N OUR HOMESCHOOL, we pray for Pope Francis every day. No matter how my heart is hurting, no matter how much it hurts to feel excluded for attending the Traditional Mass, no matter how much pain we have to hear rumors, we pray for our Pope.
We proudly say, or sing, each Creed, “one, holy, apostolic Church” with deep faith and devotion.
As a family of Catholics, we made sure to go to Rome to pray at the tomb of Peter. We’ve almost lost count of the tombs we’ve prayed at, but there is something extraordinarily special about praying where Peter is.
We remain on pilgrimage, so this is a brief and awkward post.
But we are a family that attends both the Extraordinary and the Ordinary Forms. We are Roman Catholics. And so we go on pilgrimage to pray at the tomb of Saint Peter.
We are a family that wakes up early on Sundays, that practices chants and Palestrina, that wrangles toddlers for Mass, that manages on a single income, that prays the Rosary.
And a few days ago, Pope Francis reached out to us on his way to pray at the tomb of Peter. The successor of Peter greeted my children.
I held my tears.
For a few moments at least, until I turned and saw my husband crying next to me. My emotions burst out of me, the nuns behind us handed us tissues. My husband’s parents gave us more.
We bring our prayers to Rome, to Saint Peter and his successor, and he held my children’s hands. May he hold our prayers in his heart.
(If anyone in Rome is reading this, we are faithful! This mother and her children were there to kneel at the tomb of Peter! Don’t exclude these traditions! We prayed where Peter is, don’t exclude us!)
You can listen to the magnificent choirs and organist below. Truly awe-inspiring. Program link.
Many thanks to all of those who made this possible.
Source of images: Vatican Media.
