A Reporter’s Notebook Washington, D.C., – Wednesday, April 16
Blog
Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception
As the Popemobile moved slowly toward the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, the atmosphere was electric, with tens of thousands of well-wishers straining against the police barriers, waving Vatican flags, shouting in an array of languages and cheering the world’s most visible religious leader.
The campus of The Catholic University of America, adjacent to the basilica, was filled with many more thousands who hoped to see the pope and hear his message and prayer service with the bishops of America.
Clergy members of the Knights, Archbishop Donald Wuerl of Washington and Msgr. Walter Rossi, rector of the basilica, greeted the Holy Father as his Popemobile stopped by the grand steps of the church. They led him up the red carpet and paused to point out the magnificent rose window over the entrance.
Inside the basilica, invited guests, priests and religious shook and kissed his hand and received his blessing, responding to a cry of ‘Il Papa’ with cheers and applause.
The Holy Father was escorted to the Blessed Sacrament chapel behind the main altar, where he prayed for a few moments. Afterward, Msgr. Rossi pointed out the mosaics in the domes of the basilica, among them the Knights of Columbus Incarnation Dome, which was dedicated by Archbishop Wuerl last November.
The pope then descended a level to the Crypt Church, where he vested for Vespers with the bishops.
United in Prayer
Pope Benedict wore an ornate, gold-threaded, newly restored cope that had been used decades earlier for the dedication of the basilica. His gold miter and pectoral cross made a splendid appearance for a truly solemn prayer service.
The choir sang hymns in English and Latin. The pope opened Vespers with a call to prayer that has rung down the centuries from monasteries, churches and consecrated places wherever the sun has risen on the Catholic faithful. "Deus in adjutorium meum intende," he pronounced in Latin, with the bishops responding, "Domine ad adjuvandum me festina." (O God, come to my assistance…O Lord, make haste to help me.”)
What a powerful witness of prayer, to see 300 bishops in union with the Successor of Peter imploring God’s grace and guidance in their common mission of leading the Church, proclaiming the Gospel and building up the people of God in faith, hope and charity.
College Knights Serve the Pope
Knights of Columbus were key workers behind the scenes, serving as ushers in the basilica.
Brad Kelly, who escorted the bishops to their seats, called the experience “an absolutely wonderful and awesome thing, witnessing from such a close locations something that I will remember all my life and probably not see again in my lifetime.”
Kelly is an undergraduate at Catholic University and chancellor of Council 9542 there.
Fellow student and council member Jack Heretik also served as usher. “There is such an honor for us and our school that the pope is coming here to us,” said the freshman. “We’re the only U.S. school that a pope has visited twice, John Paul II having visited in 1979.”
Heretik joined the Knights when he entered the school in September and is already a Fourth Degree member.
“Joining the Knights of Columbus has been the best decision of my life,” he said. “Being on the Catholic University campus makes me extra proud. I look in one direction, I see the Columbus Law School. In another direction, I see McGivney Hall (home of the John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family), and then I look the other way and see the Knights Tower of the basilica. There is a great relationship between the Knights of Columbus and the campus.”
Students Present Birthday Gift to Pope
In honor of the pope’s 81st birthday, Catholic students across the nation pledged 1.7 million hours of community service in a program called “Birthday Blessing for Pope Benedict.” The pledges were presented to the Holy Father during a private meeting at the headquarters of the papal nuncio in Washington. The 1.7 million hours were pledged by students from participating schools between Feb. 25 and May 31.
The program was sponsored by the National Catholic Educational Association, which also administers the Father Michael J. McGivney Memorial Fund established by the Knights of Columbus in 1980 in the name of the Order’s founder. The McGivney Fund currently distributes $100,000 annually to help programs that assist Catholic education in U.S. inner-city environments.
|
