the feet of 12 priests. At first I thought, "Wow! How amazing to have your feet washed by the Pope!" And then I reminded myself how infinitely more incredible and unbelievable it would be to have your feet washed by Jesus Himself...and then I realized that the 12 original feet wash-ees were lining the nave. (For those of you who have not been inside St. John Lateran or can't picture the interior, the dominating feature of the decoration scheme is 12 huge statues of the apostles going down the sides of the church. They were all designed by Borromini.) So then the connections between the Last Supper, the apostles, and the priesthood all kind of clicked, and St. John's seemed like the perfect place to be for that mass.
On Friday early afternoon, I got to go to S. Croce in Gerusalemme and pray in front of some of the relics of the Passion--a piece of the True Cross, nails, thorns, St. Thomas' finger, and the INRI sign, among others. That was part of a tour organized by Notre Dame Campus Ministry for all the ND kids who came to Rome for the weekend, so we had a nice reunion before going to pray, too. It was awesome to see so many people, and kind of crazy that it was happening in ROME. Anyway, Campus Ministry had planned things for all afternoon, but I ducked out after S. Croce and headed to St. Peters to wait in line for the Good Friday service. The weather was gorgeous--sunny and warm. Normally I would be thrilled about that, but not on Good Friday. On Good Friday I always want it to be dark and stormy. But alas, no luck. The service was really good, though. Unfortunately, because of what would no doubt be massive logistical problems, we didn't get to individually venerate the cross like usual. I kind of missed that part, but everything else was just like a normal Good Friday service.
After that, the day still wasn't over--apparently it's a tradition in Rome for the Pope to preside over Stations of the Cross by the Colosseum on Good Friday night. It's a busy week for him! That event was packed, too, because it wasn't ticketed and so anyone and everyone could come. It was actually the only time I prayed Stations of the Cross all Lent, strangely...I guess I'm used to the ease of having them in English every Friday in the basilica on campus. But anyway, I'm really glad I got to that one time. The reflections were in Italian, but they at least announced each station in several languages, including English, so everyone could follow along somewhat.
The next day was Holy Saturday, and I spent all of it at St. Peters. Almost literally. The Easter Vigil started at 9:15; we got there at a little after 1 to wait in line. It sounds crazy, but it wasn't so bad. Good company, more good weather, good books, and a spirit of being in solidarity with the women (and the whole world) who were waiting while Jesus was in the tomb, all made the hours go by quickly. When the doors finally opened, there were moments when I feared I would get crushed and trampled in the crowd of people crushing in--it was absolutely NUTS. But we made it in alive, and got pretty good seats. I ended up sitting by Stephanie, Jessica, John, and Chris. Mass was incredible. It's one of my favorite masses of the year to start with, so being in St. Peter's, with the Pope, with the whole Church (saints and angels included), and with some of my good friends...pretty much unbeatable. The only slight disappointment was they only did 4 of the 7 (I think) Salvation History readings! I couldn't believe it! Out of all places, I expected the Vatican to go all out and do all of them. The Intercessors win that little liturgical contest. So altogether, mass was only a little over 3 hours, which is shorter than I thought it'd be.
John, Steph, Chris, me, and Jessica after mass! Look at all that Easter joy:-)
Afterwards, we met up with some of the archies who had also been at mass, and all went out and got pizza--a good way to start off our Easter celebrations.
I had a great day on Sunday, too. We had a big archie brunch in the morning, and I helped with a little bit of the preparation for that. Then I ran down to St. Peter's (literally) for the Pope's Urbi et Orbi blessing. Unfortunately, the good weather didn't hold, and it was raining off and on all day, very on at that point. I missed the speech beforehand, but made it just in time for the actual blessing. And then I just stood in the piazza for while, watching the rain and soaking in the joy of Easter. (And starting to realize how much I'm going to miss Rome when I leave...in three weeks, eek!). Then later that afternoon, I walked around for a while with Notre Dame people again, and then went to an evening Easter mass, in English this time! My friend Chris was playing the organ, and we sang all the typical awesome Easter hymns--I'm thinking mostly of Jesus Christ is Risen today and Christ the Lord is Risen Today, both personal faves.
One theme that has stuck out a lot to me this year has been that Easter happens in the middle of suffering. The Pope pointed it out in his Urbi et Orbi message, and the priest who celebrated evening mass mentioned it too. The Gospel was the road to Emmaus, and the two disciples were SAD. The women who went to the tomb in the morning were mourning too (pun intended). So the Resurrection doesn't automatically take away suffering, but transforms it and gives us hope. Actually, the Pope says this better than I can; here's the last paragraph of his Easter morning message:
"Dear brothers and sisters, Easter does not work magic. Just as the Israelites found the desert awaiting them on the far side of the Red Sea, so the Church, after the resurrection, always finds history filled with joy and hope, grief and anguish. And yet, this history is changed, it is marked by a new and eternal covenant, it is truly open to the future. For this reason, saved by hope, let us continue our pilgrimage, bearing in our hearts the song that is ancient and yet ever new: “Let us sing to the Lord: glorious his triumph!” "
--Pope Benedict XVI
(And I like that quote because the idea of my blog title is in it! Haha). But seriously. It seems very fitting for the present situation in the Church, too...
After that evening mass, we continued our celebrations by meeting back up with ND people and going to dinner, then getting gelato, then going to an Irish pub. A good end to a good week! And just the start of the Easter season.
He is Risen! Alleluia indeed.
Isn't every week a busy week for the Pope?
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