Papa Benedetto e Giorgio

Little George went to his first papal audience and I went to my second today!!!

Judy and Mercedes came and we all had such a memorable time! (Too bad the boys had to go to class and could not join us.)

It was so amazing to be at St. Peter's, being so close to Benedict XVI and hearing him speak.

(Now play let find Pope Benedict. We actually were not to far away so I got some okay photos.)

This was his message to us today:

"Today, I would like to highlight the ecclesial nature of liturgical prayer. The liturgy is a “participation in Christ’s own prayer addressed to the Father in the Holy Spirit”. The Church, as Christ’s Mystical Body and united with him, offers worship to the Father. By identifying ourselves with Christ in his prayer to the Father, we rediscover our deepest identity as Christians, as children of “Our Father who art in heaven”. The liturgy is also an encounter of the whole Christ, that is, with Christ and his body the Church. Thus, the liturgy is a sharing in the prayer of the living, universal community of believers in Christ. Prayer becomes the habitual realization of the presence of God, as we make the words of the Church our own, and learn to speak in her and through her. The Church is most truly itself in the liturgy, as it is the place where God comes to us and enters our lives. Let us remember that the liturgy is celebrated for God, not for us; it is his work; he is its subject. For our part, in the liturgy we must leave ourselves open to be guided by him and by his Body, the Church."

A boys choir from Norway sang for the Pope at the Audience. It gave me chills.

Little George was wonderful during the whole audience. When Benedict was arriving, George just wanted to cuddle with me so I put him in the baby carrier. It worked out well because as the Pope got closer to us I was able to move in and then got on a chair to get a better view (I know not safe, but I wanted to see the Holy Father!).

During the messages in the different languages, little George would clap when everyone would clap, loved hearing the different groups sing to the Pope and enjoyed talking about something important (maybe he was explaining what was being said in the different languages).

 My attempt at a photo of little George with Pope Benedict ;)