Thursday, March 14, 2013
HABEMUS PAPAM! In My Own Words/Photos/Videos
OK so I'll admit it...I LOVED watching the events of the Conclave unfold before our very eyes! (Conclave originates from the Latin expression cum clave, "with a key," emphasizing seclusion and the need for a key to enter a meeting).
I'll also admit that it's not too often you can blame the election of a new Pope for being distracted from your regular homeschool studies and routines! :)
Really the exciting events of this historic time in the Catholic Church began with the farewell to Pope Benedict XVI which I posted about HERE and then leading up to the start of the Conclave I posted links and resources HERE.
Our family doesn't have cable so my Cupcakes and I were glued to the computer watching EWTN Live starting on Tuesday, March 12 when the events of the Conclave began. If I remember correctly this was the first time television cameras were allowed inside the Sistine Chapel while the Cardinals prepared their hearts, minds, and souls to take on the incredible burden of electing the 265th successor to St. Peter, our first Pope. I can't imagine voting for the Bishop of Rome who will be the leader of 1.2 billion souls.
For the words of the oath at the start of the conclave go HERE. After senior Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re read aloud a formula of the oath, each cardinal elector, according to the order of precedence, then took the oath according to the following formula:
"And I, N. Cardinal N., do so promise, pledge and swear. Placing his hand on the Gospels, he will add: So help me God and these Holy Gospels which I touch with my hand."
Look who we happened to see on our computer screen taking the Conclave oath of secrecy! In the picture is Jean-Louis Tauran from France who was the cardinal we "adopted" and prayed for throughout the conclave. We were so excited to see "our" Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran taking the oath, especially since we were watching our computer screen at different moments in between our school work!
After each cardinal elector took their oath, we watched on television the doors to the Sistine Chapel close.
And the Swiss Guards were now guarding 115 Cardinals while they voted.
As so many assumed and expected, after the first day of voting there was black smoke = no Pope. Here is a picture I took as you can see two of my cupcakes look on at the black smoke billowing out of the smokestack. Even though the smoke was black we were all excited to see the smoke!
Then it was early at 6:30 AM (Eastern) on Wednesday, March 13, that I saw on Facebook news feeds that Black Smoke #2 came out of the smokestack and I reported the updates to my cupcakes when they woke up for the day.
So Wednesday morning I heard reports that the next burning of the ballots would be sometime around noon (Eastern) so we did some lessons and then we anxiously awaited for the results on our computer on EWTN Live. We were watching with the world and my son was especially amazed that so many people could wait sooooo long and in the rain too!
The most "Pope-ular" smokestack in the world and this bird knew it too! Even he was waiting with great anticipation!
Sometime early afternoon, I was upstairs teaching some of my cupcakes and my son yelled from the downstairs computer, "White smoke!" and we all ran downstairs to see this...
We were all cheering with the world and very excited to witness this historic day!
Habemus Papam! We have a Pope!
In the photo on the left where it says "Viva il Papa" (Italian for "Long live the Pope!") you can see our Pope Party supplies that my kids colored thanks to Jennifer at Catholic Inspired and also in front of my computer is the Habemus Papam copywork sheets from Holly at Three-Sided Wheel.
Then we anxiously awaited the announcement of our new Pope. My cupcakes and I were glued to the computer all afternoon and I even rescheduled my cupcake's piano lessons at the last minute so we wouldn't miss anything!
OK, now I know I was really into all the excitement because when the
cardinal came out to the balcony to declare the new Pope's name, I was
thinking the cardinal himself was our new Pope! Duh!
Above is a quick video I took with my i-Phone that I shortened. I had to cut out the parts where I was thinking Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran was our new French Pope. You do hear me say, "That's the POPE we prayed for!" when I meant to say Cardinal. :) O and ignore my son's "Boo!" sounds. Silly boy!
