Easter in Rome

Easter in Rome

Celebrating Easter in the world capital of Catholicism was definitely something I can check off my bucket list.  Loyola had a bunch of tickets to go to St. Peter’s Basilica on Easter Sunday.  It was mass… with the pope!! Luckily, Father Al (one of the priests here at John Felice Rome Center) was generous enough to give me five tickets so that my family was able to experience this as well.

We had to get up early, as all the tourists from all over the world were slowly flooding into the square to see the pope.  It was a long line, but we got in and got very good seats right in the middle.  The pope and his cardinals led the mass, which was very long (almost three hours!) but very worth it.

It was a normal Easter Sunday mass, but at the end, the pope went up into the Vatican’s window and gave his address.  He had to have said “Happy Easter” in at least 20 languages, to cater to everyone in the audience.  It was cool to hear him do this, as it was suddenly like a huge rally.  Whenever the pope would speak a certain language, the country’s natives would start chanting, cheering and waving flags. The rally like nature was like a Cleveland Brown’s game… minus the continuous losses.

I’m grateful I got the chance to see the pope again (I also went to a papal audience). Even though my family was very jet-lagged, they really enjoyed it, as well.   It was great being able to celebrate Easter in a foreign country with not only my family, but also the Pope!

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