Follow Up Pics and Links

Just wanted to follow up with a couple things now that I have grown in BLOG wisdom and knowledge over the past 48 hours.

Here is a picture of us just outside St. Peter's before the Papal Mass:

Mike Pratt (Tulsa), Steven Vrazel (Mobile) Me, Matt Kuhn (St. Cloud), Sean Donnovan (Tulsa)

Me inside St. Peter's in an area blocked off for priests and servers to get vested

All of the servers lined up before Mass. I would carry one of these candles up and down the aisle.

LtoR: 2 Polish Seminarians, Ben Ross (Gary, IN), Me, Matt, Vraz, Francis Marotti (Kalamazoo), Nathan Sparks (Rapid City, SD), Sean, Quan Tran (Orange)

Chapel where the Pope vested--Crucifix, Altar, Candles, and All.

Michelangelo's famous Pieta

(Without the bullet-proof glass between you)

The two principal servers for the Mass: Both born in Hawaii, both from our College.

Pat learned to pose like that in China...trying to start the trend in the Vatican I guess...good luck.

Rheo Ofalsa (Omaha) held "The Book" & Pat Arensberg (Mobile) held "The Mic" for the Pope

Pat was with me in China this summer...and is my DB (Diocesan Brother). Here is a link to an article that was published in Maui after the Mass talking about Pat and his family's history.

http://mauinews.com/page/content.detail/id/524673.html

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The facade of St. Peter's--traditionally the portraits of the new Saints to be canonized are printed and hung on banners on the front of the Basilica.

Here are some links about St. Damien if you want to know more about this Hawaiian/Belgian saint:

USA TODAY:http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2009-10-08-father-damien_N.htm

WIKIPEDIA: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Father_Damien

MOVIE ABOUT DAMIEN: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0165196/

Outside St. Peter's overlooking the square packed full with Pilgrims. Just as the Pope began his weekly Angelus address.

Pope Benedict XVI with Pat to his right

PAPAL EVENT PHOTO INFO:

There are two main Photography Businesses in Rome that cover Papal events. Below I have the links to their sites. There you can see all the pictures each of them took at the Mass, and if you find one you like... you can buy and download it. Then you could take the JPEG file to WalMart or something and have them printed.

* L'Osservatore Romano (official News Agency of the Vatican)

(Pages 72-57 cover the event)

* Foto Felici

(This site has them separated by event. Should should see 22 pages of fotos)

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BONUS MATERIAL: Close-Up of my New, Freshly-Grown Mustache.

My buddy Alex Roche (Scranton, PA) found this article and sent it my way. Perhaps one of the most important socio-historical observations of our time...

"Who took my Stache'?: The sad and curious exile of the American mustache"

by Wesley Morris

Now I realize the the "Tom Selleck" or "Burt Reynolds" mustache is way out of my league. But hopefully I am not in the "Matt Damon" category. But that is for you to decide.

Let me know what you think....Be honest :{)

OK. Until Sunday. Peace.