Sunday, May 11, 2008

Whit Sunday: in die Pentecostes...

It was a splendid morning at the Vatican Basilica. By God's grace we had the privilege to receive Holy Communion from the hands of the Holy Father. It was a fine moment, to be able to look into his brown eyes, even for just a second.

The usual faces were all there: in the front row was both Alessandra Borghese and Natalia Tsarakova, both wearing their black chapel veil (go traditions of the Faith!). Alessandra, a relative of Pope Paul V (who died in 1621!) and Natalia, a Russian artist, both do great work for the Church. Alessandra writes books and practices the Faith while Natialia, who is Russian Orthodox, was sketching the Pope during the Mass for her next portrait of him.

Also, we met a nice Armenian prelate who is the Archbishop of Armeian Catholics in Iraq. He spoke of his love for America, of Chicago, and he was a delight to chat with. You never know who you might meet while in Rome...

There are some moments or days that truly "feel" so spiritual that it seems all one can do is just rest and say over and over the words: "Holy, holy, holy, holy, holy..." I first had this experience while a freshman in college in 1997. When you feel the presence of God in such an overwhelming manner, even while in prayer, sometimes all that one can do is just repeat the word "sanctus" ...ad infinitum!

Many thanks to the Lord of History!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

John, you are on the pics of Felici's webpage :)