Papal Mass June 1, 2025

God's Providence never fails in its designs. Indeed this is true, and our experiences with the Papal Mass on June 1 and the Papal Audience June 4 bear witness to this. Let us begin with the Papal Mass. In anticipation of this trip to Rome, we have been praying intensively that we might have the opportunity to share with Pope Leo XIV about the Children's Rosary. We sent a letter the day after his election. Although our trip to Rome was only 2 weeks after his election, we still held out hope we could get some information to him. Early in our trip we heard from one of the Vatican diplomats that thousands of letters are coming in daily and that there are too many to process as they normally do. Yet this news did not foil our hopes. 

As the day for the Papal Mass came, we tried to see how feasible it would be for us to attend. The Mass was open to the general public and would be outside. The weather has turned here in Rome, and we are in full summer heat. One of the priests of the Vatican described sitting in the chairs or standing in St. Peter's Square as an "horno" or oven. Further, given my disability and inability to stand for so many hours at a time, we were nervous. Since we had no special tickets, we thought it unlikely we would get a seat. Asher had the idea to bring a chair from the place we are staying. We decided not even to try to get into St. Peter's Square but to stay just outside. We left early with Asher carrying the chair. As we got nearer to St. Peter's but still outside the square, we were stopped by security and turned away because the chair was not allowed. As the chair was not ours, we could not leave it and had to take the 20 minute walk back to where we were staying. As we walked, mobs of people passed us descending on the Square. We were headed in the wrong direction. Knowing I could not go without a seat due to my joint disability for what could be many hours, I stayed behind and Asher headed back, now behind thousands of others. I was crushed. But even in those sad moments I knew that this was an opportunity to give to Our Lord this disappointment and not give up hope. 

Asher returned safely. He had found a spot outside the square with some shade, and to his surprise he even saw the Pope (photo at the top). Since he was outside the official Square, he did not receive communion although he attended Mass. Thus when he returned we headed out again to a Church with a Sunday Mass. At the end of Mass, I felt an urge to share with the celebrant some information about the Children's Rosary. As we spoke, he mentioned to us that he was the Pope's personal sacristan for his daily Masses. Sharing with him our rather sad story from the morning, he offered to share our materials with the Holy Father. 

Thus, we see that if we had been allowed to have access to the Papal Mass in the morning, we would never have had this meeting with the Holy Father's sacristan. Indeed, God's Providence never fails in its designs.