At the back of my mind, I was thinking maybe we can catch the Pope’s Easter mass at the Vatican but before the trip, sadly, I wasn’t able to research.
But while in Tuscany, we met a Filipino family who mentioned that they got tickets for the Papal Easter Mass by faxing a letter to the Vatican months before their trip. So as soon as we got back to the hotel, I went online to check the Vatican’s website and faxed a letter to the Prefecture of the Papal Household first thing in the morning (they say that the Vatican gives consideration to people who have traveled from afar so I took a chance even if Easter was just 24 hours away!).
Several hours after my fax, I got a reply from the Vatican that they can give us tickets to the Easter Mass but we need to claim them at the Vatican before 730pm. The problem was we’ll arrive in Rome by 9pm! Sob… The letter had a hotline just in case we have problems in claiming the tix but when I tried calling, no one was picking up. Sigh…
When we reached our hotel in Rome past 9pm, I have given up hope. I inquired about schedule of Easter Masses from nearby churches and somehow told the front desk about my sad story on the tickets for the Papal Mass. The Italian receptionist, about 50 years old, got surprised and said, “What tickets? You don’t need tickets. Just go there and hear mass. I’ve been there years ago, several times, to hear Easter mass by the pope and I didn’t have any tickets to get in! Just go,” he said.
So the next day, we went early to the Vatican to take our chance. And guess what? When we got there about 1.5 hrs before the mass, they started letting people in - even those without tickets! We even got good center seats! Yay!
Spotted this smiling Swiss guard - it's a rare moment to see a Swiss guard smile!
It was an amazing experience to hear Easter mass officiated by no less than the Pope (Pope Benedict XVI). Though I didn’t understand the language (only a portion of the readings was read in English), when it came to “Peace be with you”, it was as if everyone understood each other even if each one had a different expression or gesture of saying peace.
After the mass, everyone was excited for the Papal blessing. Teenagers were shouting “We love you Pope” in different languages and some were singing… to each his own! Haha…
Everyone was ecstatic when Pope Benedict finally came out of the Papal balcony. Cheering was non-stop. I could say that compared to the first time I attended a Papal Blessing by Pope Benedict 3 years ago in Rome, cheering was so much more intense now. Pope Benedict has won the hearts of the people. He is well-loved and he also has charisma especially among the youth just like Blessed JP2.
After the blessing, he greeted everyone in various languages (a tradition which Blessed JP2 started). In Filipino, he said “Maligayang pagkabuhay ni Kristo!” and you could hear all the Filipinos clapping and cheering from different areas of St. Peter’s Square. Proud to be Pinoy and lucky to be there:)
