A Pilgrimage for Pope Francis
- Aleyda Baubert
- May 8
- 10 min read
My experience traveling to the Vatican to honor and bid farewell to Pope Francis
In 2024 we decided to relocate to France which has been a tremendous adventure.
Since I was baptized at the Easter Vigil of 2018, I tried to follow Pope Francis and dreamed of meeting him in person, one day. I had watched some of his videos where he talked about the Virgin Mary, about how to recognize the voice of the Father. I had watched a video where a younger Francis chastised people for not being merciful in their acts, therefore not being true followers of Christ.
My hopes of meeting him dwindled when I read about his sickness. I was sad to see him look weaker, and I felt that his end was near. I had been praying daily for his intentions for months and started praying daily for his health as well. On Easter Sunday I saw him on TV with my family, in St Peter’s Square. The next day, he died at about the same time I was praying the Rosary in the morning.
How sad! I would never meet him in person. I felt that he was definitely leaving a void, a Pope that I admired and followed from afar, the only Pope I had known in my life as a Catholic. My friend who came to visit us in France happened to have arrived in Rome the next day after his passing, and told me of her praying the Rosary in St Peter’s Square for Pope Francis. Of her pilgrimage to Santa Maria Maggiore. That she went to see him and say good by to him. I longed to be there. And then, on Thursday morning the idea came to me that, since we were in Paris, we could maybe actually go see him to honor the Wonderful Servant and Leader he had been for us Catholics and for me. Maybe it was the Holy Spirit, but I felt it was something I needed to do. My husband somewhat reluctantly, agreed with me. We didn’t know we were going to live through an extraordinary experience.
“Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.'” – Matthew 16:24
Being a Pilgrim is serious business
Our trip started at the airport of Paris Orly, where we found out to our dismay that because we had purchased our tickets the same day and some other reasons, I didn’t fully understand, we actually didn’t have seats on the plane. I took my pilgrim role seriously, thinking that if we were going to represent the catholic faith as we traveled to Rome, we should behave as worthy disciples of Christ. The flight attendant told us: “Don’t worry, if you don’t travel today we put you on the next flight”. “And when is the next flight?” I asked, thinking it was going to be at 6:30am. “Tomorrow night” he answered. I almost went into panic mode. “But we are traveling to say good bye to Pope Francis, tomorrow night everything will be closed and we won’t be able to see him!” - I pleaded.
We explained the situation, asked questions and realized that if we didn’t get a seat and really wanted to go, we would need to buy other tickets and we couldn’t afford that. We had to wait for 30 long minutes. I decided to put everything in the hands of God, to trust His Will. After all if he puts us in this path, he probably wanted us to travel. And if his plan that we had to stay, well it was for a reason. It was so hard though! The Lord also knew that in my heart, I really wanted to go. I started praying the Rosary and to the Holy Infant who is super miraculous. 25mn later the flight attendant came and gave us the thumbs up. Alleluia!
The joy of paying our respects to our great Pope Francis.
With our boarding passes in hand, we realized our dream of saying goodbye to Pope Francis was on its way to becoming a reality. Despite of the sadness of his passing and not having a most wonderful Pope as the head of our Catholic Church, I experienced a great joy to do a pilgrimage and go see him. I was happy he was entering the eternal life.
We arrived in Rome past 11 at night. Our initial plan was to go to the hotel and sleep, then get up very early and go stand in line before the gates would open at 7am. We met two other pilgrims who were traveling from Madrid, who asked us if we were going to the Vatican. “Well no, we are going to our hotel first”. But we agreed to share a cab, drop them at the Vatican then walk to our hotel.
On our way to the Vatican my husband spoke with the driver, and I spoke with the pilgrims who stated clearly that going to the comfort of a hotel wasn’t a pilgrimage, it was a tourist trip. Given the crowds that were arriving in Rome, if we didn’t go then we were not sure we would be able to see the Pope. Reluctantly, I agreed to go straight to the Vatican. I was convinced we would need to stay up all night in line until we could see the Pope at 7am. I prayed the Lord to help me and be strong.
We arrived in the Vatican, the line was long and wide to enter St Peter’s Square. But everyone was calm. People were actually happy and there was a beautiful, subtle job in making the line at 12:30 in the night to say Goodbye to our beloved Pope. I heard a guy behind me reading the Gospels aloud in Italian. It added to the mysticism of the moment. We moved quicker than I expected and when we got to the huge columns that signified the entrance to St Peter’s Square, I was moved.
We went through security and entered the square. My first time being there as a Catholic. I felt so strongly that it was a sacred place. It was a magical moment. I saw St Peter’s Basilica in front of me and the balcony where the Pope used to stand. I then realized that it was open and that we were going to see the Pope and pay homage to him that same night! We entered the basilica, lined up, and got ready to say our goodbyes. We saw were going to have no more than 2 seconds. I genuflexed, thanked him, prayed for him and went around the Altar. It was around 1:45am. We stayed in the Basilica praying. In that moment, I felt such gratefulness, I was so happy that the Lord had allowed us to be there. It was such a huge and transformative grace. I didn’t want to be anywhere else in the world. We even saw the changing of the Swiss Guard. We prayed until almost 3am, then left.
Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”
Luke 9:58
We left the Basilica, we left St Peter’s Square and headed to our hotel. To our big surprise, there was nobody. We realized that after all, we wouldn’t be able to sleep that night, and we would have to wait until 7-8am. I went from utter joy to feeling miserable. I was tired, and wanted to rest. We found a bench with a view of St Peter’s basilica. We were still with the pilgrims from Madrid and they kindly offered food to us. We lent them small pillows that we had brought and which helped us isolate from the cold marble.
