Day 2 - March for Life Pilgrimage

The National Mall Covered in Snow
Washington Monument in Center
My previous post ended on Monday night, when we got into Washington DC having had a wonderful drive from Indianapolis, listening to good talks, getting work done, being squished  together in such a way as to have to spend solid time talking with each other, and enjoying an all-you-can-eat buffet.  Anyway, I had the blessing of getting a good night’s sleep (which, I heard, wasn’t the case with everybody), but woke up the next morning to find that DC was expected to get hit with several inches of snow and all the museums and places of interest were going to be closed because of this wintery precipitate.  I was bummed because we had almost the entire day to see the city, which, though I had seen some of it before, I wanted to experience again because it is such a cool, historic, interesting, and stunning place.  As it turned out, the museums hadn’t closed yet, so some of us took the 10 minute shuttle, to the metro, where we spent an hour shooting into downtown DC, and then wandered over to the national mall (where many of the Smithsonian’s are located).  Some of the other guys in our 4 or 5 person group wanted to go to the Air and Space Museum, which I had seen before, but knew would be cool, so off we went.  It was cold, snowing a bit (nothing like the disaster that everyone was expecting though), so we walked quickly to cover the half-mile or so to the museum, stopping to look at some of the cool buildings (old post office, national archives, and most of the other old government buildings there) along the way.

National Air and Space Museum
Voyager, The Spirit of St. Louis, Space Ship One, and X-15 visible
We ran into a group of pro-life tourists on our way into the museum (who was immediately recognizable because they were all wearing the same bright sweatshirts, except the religious sister, who was wearing her habit), which was pretty cool and then we had the opportunity to meet up with some other guys from Bruté.  We wandered around the different exhibits, pretty much noting that all the people who flew these things for the first time were crazy.  That guy who strapped himself into the wood and linen contraption that was supposed to fly and then jumped off a mountain to see if it would.  That guy who built a motorcycle, bolted a v8 to it, and then proceeded to see how fast he could go without dying (he made it up to 127 mph, and this was back in the early 1900s).  Or those guys who strapped themselves into a tin can, floated for a week through space, and then landed on the moon in a foil contraption, hoping that it would lift off, be able to connect up to the capsule that was hopefully in orbit correctly, that could hopefully fire its engine, and hopefully hit the atmosphere correctly, so that hopefully its heat shield would work, so that hopefully its parachutes would open, and hopefully it would be found out in the middle of the ocean…  I am jesting here a bit; it was really cool to see all the amazing aircraft/spacecraft – humans are awesome! 

Somewhere in Catholic University of America
After the Air and Space museum, the several of us went back to another metro station and swept off to Union Station, where we found some food (it was now about 1 PM).  Four of us went to this Italian sandwich place, where we got some (pretty tasty) sandwiches, warm chips (pretty typical), and cold gelato (which was also tasty).  Funny side note: I didn’t buy a drink because I was cheap (and they weren’t) and I was hoping to find a water-fountain someplace.  Well, there wasn’t any free H2O to be found, so I went without liquid and after wandering around the station for a little while longer (mostly clothing shops actually, which was pretty boring), we got back on the Metro and shot off towards the National Shrine of the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception.  The vigil Mass for life, which we would be participating in later, wasn’t going to happen for several more hours, so we went on a short tour of the Theological College (a seminary which is there on the campus of Catholic University of America), which was pretty cool – sorry no pictures, it wasn’t cool enough, at least the parts I saw, for me to be the dorky tourist guy and whip out my camera…  After hanging out over there for a short period of time, we went back over to the Basilica around 4 PM.  






