Cardinal Prevost is the new Pope and will be called Leo XIVThere are so many human dreams to be fulfilled... those who want to go to this or that concert, those who want to go to some city, or those who live to see their team in their soccer stadium... Do you believe me if I tell you that mine was to experience a white smoke? It's not that I thought about it every day, but the truth is that when John Paul II died it was something that began to take shape deep inside me.
I sincerely believe that love for the Pope is a gift. A great gift that I wish all Christians had. I have received it and I feel very fortunate for it. I feel a real passion for "the Sweet Christ on earth" as St. Catherine of Siena called him.
So, in my forties, the time when everyone reminds you that you are mature, independent, independent and so on, Pope Francis dies. One look with my husband was enough for me to know that we were on the same page: to try by all means to go to Rome. But to the conclave. To experience the white smoke.
Desired and realized
The truth is that those were hectic days: a daughter's communion, a blackout, the usual life of parents with a large family, a lot of work for both of us... but with a motivation greater than any I had ever experienced: to go to Rome and live the moment. When I was asked why I was doing it, I felt even superficial: something inside me was pushing me to want to live that moment right there, because I did, because I wanted to.
Perhaps you imagine my current account with plenty of room for maneuver. Nothing could be further from the truth. In that "living in the moment" we knew the money would have to come to us. Without any kind of promotion, my husband was given three extra jobs of one day each, which were not bad at all. Providence in our lives never stops working and we felt, once again, like spoiled children who had a whim and our father God gave it to us.
On Thursday, May 8, at 11:52 a.m., we entered St. Peter's, having just arrived in Rome, and the second Black Smoke came out. Both at the same moment. Half a lap. We replenish our soul and body (Holy Mass and lunch) and return.
15:43 p.m.: we entered St. Peter's Square again. What you feel inside that Vatican colonnade at that moment is indescribable. It is to cross a dimension in which we are all children of the same father, brothers, acquaintances and loved ones. Something was already "burning" in our hearts. I cannot tell you the number of rosaries we prayed, the conversations we had or much more. I can only speak of gifts. One after the other.
The white smoke
18:05 pm. A seagull and her young are approaching the chimney. Something tells us that the moment is near. Watching that mother with her little one, makes us all shut up and contemplate. It produced a stir of tenderness that made us focus on the chimney.
18:07: CRAZY. Total madness from everyone: there is white smoke. It makes my skin crawl just writing it. Since that day I am convinced that in Heaven we will live similar things: all different and together with the same overflowing joy that made us jump and scream with love. United in a single person whose name we do not even know. The shouts of "Long live the Pope" begin to make me hoarse. And suddenly a silence and someone intones the "Salve regina", the Latin salve. We sing it with one voice. I was very moved by the Pope's chosen motto, which we learned some time later: "In Illo uno unum", in which he is One, we are one. And that is what happened: I felt more Church than ever, more united to Peter than ever.
19:12: the protodeacon announces the long-awaited "Habemus papam". Perhaps it is because of the madness of the screams, or because of the native language of the speaker, but we understand hardly anything, only Robert and LEONE. LEONE. But what a marvel... The name of the one who has us there united, ardent and mad is Leone. Leo XIV. It is difficult to explain (again) what we already loved him. Next to us, a gentleman, carrying a printed list of curious facts, tells us "Cardinal prevost, mathematician and from Chicago".
19:23: we see him. Our heart burns before the countenance of Leo XIV. It is truly inexplicable: we see him so good, so "nice", so "Pope". Our hearts burst: Prevost has won us over, he has conquered us, he has us for his Church, he has us as his children. He is moved: he speaks and is silent, he smiles at us, he looks at us.
Love for the Pope
Son of St. Augustine, missionary... How do you fit in when he looks at the people and those people are you? You shout "VIVA EL PAPA LEONE" and he is silent with emotion. We continue floating: this is the closest thing to Heaven that all of us who were there have ever experienced.
It is very difficult to get back to normal after this. Every time at Mass I hear "for Pope Leo" something jumps inside me and I can only smile. Every time I see a video of him or read a speech something vibrates... Love for the Pope is a gift and I can only enjoy it.
