The Best Possible Day in the Vatican!

In January, we cut Rome out of our trip at the last minute when we found out that Pope Francis was in Chile and there would be no Papal audience that Wednesday.  We decided that we could fly to Rome just for a Wednesday to see him since w had already seen all that we wanted to see of Rome in previous trips (when Pope Francis never was in town.)  It was the best decision ever!

Wednesday morning we got up early and bundled up, remember it had snowed and was unseasonably cold for Rome.  The general audience was held inside which was the key because if it is outside he stays in his Pope Mobile and you get to see him, but not too close.  We stood in line and saw so many people, nuns, brides in their wedding dress dancing around to keep warm, etc.  We started to feel like this wasn't going to happen when they divided our half of the line and insisted in Italian that we go to another entrance.  After finally getting through security, Genevieve took a few steps and face planted into the ground.  The cobblestones tripped her up.  Thankfully, despite how it looked, she was okay with only a few bruises on her knees.  Luckily, she distributed her weight well this time and didn't break her arm again.  We pulled her up, and I helped her walk so we could get inside the Paul IV building.  We met up with godfather Brian after a few interesting "chats" with some of the Swiss Guard trying to get around to where he was standing and saving us a spot.  He carefully inserted children and then switched with Brian so we could get a chance at shaking his hand.  

Swiss Guard in the Background...

Anxiously Awaiting the Pope!

Brian offered for me to switch with him and hold Bobby on the front row, but I was afraid I wouldn't be able to withstand the Italian way of pushing and holding the spot.  At first Judah and Drew were in the corner and about 30 minutes into our wait, five minutes before Pope Francis came in, Drew started getting claustrophobic and started pushing which caused Judah to bump his head and start crying.  I decided it was best to switch Isaac and him so I could hold him up.  He was too short to see over the barrier anyway.

This is where it gets good.  Pope Francis came in and went straight to a mother holding a baby and then he turned and saw Bobby.  He was smiling the most genuine, sweet smile as he made a bee-line over to Bobby.  After touching his cheeks he blessed each of the kids and then came back to stand in front of Bobby.  He was just smiling and Bobby was babbling away saying who knows what and then he reached out to touch his crucifix.  Pope Francis just stood there, letting him touch his crucifix for what seemed like eternity, but was really only seconds.  

I had decided to not take pictures and just be present in the moment before hand and so I didn't even have my phone out.  When we saw Pope Benedict XVI back in 2010 and he blessed the oldest three children Brian took a picture, but it only had the top of our heads.  I figured something like that would happen again, so we were going to rely on the papal photographer.  Great decision!  They did such an excellent job.  You can find the pictures on this website by following these instructions:

1.  Click on "General Audience 2018"

2.  Click on the February 28th date.

3.  Click on Ingresso Aula Paola VI

4. Go to page 3 and scroll towards the bottom where our photos start.  They continue on other pages.

It doesn't end here.  It just gets more surreal.  A particularly stunning photo of Bobby's hand touching his crucifix was posted on the Popes Instagram account and Catholic News Agency contacted Brian after godfather Brian reposted his Instargram photo, and then my husband was tagged and identified through this social media labyrinth.  And they wrote up an article all about it, quoting Brian many times.  Here is the link to that article which includes a video clip of "the Bobby" and the Pope.

After the papal blessing, they keep the doors locked and won't let people out until the Pope has left the building and it was quite a long wait for the children.  They ate me out of all my snacks and were all starving.  While we waited, I videotaped Bobby telling/asking about him what had just happened because someone did not even get the significance of this whole incredible event.  But don't you worry!  Those photos are getting ordered and blown up and and hung on our wall, and this boy is going to totally get it one day!

Aaaaah!  What a memorable day!

Some very hungry people!

Lunch afterwards

And then Gelato!  While I was waiting for the kids to finish their ice creams, I checked the website for the pictures to see if they were up yet and they were.  This is when we discovered to precious, and now semi famous, photo of Bobby's hand touching the Pope's crucifix.  We showed it to the people behind the counter and they were all blown away as well.

After gelato, we took the train to Scala Santa just because it is one of our favorites and the kids didn't remember it.  We all went up the stairs on our knees, except for Bobby who has never walked up stairs without holding someone's hand because 1.) he's not been strong enough to actually do it with out being able to pull a little on someone's hand and 2.) he's been too nervous.  But this was his "day of all days," as Dr. Seuss put it, and he just started walking up the steps in front of me and without holding onto anything.  It kind of made me a little nervous, because he still didn't look super steady.  Wow!

Then we made our way over and up to the NAC, the North American College for Seminarians.  Godfather Brian had arranged for a tour for our family that ended in attending evening prayers with the seminarians.  

Patrick, our guide, was so great with the kids, engaging them and quizzing them on religion and history.  I was pleased that our children knew the answers and are actually learning things at home. 

Here he is showing them some historical sites from the top of the building, including Milvian bridge.

