Hello to all you blogolites.
We had a surprise guest today here in
Rome: the sun! It has been very cloudy and raining a great
deal the past week so this was a welcome change. I hope it lasts.
Tim and I went to St. Peter's Square this
morning to shoot some interviews and some promos. On the way we bumped into Terry Donilon, the
Secretary for Communications for the Archdiocese of Boston. We have only seen Terry a couple of times
because of his busy schedule and our schedule put us in different locations in
the city.
Back to the square.
They are setting up for the election of a pope. The Vatican has a lift truck that they used
to install the curtains in the middles balcony where the new Holy Father will
walk out from.
As I was watching the installation of the curtain I made my way over to the the beautiful statue of St. Peter holding the keys to the Church and was struck by the view of the balcony behind the statue. It is striking to see the picture of St. Peter and behind him look at the balcony where the successor of Christ will walk out from:
The staff at the Vatican is huge in number. They are buzzing around the square
preparing. They are only outnumbered by
the security. Here is a picture of the
staff removing some of the barricades so they can put in chairs:
The number of press here is growing by the minute. Some try to sneak into the square but they
are quickly confronted and ushered out.
The press mostly line the gate that surrounds the square. They actually are in the street and cars need
to dodge them. As I wrote in a previous
post these are the best drivers in the world.
No horns, just quick turns and cuts in traffic.
It is an amazing day in Rome as the world prepares for
the Conclave. Stay with the CatholicTV
Network and in particular Father Reed, Msgr. Maroney, Kevin Nelson, and me for
exclusive coverage. You can watch on
CatholicTV.com, your iPhone/iPad or Android, Roku or GoogleTV.
Stay well,
Jay
'Twas the night before Conclave
ReplyDeleteAnd all throughout Rome
Folk cast anxious eye
Past Saint Peter's dome
To the roof of the Sistine
And the new chimney there
In the hope that white smoke
Would soon fill the air.
Whilst the Spirit of God,
The Heilege Geist,
Poured His seven-fold gifts
On the cardinals that night.
On Ouellet, Dolan, Scola, and Burke
On Scherer, Schoenborn, Erdo and Turk-
son, Wuerl, Ranjith, and one hundred five others
all praying the Rosary of our Blessed Mother.
For on the next morn, they'd offer a Mass,
And, in procession, through hallways they'd pass,
Singing Veni Sancte Spiritus, through the Sistine's doors,
Which would then be locked, to open no more,
'Til bells pealed and white smoke swirled into the sky,
And through Saint Peter's Square echoed the cry,
"Habemus Papam!" and the new Holy Father
Stepped forth to speak and bless those who had gathered.
So let Christ's faithful pray from the heart,
For non-cardinals, too, all must take part
In choosing Saint Peter's successor, through prayer.
For Christ promised His Church: The gates of hell will not prevail.
Wish I had such talent!
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