I was definitely caught up in the moment and excited that we got to see the Cardinal we "adopted" and prayed for AGAIN on TV! My cupcakes had to tell me "Mom, that's the cardinal we prayed for, but that's not our new Pope! He's only announcing our new Pope's name!" What would I do without them? I'll just blame it on my preggo hormones! And I even read an article prior to the event that stated Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran would announce the Pope's name.
It was so fun to anticipate this moment with my cupcakes! I hope they will always remember this special day!
We were all just trying to take it all in knowing that we were experiencing history in the making!
We all listened intently to Pope Francis' first words which we didn't understand, but we were listening to the commentators translate some of them. HERE are his first words in English.
I loved that he prayed for our Bishop Emeritus Benedict XVI first, then before Pope Francis gave his first papal blessing he asked that we all pray for him. What a solemn and special moment to see this crowd silently pray for our new Pope as the entire world joined in also.
"And now I would like to give the blessing. But first I want to ask you a
favour. Before the Bishop blesses the people I ask that you would pray
to the Lord to bless me – the prayer of the people for their Bishop.
Let us say this prayer – your prayer for me – in silence."
[The Protodeacon announced that all those who received the blessing, either in person or by radio, television or by the new means of communication receive the plenary indulgence in the form established by the Church. He prayed that Almighty God protect and guard the Pope so that he may lead the Church for many years to come, and that he would grant peace to the Church throughout the world.]
[Immediately afterwards Pope Francis gave his first blessing Urbi et Orbi – To the City and to the World.]
"I will now give my blessing to you and to the whole world, to all men and women of good will."
First Urbi et Orbi – To the City and to the World
One of the first things that my 8 year old daughter observed when Pope Francis first came out to the balcony was that she didn't think he looked too happy. I told her that he was probably very overwhelmed being elected to lead billions of people and he was probably just trying to take in the moment. After his first papal blessing, I caught Pope Francis, former Cardinal-Archbishop of Buenos Aires, with a beautiful smile on his face. :)
I didn't know much about our new Pope but the more I learn about him, the more I like him!
I've been finding out more about him through news media and social media. Here's some things about him we found interesting. (see links below) My cupcakes thought it was especially interesting that he has only one lung and he chose his name after Saint Francis of Assisi.
Here's a status from the Catholic Church Facebook page that I found intriguing:
"Pope Francis is known for personal humility,
doctrinal conservatism and a commitment to social justice. As archbishop
of Buenos Aires, he had the option to live in a palace but chose a
simple apartment heated by a small stove. He gave up a limousine for the
bus, and cooks his own meals."
My first impression of Pope Francis is "I like him!" and our family can't wait to get to know him better. We will continue to pray for him as he continues to guide our Holy Church with the help of the Holy Spirit!
photo credit: Catholic Pulse and CNS
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I'm Tracy. I love my faith, family and on most days, homeschooling my 5 blessings. When I'm not busy baking cakes for my family or making memories in real life or dreaming I had a housekeeper or professional chef, I enjoy documenting a slice of Smith life in blog land.
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4 comments:
Terrific coverage, Tracy. What great memories you captured here!
we did much the same but Tracy, I can;t get it together today b.c we;re all down with the flu....
Loved yours!
xoxoxoxo
Thank you for sharing.
Oh how I wish I would have taken pictures like you did! We were watching the live feed on my computer, as well and were jumping up and down and screaming when we saw the white smoke. What an amazing, exciting day. I am so thankful for Pope Francis. I wrote this in my Thankful Thursday post today. God bless, Lisa
Loved the joy on your children's faces:) Such excitement. I had the kids watch as we are doing a study on religions and this is a very important moment for the Catholic church:) I delayed cooking dinner until I heard him speak to the crowd. Voted for you...I hope you are doing well with the pregnancy Praying for a peaceful birth:)
Here I am revisiting my post here on Pope Francis' 1 year anniversary and I get to read your comments again Chris, Lisa, and Anna-Marie! It's hard to believe it's been a year already! Thanks for stopping in last year during this historical time in the Church! :)