High school students, Detroiters on chance pilgrimage to Italy say they'll never forget solemnity of 'mystical, heavenly experience'
ROME — John Hale can’t remember it ever being so foggy at the Vatican as it was this morning during the funeral of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.
He was with a group of pilgrims who arrived at St. Peter’s Square to pray the rosary before the funeral began and couldn’t see the top of the basilica.
But when the pallbearers brought out Pope Benedict’s coffin, the clouds seems to have lifted and the sun was shining, a seemingly divine sign for the 10,000 gathered to pray for the pontiff who led the Church from 2005-13.
“You literally could not see the dome when we arrived,” Hale told Detroit Catholic. “We arrived a little early and prayed a rosary, the entire congregation together. When they brought out his remains, literally, the clouds started coming up and you could see the dome. It was never totally clear, but you could see some blue sky for the rest of Mass. It felt like a mystical, heavenly experience.”
Hale, president of Plymouth-based Corporate Travel, was leading a group of pilgrims that included students from Fr. Gabriel Richard High School in Ann Arbor and St. Augustine Parish in Richmond. The trip to Italy to see Rome and other sites throughout the country was planned months in advance, and it was by providence the group was in Rome during the funeral of Pope Benedict.
“It was a very solemn, beautiful liturgy,” Hale said. “There were many pilgrims who were respectful and seemed to have sincere hearts to be there and wanted to pay their respects and show their love for Pope Benedict. The beauty of the music of the liturgy itself was quite simple with the focus on this burial and Mass of this holy man.”
Students from Fr. Gabriel Richard High School were surprised to learn their trip was taking an abrupt turn; the group was in Assisi and traveling to Rome when they learned they would have the opportunity to witness Pope Benedict’s funeral.
“There are so many things I can take away from this,” said Elizbeth Putlock, a 12th-grader from Fr. Gabriel Richard. “I was very surprised we would be going to the funeral because we planned this trip months ago. But we were able to go to the big funeral for Pope Emeritus Benedict, celebrated by another pope. It was surreal.”
Fr. Gabriel Richard students got a private tour of the Sistine Chapel the night before the funeral, and after the funeral they visited the Roman Forum, taking in centerpieces of the Catholic Church, which they have been learning about in class.
“This trip reignited my faith, just to be here and witness the grandeur and beauty of the Catholic faith,” Putlock said. “I’ll go home and remember this trip for the rest of my life; seeing Pope Benedict’s funeral and knowing years later that I was there, it’s incredible. It’s a crazy experience to go to a Mass celebrated by the pope for another pope. I don’t know if I’ll ever do that again.”
Joseph Mayer, a 12th-grader at Fr. Gabriel Richard, said the funeral was a chance to see the universal nature of the Catholic Church, as people from all over the world gathered in St. Peter’s Square, united in liturgy to pray for the soul of Pope Benedict XVI, with the congregation shouting “Santo subito” (sainthood now).
“The chant from the Schola was very emotional for me; it was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard during Mass,” Mayer said. “It was great during the funeral, a mist covering the Vatican that rose during the funeral. There was limited visibility as the funeral started, but then it broke and I could see the whole square, the Church gathered together. It was beautiful.”
Hale had the extra privilege of visiting Pope Benedict’s body the night before the funeral as it lay in-state before the main altar of St. Peter’s Basilica.
Thousands of people slowly processed past Pope Benedict’s body, offering a quick prayer as they kept moving, but Hale — with help from a familiar contact with the Vatican detail — was invited to one of the 40 chairs on either side of Benedict’s remains to kneel and pray for 10 minutes.
“It was very humbling, and I was overcome with emotion,” Hale said. “I loved Pope Benedict so much and had the opportunity to meet him a number of times. Once, my wife and I were with my daughter, who was 4 years old at the time, and had a beautiful interaction with Pope Benedict. She happened to be with me this time, for this pre-planned trip, coming here for this funeral. It was moving to us personally.”
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