Post Mortem
We heard about the Pope’s passing last night at the second bar of a five bar pub crawl here in Rome.
Elf, Noelia, and I headed to the Vatican right after our pub crawl ended at 1:30a and arrived in St. Peter’s sometime after 2a. There were still hundreds of people in the square, mostly a younger crowd, clustered around groups of guitarists singing Italian songs of worship. Candles surrounded the base of all the moments in the piazza and were also the centerpieces of groups scattered throughout the square. It was sombering, enchanting, and a very special moment in time.
Sound Byte – Singing Praise in Piazza S. Pietro
I was hoping to find someone handing out candles when we arrived, but most people had brought their own. Noelia, who’s from Argentina/Australia and speaks surprisingly compatible Spanish, asked one couple on the side of the Piazza if I could have one of their candles. They were happy to give it to me. I took it to a monument and set it down in wax, uttering a prayer.
The three of us sat watching a group of Italians singing their songs, simply drawn in by the experience. A group of people spontaneously appeared, holding hands, and stood in a circle around the group, moving in a counter-clockwise direction around the group in-time to the music. The three of us joined in the circle and I tried to sing along verbatim to the chorus, which was probably horrifically off but was fun nonetheless.
Elf and I decided to join in with some music of her own and Elf taught me a short song from her Christian Camp days.
Lord prepare me,
to be a sanctuary,
pure and holy,
tried and true.With Thanksgiving,
I’ll be your living,
sanctuary,
for you.
It didn’t exactly catch on with our Italian audience. 
We’re still planning to go to the inevitable Candlelight Vigil tonight after dinner, so stay posted for more.
Photos from the pre-mortem and post-mortem in St. Peter’s can be found on the Gallery.
http://gallery.nanoflux.com/stpeters