National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception
We had to be down in the crypt to vest/process by 5:30, so I had some time to wander around, which, of course, I did.  I unfortunately had forgotten to bring a book, other than my breviary, to read during times when I didn’t have anything to do, so I didn’t have anything better to do.  Anyway, it wasn’t by any means boring, the Basilica is gorgeous and has tons of little beautiful side chapels, which, and this was even cooler, were filling with young guys and ladies, who were staking out a spot for the Mass that evening.  Some of them had been camping out since noon or earlier to get a decent spot, but I thought it was just cool to crowd scan and see if I recognized anybody.  Of course, I didn’t recognize very many people, but it was still kind of fun to glance around and smile/wave at people who had made the same mistake and didn’t have anything else to do but sit there (it doesn’t matter how awesome of a time you are having, after sitting on a marble - beautiful marble of course, but still marble - floor for several hours, you get a bit bored and sore).  Well, I wandered back towards the entrance of the lower level and spend a few minutes perusing the store, full of different Catholic pictures, cds, t-shirts, statues, and other such things.  I didn’t really expect to buy anything, but, you know, being a seminarian you get interested into that sort of thing, so there I was.  Well, I stepped out of the small, packed, shop, and just about literally ran into my aunt. 




Inside the Basilica before Mass
National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception
I knew that my aunt, uncle, and cousins were going on the March and assumed that they would be at the vigil Mass that evening, but I didn’t really expect to see them amid the milling crowds.  Anyway, despite my doubts, I was lucky enough to run into her and got to chat for a few minutes while the crowds swamped past.  She asked if I had heard from the pope yet (meaning, did I get accepted to the PNAC yet?, to which I said no), and we got to joke around a little bit before I had to take off again.  There was another guy tagging along with me, and I was going to show him up-stairs (the main Church) before we had to get back down stairs.  Anyway, she told me where the rest of their group was seated up there, so we headed up the (skinny, but thankfully not too packed) staircase and found that the church wasn’t as crazy as I thought it would be.  In years past the aisles have been absolutely clogged with people, but they were doing a pretty good job of getting people to stay out of the aisles, so while the pews were full, it wasn’t impossible to move around or anything.  Well, to make a long story short, I spend a few minutes talking with my cousins (who thought it was pretty cool to see me there), and was very glad to have been able to see them.  Funny story: during the 5 minutes that I was standing there, I was told at least twice to get off the aisle and into my pew.  I didn’t quite get the explanation out that I wouldn’t be in a pew because I was processing in later, so they kept going by “reminding” me to get into a pew… 

Seminarians assembled in the Crypt Church before Mass
Wow, this is becoming quite the long-winded post, but there’s a lot to say about what we were up to, so I guess I should expect that.  After going back down-stairs to the crypt, where I was going to get my cassock/surplice on (which, hopefully, had been brought down from the hotel since I had last been through there a few hours previous).  Well, as you might expect, I ran into someone else that I knew, this time not quite as well because they were friends of Willies, but either way we chatted for several minutes before we really had to get back to vest.  I quickly outfitted myself in cassock/surplice – quickly because all the other several-hundred seminarians smashed into the back of this crypt were decked out already (in all manner of different surplices, boring, fancy, cool, “lacy”, pleated, wrinkled, etc.) and were listening to the instructions on how to process in.  I thought that things were about to get going, but, alas, that wasn’t meant to be.  As 6:20, and 6:30, and 6:40 rolled past, I wondered when things would finally get going.  And then, the glorious moment, the organ started rumbling through the massive, arched, stone ceiling and a female cantor started singing.  The organ swelled and the woman chanted away with a spectacular voice – all these crazy guys called seminarians started grinning – and the line started forming.  Here we go!

