Palm Sunday Weekend

A few weeks before, I reserved 16 tickets for the Papal Palm Sunday mass in St. Peter’s Square in Rome. I had to wait until the day before to pick them up though. So Berta and I took a trip to Rome on Saturday.  The last time we were in Rome at the Vatican, it had just snowed 6 inches so we were not allowed to climb the cupola up to the top of St. Peter’s Dome.  So we figured we would make a day trip out of it! 

When we arrived at the Vatican, they were starting to set up the chairs and the altar for the next day.  I was so excited for the next day! The piece of paper I received for the reservation of my pictures told me to go to the Bronze Doors of the Swiss Guard.  So after going through security we went to the Doors and I showed the piece of paper to the guard there.  It was really cool because I got to go through the doors, and everyone else was down at the bottom of the steps taking pictures. I felt like a VIP.

After I got the tickets, we proceeded to get in line for the cupola.  We stood in line for about an hour, given that they only allow a certain number of people up the stairs at a time.  Most of the stairs to get up to the top are spirals, so I got pretty dizzy.  There comes a point when the walls start to lean sideways because you are climbing a dome.  When we reached the top, the view was amazing! You could see everything all the way around Rome.

When we climbed back down we went into the Basilica to see everything we hadn’t seen yet.  We touched the foot of St. Peter and went down into the crypt where all the previous popes are entombed. 

The next morning we took the 5:05 train to Rome and headed back to the Vatican. We got there early enough that there were not that many people in line yet.  We stood there til around 8:30 when security opened up.  We ran and grabbed our olive branches and our books and then sprinted to get a seat way up front. I was very surprised that we did not get palm fronds.  The general population had olive branches.  You had to pay for palm branches if you wanted them.  Also the books we received were amazing! They had the date on them and the entire mass translated into English so we all would know what the pope was saying.  The seats we got were so great. We were close enough that we could actually see what was happening at the altar, but could see a screen as well if needed.

A traditional Palm Sunday mass starts in the back of the “church” so the procession containing the archbishops, cardinals and the pope himself led to the oelisk in the center of the square.  Following that part, there was the procession to the main altar set up in front of the façade of St. Peter’s.  The rest of the mass proceeded as usual, with the blessing of the altar and so on.  There was one part in particular that struck me.  Palm Sunday mass always contains the recounting of the Passion, during which there is always a pause for reflection and prayers after Jesus gives his last breathe.  This pause however, was the most profound silence I have ever heard. See, St. Peter’s Square holds 80,000 people and when you looked back the square and streets were full of people.  So imagine more than 80,000 people on their knees, silently praying.  The pause lasted about 5 minutes. In the middle I took a look up and saw the screen.  They had the camera fixed on one of the Swiss Guards in full regalia saluting the cross.  It was just an amazing moment. 

At the end of the mass, the pope gave the blessing in 5 different languages, one being English, so we were finally able to understand him, if only for a short while.  After that, he hopped back on the White Jeepmobile and processed around and then out of the square.

After taking our fair share of group pictures, Berta and I fought the crowds to get out of the square.  We decided not to take the subway because it was going to be ridiculously busy.  So we started walking toward the train station and caught a bus on the way. 

It was a great weekend and a great experience.