It's a little blurry, but everyone is looking, and no one looks too unhappy either.

After evening prayers, we met up with an old friend and priest for dinner.  It was a long, late dinner after a long, eventful day, but thankfully the children all behaved and we had a terrific visit.

We walked 30 minutes to our apartment and passed St. Peter's.  Drew wanted this picture, trying to hold it up.  Pisa flashbacks, maybe.

And that's a wrap.  Ciao, Roma!  Hopefully, this won't be our last time to see you, but it looks like it will be some time before we meet again.

Rome Sweet Home: Part 4 (The last one, I promise!)

I mentioned in part 3 that we went to Santa Maria Maggiore in between the baptism and the Mass of thanksgiving (AKA celebration for Bobby entering the Church.)  That post got way too long and had an insane amount of pictures so I am including some pictures of that here as well as the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish steps which we visited after the Mass.

Santa Maria Maggiore

Seriously cute!  I'm thinking Dead Poet's Society.  I told him I am sending him to a fancy private school just so he can wear a tie and jacket everyday.

This is inside the Santa Maria Maggiore.  It is part of the actual manger inside a big fancy manger.  This is down steps  in front of the altar.

Across from the manger is this beautiful statue.

The Trevi Fountain was crazy crowded.  We couldn't get close enough to throw our coins over our shoulder.

The Trevi Fountain was all lit up and looked amazing.

My big girls...My, how they have grown!

Flashback to almost six years ago (January 2010)...Trevi Fountain with my tiny girls.

The Spanish steps were closed, but you could still see them and get a picture of them in the background.

That evening the two year olds disappeared at the apartment, and this is where we found them.

 And that was Rome.

Rome Sweet Home: Part 3, The Baptism!

Father Brian Reedy has been at all six of our children's baptisms, and has now presided over half of them.

 Saturday morning we got up and started getting ready for the big day!  We took the Metro over to the church, Santa Susana, an English speaking parish near the embassy.  Bobby took a little nap in the Ergo on the way and woke up ready to receive the Holy Spirit and enter the Church.  Some friends of ours that just happened to plan a Thanksgiving trip to Rome were able to join us for the baptism as well.  It was a cozy little group of us that was made up mostly of children.

Getting ready for the big event

 It was a beautiful ceremony, wonderful friends, and memories to last a lifetime.  Too bad Bobby won't remember it.  Good thing I have so many great pictures.  I have more and better photos from this baptism than any other child's because there were lots of people taking pictures with really good cameras instead of my plain old camera.  I'm no photographer.

Drew was tracing the sign of the cross on Bobby's forehead.

One of our friends that had planned that Thanksgiving Rome trip that I talked about.  Little did he know that he'd end up doing one of the readings.

I adore my angel baby!

Here are some of those precious children witnesses I spoke of.

All the boys have worn this gown I bought in Belgium, and every one of them has tried to eat the ribbons that tie in front.  I was trying to untangle them from his grasp.

The older three children were sitting in the pews and the two two year olds were taking advantage of their parents having their hands full and wandering around a bit.

Oh, look we have an extra two year old!  My godson sneaked in this picture.

 We had some trouble getting a decent picture of the six of them.

 Bobby is blessed with some pretty amazing godparents too.  They are really faithful and faith-filled friends.  What a beautiful picture of the three of them!

 After the baptism, we walked over to the Capuchin Crypt decorated with bones.  The kids were not nearly as impressed as I thought they would be.  Then we went next door to Eataly that serves hot dogs, hamburgers, and, of course, craft beers.  I was not a big fan of the food, but the french fries were good and the beer was pretty good too.  It was probably my fault for ordering the spicy barbecue sauce in Italy.  It was more like a sweet and sour sauce, and not spicy at all.  I had a pumpkin beer.  Normally I am not a beer drinker, but my husband is trying really hard to make me one.

A celebratory beer...I'm not a huge beer fan, but if it's easy on the hops then I can handle it better.  From the look of it, Bobby may be a beer drinker one day, huh?

Then we took a quick tour of Santa Maria Maggiore and went to St. Ignatius of Loyola for a Mass of thanksgiving for Bobby at the altar that is on the relics of St. Robert Bellarmine's incorrupt body.  How crazy is that?!  The very saint he named for!  A couple of Father Brian Reedy's friends that were visiting Rome the same week all the way from Texas came to the baptism and held Bobby for me for the Mass.  that was a huge blessing because my back was killing me by this time (now 4pm) after having him in my arms or in the carrier the whole day.  The cutest part was that he was so elated and happy during the whole Mass, making the sweetest giggles and coos.  It was perfect.

 I should mention that Bobby pooped out of his diaper right before I put him in his baptism gown all over his white, adorable outfit he was going to wear the rest of the day.  So we had to default to the extra outfit that had been in the backpack all week which was orange and pretty much ruined this last picture.  :(  The bright side was that he didn't ruin his baptism gown.

Saints Robert Bellarmine and Cecilia, pray for us.