Seminarians at the rear of the Basilica after Mass
There were  a few tv screens, showing what was happening up above, down in the crypt and I was stunned to see that the seminarians had reached the altar when I started moving down the line.  That line of seminarians – 2 by 2 – stretched from the crypt, through the reasonably large chapel down there, twisted up the staircase to the main basilica, crept down the stairs, through the Basilica, wound through the crowd, and back towards the main altar.  Of course, that is the route that I  slowly made my way along over the next 20 minutes or so, and, as last year, it was a magnificent moment.  I don’t know why it is so cool, but it is wonderful to be processing up that beautiful basilica, grinning along with the organ/choir which was roaring out Crown Him with Many Crowns.  Everything was spectacular as we climbed up the stairs, reverenced the altar, and wrapped through the sanctuary to our seats which were apparently off to the side.  I was pretty hopeful as I saw that the section that I was going to was almost full, yes, thought I, I’ll get a seat in the front of the crowd where I can see!  The guys in front of me moved along into this section, and then they gently pointed me to go to the outside of this area, about as far as you could get from the front of the crowd of guys, about as fat as you could get from being able to see anything (TV or altar), behind a pillar, and without a chair.  Bummer thought I, can’t see, can’t sit…  I guess I thought I was tough, so I just stood there, singing away (having pulled the worship-aid out of my sleeve), and thinking that I would outlast the rest of the guys standing there.  Well, my legs/feet started hurting much more quickly than I was hoping, and I began to hope that they would move us over to the section where there were still empty seats.  Thankfully, that is exactly what they did, and thankfully, though I was in the back of this section, it turned out alright because the guy in front of me was short and so I could see the TV (and the back-side of the high altar).  I couldn’t see anything first-hand, but I could see it on the screen pretty well, and I could hear everything.  So, to make a long story short, the procession was fantastic, the music beautiful, the seating better than last year, and overall everything worked out pretty well.

View of the rear of the high altar in the Basilica after Mass
Of course, Mass continued.  The music continued to be beautiful with the choir chanting at the appropriate places adding splendor and glory to the Mass.  But, I think I should also mention the homily, which was also pretty amazing.  The Gospel for that Mass was the adulterous woman whom the Pharisees brought to Jesus and asked if they should stone her.  Of course, Jesus tells them that whichever one of them hasn’t sinned themselves could throw the first stone.  Well, they are all sinners, so off they go, unable to stone the woman, and Jesus, the only sinless one present, tells the woman that He won’t persecute her either but that she should sin no more.  I wondered at the time how Sean Cardinal O'Malley would work this Gospel into his homily.  Well, he didn’t have to work too hard because this is exactly, as I failed to notice, what Pope Francis has been telling us ever since he was elected.  To fix the atrocities of our culture we have to fix the entire culture.  We can’t just run out into the world lambasting the evil that is abortion without fixing the problems that lead to many of them.  Abortion, as the cardinal explained, happens much of the time because some poor girl has made a bad decision and is stuck in a position where she is pregnant, but doesn’t see any way to have the baby.  She’s poor, or on her own, or having been deserted by the man who should be taking care of her, and she doesn’t see any other option.  I really hadn’t thought about abortion this way before: I’m more of the stand out in the cold, yelling “hey, hey, ho, ho – Row-v-Wade has got to go!”, kind of guy.  But here it finally hit me what Pope Francis has been trying to tell the world.  The faith must permeate our entire lives, it must cause us to do more than protest the evils that are present in our culture, but to actively try to fix them, to help the people that feel like they are forced to do what they are doing.  Yes, we must stand up against abortion; we can’t forget to tell people that it is evil, but we must also live out our faith, and love and forgive those who are in that field.  Don’t think my verve to eliminate abortion has lessened one bit, but my view has been enlargened, the faith has to force us to do crazy things, including forgive our enemies.  Forgiveness doesn’t mean saying that sin isn’t sin, but it does mean showing sinners love not hate.  Hmmm… Pope Francis continues to hit hard.  (Probably, you'd be better off listening to the homily in the video embedded below rather than listening to my sad summary of it...)

View looking up from my seat in the Basilica - yeah, awesome!

Anyway, Mass continued spectacularly, but I wanted to let you guys know how it was a pretty awesome learning experience as well as just an awesome experience in general.  I got to talk about it with the other guys, and talk some more about that homily.  Pretty cool!  Anyway, Tuesday ended with the long ride back to our hotel, the short trip back to our hotel (during which, being the smallest guy in the van, I volunteered to sit on the floor because we ran out of room), and then some pizza/soda.  Good times!

Crowds in the Basilica after Mass


Yours truly is visible at 11:36 and 17:15 (if you are interested in that sort of thing) and the homily begins at 57:50 (you should be interested in that sort of thing).

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