G 7th Day Pilgrimage to Rome

Margaret and I rose at 5 am and went to Mass which Fr. McKenna said
at St. Isidore's at 5.30 am.
After breakfast at 6.30 am a coach took us to St. Peter's for the
Canonization of Blessed Antonio Maria
Claret. We waited until about 8 am amongst the masses of people. Our
group was positioned at the
back of the basilica but Margaret and I had a favourable position near
the centre aisle. Most of the
others, many of whom were elderly preferred to stand back out of the
crush. Margaret and I spoke to
a Dutch lady and an Italian lady. All were friendly but none of us
could understand much of the others'
conversation.
Then at about 8 am the procession arrived, Swiss, Noble and Palatine
Guards, Cardinals and Bishops
in profusion, Bishops of the Greek rite and Heads of Religious Orders
and the Pope' triple crown borne
on a cushion. The trumpets were sounded and all the chandeliers in the
basilica were lit. This time
Margaret and I, though at the back of the church, were in about the
fifth position away from the central
aisle and had a wonderful view as the Pope was borne in. All waved and
shouted "Viva il Papa!" as
the Holy Father passed, giving his blessing to the crowd. Then the Pope
went to the central Papal Altar
and the ceremonies of Canonization were performed. Though we could see
nothing of it from where
we stood, the Pope's voice and those of the others officiating were
relayed by a loudspeaker. As this
was in Latin and we had no book to explain it, we could not understand,
but heard the name of the new
saint, Antonio Maria Claret frequently mentioned. The Pope then said
Mass, the Gospel and Epistle
being in Latin and Greek. This took about three hours in all.

By the end many people were tired with standing and had moved back.
Margaret found herself in the
second column and I was in the third, immediately behind.

When the Pope was borne down the aisle, it was wonderful! We waved our
hankies and were only a
few yards away. The Holy Father seemed to look directly at Margaret and
me and it was truly like
being in the presence of a saint. In the assembly, this being a Spanish
Saint, Spaniards seemed the most
numerous. We were standing next to some, who shouted and cheered
excitedly as the Pope passed.
At the end of the aisle, the Holy Father stood up in his chair and gave
his blessing to the crowd, while
all bowed their heads and made the sign of the cross. The Pope was then
borne away in his chair into
the Vatican. We had a wonderful view of this.

When Margaret and I got outside, a crowd completely filling St. Peter's
Square was waiting. People
shouted "Viva il Papa!" and at intervals sang "Christus Vincit" hoping
he would appear on the balcony.
We never saw him, but someone told us afterwards that he had waved from
his apartments while our
attention had been focused on the balcony of St. Peter's. As the crowd
was gradually dispersing, we
stayed no longer, but all made our own way back to our hotels in
buses.

On the way home we lost an elderly lady, Mrs. Gallagher, who was left
behind on a bus, by the
automatic doors closing before she could alight. She did not know her
way about on her own. Father
McKenna was worried and phoned the Police Station. After dinner there
was still no trace of her.
Therefore he directed us to St. John Lateran which we were to visit and
went off to make enquiries at
the Police Station. On the way to St. John Lateran another of our party
disappeared. She was cut off
by traffic and was unable to get on to the second bus (for we had to
change buses). We waited outside
St. John's while her friend went back to look for her. Eventually they
both turned up, and Father
McKenna also arrived at this moment, with still no trace of the old
lady.
Father McKenna took us round St. John's with the guide book, giving
very interesting talks. The
massive pillars incorporating statues of the apostles and the colourful
roof are its most fascinating
features. In all these basilicas one feels in touch with past ages, for
all of them had a very early
beginning, though of course only fragments of the ancient structures
remain, or in some cases it is only
the ancient site which is the foundation of the newer building.

After our visit to St. John's we crossed the road to the Scala Santa,
which we ascended on our knees
(which is the only permitted manner), saying prayers for the Holy Souls
in purgatory. The Holy Stairs
were crowded with people from all countries, saying prayers in their
own languages. Immediately in
front of our little group we saw Bishop Halsall, leader of the
Pilgrimage, also ascending the Holy Stairs.
These steps were marble (being now protected with wood) and were
brought here from the Palace of
Pilate at Jerusalem and were those which Our Lord is said to have
ascended. On our way up we kissed
the two spots which are refuted to be stained with drops of Our Lord's
blood, after the scourging at the
hands of Pilate. At the top of the stairs is a chapel where we knelt
for awhile.

On leaving this we walked down the road to the Church of San Croce in
Gerusalemme (of the Holy
Cross of Jerusalem) and saw a large piece of wood from the True Cross
and one of the four nails with
which Our Saviour was crucified. We also saw a long plank of wood which
formed the cross of the
good thief which is preserved there.

Afterwards we caught a tram and had a drink on open-air tables outside
a cafe. I had some vermouth
like the others in our party but afterwards regretted it, because it
made me feel dizzy. Fr. McKenna and
the others laughed when they knew. However this unpleasant feeling wore
off when we started walking.
We got off the tram at the wrong place (about ten of us) and had a long
walk home, kindly directed by
an Italian lady.