John Paul II

I've read a lot that Pope John Paul II was greatly loved by people all over the world, but the realization didn't hit me until last night, when I went to the prayer vigil in St. Peter's square for the one year anniversary of his death. The Italians were very organized about it- there were people handing out free water to everyone as you walked in and boy and girl scouts passing out fliers with the songs and prayers for the evening, as well as candles. I went with Yacintha, and we got into the square easily. I didn't realize how big St. Peter's square is- they said there were 100,000 people there, but we weren't squished together. You could easily move around! It's hard to believe that 100,000 people would fit into a space and not be jam packed, but it happened. I was looking around and seeing all the lit candles and faces and rosaries, but nothing prepares you to estimate, "oh, that looks like 100,000 people, I'll bet." There were so many flags there- a lot of Polish ones especially. There was also a large banner from Wadowice, the hometown of John Paul. There was also a group waving American flags with a banner that said they were from the Polish community of Chicago- so we went and talked to them, and some of them didn't speak English! Good to be reminded that America is a melting pot, I guess!

The service was mostly in Italian- the Italians seemed to really claim John Paul as one of their own as well as the Poles- and there were some readings, like poems that he had composed during the papal conclave where he was elected about the church and how it was much greater and more eternal than he. There was a choir that sang hymns that they broadcast over the speakers and we all joined in, and there was the rosary. They would announce the mysteries in a bunch of languages (English was always about half the number of words as any other language!) and then say the prayers in Latin. Pope Benedict came to his window and prayed the rosary with us, but didn't lead any of it. He had a reflection afterwards though on the life of John Paul, which ended with a moment of silence at the 9:27 pm, when John Paul died. The whole thing was amazing, especially how everyone would raise their candles to greet the Pope or when something worthy of acknowledgment was said. Definitely a memory I want to keep... for some pictures, check out cnn's gallery.