I saw the last Pilgrims and security folks leaving St Peter’s Square. Shortly afterwards, around 4am, I saw new groups of Pilgrims arriving to stand in line and see the Pope in the morning. I even saw parents with kids who looked younger than 5 years old. It was extraordinary. Still, the moment it felt like a penance and it was hard to bring myself back to a joy I had felt just before, and to the greatness of the moment. Why was the Lord putting us through that moment? I felt vulnerable, a little cold, tired. I thought of the myriad of homeless people across the world. I wondered how they survived…
To pass the time, I called my mom who was surprised to hear me awake at that time of the night. She helped me stay awake, pass the time and appreciate the extraordinary moment we were living, even though it felt pretty hard. We chatted for 2 hours on the phone, the time difference with Peru helped in this case. At 5:30am we were ready to head into the first cafe that opened at that time. It didn’t feel like a moment worth celebrating, but despite my tiredness, I decided it was a good idea to get a picture to commemorate the moment. In retrospect, I am so glad we took the time to get that snapshot.
We arrived at the cafe, so happy to be indoors after a night outside. My husband ordered a coffee, I can’t have caffeine and the only herbal tea I found suitable was a chamomile with melatonin. Perfect to make me sleep. The only problem is I didn’t have a bed hahaha. We realized there were 2 types of people in that cafe. Romans who were getting ready to go to work, Policemen and other pilgrims. I envied the policemen and other people who most likely working on the Pope ceremonies and who had probably had a somewhat good night of sleep.
“Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Matthew 26:41
My head fell on the table and dozed off for 5mn. I woke up and recognized the Peruvian accent of some of the other pilgrims and we chatted. I met a lady who was probably in her 50s who had traveled straight from Lima. My jaw dropped. “Oh my goodness, you must be so tired!”. I guess I couldn’t complain - my flight had been 2 hours, hers closer to 12. She had met other pilgrims after seeing Pope Francis and they had waited outside praying the Rosary before heading to the Cafe. “She told me yes I am tired, but I am so happy to be here!”.
The search for a hotel
When we reached our hotel, we came to the horrible surprise that in our rush we made a mistake in the dates and had reserved for July instead of April. I felt so vulnerable again. It was so hard to find a room in Rome that day, on Friday April 25th, the last day it was possible to see Pope Francis. There were thousands of people in Rome and the prices of the rooms were through the roof.
Luckily a friend of ours was in Rome those days, we shared a strong faith and she had encouraged us to come for the ceremonies. We went to see her to her hotel, and I was able to at least freshen up a little bit. The receptionist at the hotel, a nice lady who wanted to help, gave us information on another place ran by Catholic Sisters. We went in search for it, up and down a long flight of stairs, asking left and right, and we finally found the place.
The sisters at the “Suore Teatina” place were amazingly nice, and to our great delight they had a cancellation and could take us in right away!!! Alleluia!
Things didn’t turn out as we expected
I had been imagining the worst, that we couldn’t find a hotel, that we would spend another night outside. In my head I had been thinking through possible scenarios and what to do. Every time I found myself thinking of the worst, I tried to remind me, “Just put things in the hands of Jesus, everything will be fine”.
7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened." Matthew 7:7-8
It turns out, things went a lot better than I expected and we received innumerable graces. I prayed that the Lord would give me the strength to enjoy the 1 day we had in Rome. I slept for 2 hours and then woke up feeling amazingly refreshed, ready to hit the streets of Rome. Since we weren’t going to be there on Saturday for the Mass and burial, I decided I wanted to go to Santa Maria Maggiore, the Church where Pope Francis liked to pray, and where he was going to buried. My husband and my friend wanted to visit some of the historic Roman sites such as the Forum and the Colosseum. We decided to marry our wishes, through a walk that started around the Vatican and would end in Santa Maria Maggiore.
We were able to enjoy some Italian pasta, to walk through many churches, and visit the Forum. It was getting late and my friend told us at the Mass she attended in Santa Maria Maggiore the Priest had mentioned it would be closed before 7pm. I still wanted to go and visit it even from the outside. We continued our walk, stopping for a coffee and a snack as I needed some food for renewed energy. We walked by the Colosseum, and when we finally arrived to Santa Maria Maggiore, we saw that it was open! What a joy!
We stood in line to get inside, we filled a prayer request, we sat to pray, we visited the place where a few other popes rest and we even saw a wooden panel cover the place where Pope Francis was going to rest. We left tired and happy, stopping by for some souvenirs for the kids. We arrived at our hotel around 10pm, exhausted but elated. We left our hotel the following day at 4:35am and headed to the airport. What an amazing trip.
Back in Paris.
We were back home before 10am. I couldn’t believe the trip we had experienced. I felt like I had lived for a week in less than 40 hours.
Unpacking and telling our friend who was staying home everything about our incredible trip, my husband told me: “The Pope’s carriage will go through exactly the same route that we took yesterday! “What, really???” “Yes, his wish was to go through the monuments of Rome before heading to Santa Maria Maggiore”. My friend who had stayed in Rome texted me the same thing. I felt sentimental, elated, grateful, honored and everything in between. We turned on the live TV on the computer to watch the end of the ceremonies. With excitement, we watched the carriage go through exactly the same streets we walked the day before, the same sights, the same monuments and arrive at Santa Maria Maggiore. We felt in communion with Pope Francis, with the lord, and with the faithful. What could I say? Just “Thank you, thank you Lord”.
Epilogue:
As the Papal Conclave is under way, I pray the Lord that we will have someone like Pope Francis, joyful, humble and merciful.
Conclave prayer:
Holy Spirit, enlighten the Church at this time, especially all the cardinals you call to take part in the conclave. Grant them wisdom and holiness so that all may cooperate with your inspiration and guidance to elect the next vicar of Christ, your chosen servant. Through Christ, Our Lord. Amen.
Comments