HABEMUS PAPUM!!
Oh my goodness, I wish you all could have witnessed our campus here in Austria tonight! We have a new Papa... I can't express the joy in my heart right now.
I was in the TOR sister's house at 7:10 pm, ready for Women's Scripture Group, and Meredith came bursting in the doors: "Habemus Papum!". We all screamed rather loudly, and then Sister Maria Teresa ran to get the sisters' TV from the other room. About 3 minutes later, we had EWTN all hooked up and playing in their living room. There were only about 30 of us, and it was really neat to experience this history with the sisters.
We all waited with bated breath to hear who it was, and we jumped every time that silly curtain on the balcony twitched. Finally, the cardinal emerged and told us who it was- Bergoglio. But none of us could seem to remember who exactly he was.
Pope Francis.
A Jesuit.
An American.
Being from Franciscan University, we kinda went nuts: St. Francis of Assisi! (We were just in Assisi praying for him!)
Being Franciscan, we are excited to see the spirituality of a Jesuit Pope.
And being American (honestly, who cares if it's North or South!)..... we have an American Papa!!!!
As I read about him, I am struck by his humility. Even as cardinal, he took public transportation in Argentina, and cooked his own meals. He preferred to live in a flat heated by a simple stove. And as we watched him tonight, this humility shone through. Before giving us all his blessing, he first asked for our prayers and blessings.
After the papal address, we gathered in the Church to sing in Thanksgiving and then to pray a rosary together, as a campus, for our new Pope. It was beautiful to be with my classmates, offering our prayers for this man who we already love.
I cannot wait to get to know Pope Francis better. To read his writings and to listen to his teachings.
St. Francis of Assisi: Pray for us!
St. Peter: Pray for us!
Ahhhh! You are so lucky to be in Europe at this time! HABEMUS PAPAM! I can't stop bouncing around and wanting to hear more about our new pope. :)
ReplyDeleteat Seton, the whole school went up in chaos. I've never seen it like that. we had to watch CNN live stream (boo!!) instead of EWTN because of some live streaming problem: its seton you know! :) Ive never heard screaming nearly so loud in the gym when they showed the pope walking out. a lot of people were crying!
ReplyDeleteShaylynn- it is really an amazing experience!! The more I learn about him, the more I love him!!
ReplyDeleteRyan- I can imagine! It must have been exciting to have been with so many people! Lots of people here were crying too :)
Being from FUS myself I felt similar to you! Francis is a favorite saint of mine (second only to Thomas More) and it was awesome to see someone model his papacy after the great Saint of Assisi.
ReplyDeletePraise God for this Pope (let us pray that he does great things for the Church).