Diocesan pilgrims inspired by Mass in Yankee Stadium

Before the sun rose on April 20, 440 Catholics from the Albany Diocese gathered at the Pastoral Center in Albany, at LaSalle Institute in Troy and at the Shrine of Our Lady of Martyrs in Auriesville to board nine buses that would take them to a once-in-a-lifetime experience: a Mass celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI in Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.

The pilgrims won their tickets in a random January drawing sponsored by The Evangelist. More than 3,000 people sought entry to the event.

On the way to the Mass, during it and on the way home, the pilgrims offered their thoughts, hopes and reactions:

* By 4:45 a.m., Peter Willis of St. Mary's parish in Coxsackie had had orange juice and water, but no caffeinated beverages yet. "I'm kind of numb at the moment," he remarked. "I'm prepared to go back to sleep on the bus."

* Carrie Meyers-Herron sat on the floor of a conference room at the diocesan Pastoral Center in Albany, eyes shut and back to the wall, waiting for the buses to Yankee Stadium to arrive.

Her mother, Dora Meyers, had entered the raffle for tickets to see the Pope; Mrs. Meyers-Herron agreed to go before she knew she'd have to get up at 3 a.m. Both parishioners of Ss. Peter and Paul's in Canajoharie were taking the departure time good-naturedly, however.

"Just being in [the Pope's] presence is extraordinary," Mrs. Meyers enthused.

"I go to New York City for shows and she never says yes" to coming along, her daughter teased. "It takes the Pope to get her to New York City."

* Peter and Debbie Meskoskey, St. Francis de Sales, Troy, called the trip "a once-in-a-lifetime" experience. "I'm very excited to be here, he said. "I'm not sure what to expect, but I think that everyone will take what they need from their experience and from what the Pope says."

Added his wife, "We have a nine-year old daughter, and I'm sorry we couldn't bring her along just to see the Pope and be in his presence. But I am looking forward to hearing what he has to say. I think his spiritual message will be very important for people; I know it will be a wonderful day for me."

* Herman and Susan Reinhold of St. Patrick's, Athens, speaking simultaneously: "We saw John Paul II in Rome; we were in the Air Force, stationed in Italy."

[This time will be different:] "There will be a lot of musical acts."

"The one in Rome was so international. Here, we expect everything to be in English."

"And Spanish."

"There will be a much bigger crowd."

"It's an experience of your Catholic identity to be going someplace on purpose with so many people."

* Mary Pulcher of St. Mary's parish in Waterford noted, "The Pope brings the whole world together. I am looking forward to hearing what he has to say to us in the U.S."

* Dorothy Bolduc from St. Mary's Church in Clinton Heights said, "Even non-Catholics are excited about Pope Benedict's visit to the U.S. I was recently at a gathering of people from different faiths, and they have sent along their prayer requests with us to offer at the Mass."

* Dan Merksamer, who attends St. Mary's parish, Albany, said, "When our names were chosen [in The Evangelist's drawing], we were very excited. We never thought we'd get to see the Pope in person." Said his wife, "Our morals and value system here need revision. I hope he speaks about that."

* Senior citizen Carmen Armstrong had left "deer, rabbits, mountain lions and bears" -- and her husband and three dogs -- behind in Colfax, California, to fly to Albany and meet her granddaughter, Carmen Devine of St. Clare's parish in Colonie.

"My grandmother is a great lady, always up for an adventure," Ms. Devine boasted. As for herself, "I remember watching John Paul II do Mass on TV when he came to the U.S. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I read the book 'God's Choice' about Pope Benedict; he sounds like an amazing orator."

* "Heavenly Father, we ask you to guide our journey as we go down to New York City to participate in the ultimate prayer: the sacrifice of the Mass with the successor of St. Peter." -- Matt Castiglione of Sacred Heart/St. Mary of Mount Carmel parish, Gloversville, leading Bus #7 in prayer.

* Bus driver's announcement to his passengers: "We must be down there by 10:00. We apologize for any inconvenience; our hands are tied. These rules come from the Secret Service."

* "We now have box seats down between home plate and first base!" -- Amy DeCelle of The Evangelist, telling the pilgrims that their far-away seats had been improved, to a round of applause.

* "Oh, my God, we got 500 people down here." -- Mary Breig of The Evangelist, collapsing into her seat at Yankee Stadium with relief. She and Mrs. DeCelle coordinated the massive undertaking.

* Mary Ann Hanley of St. Vincent de Paul parish in Albany, debating whether to bring the teddy bear in a "Christ Our Hope" t-shirt she won in a papal trivia contest on her bus into the stadium to be blessed with sacramentals: "I thought about that. I brought some little medals...."

Her mother, Sophie, with the Build-a-Bear possessively snuggled on her lap: "I'm holding it."

* "We've been friends for 36 years," said Mary Murphy of Immaculate Heart of Mary parish in Watervliet/Green Island and Pat Fitzgerald of Blessed Sacrament in Albany. Both "just had a feeling" they were going to be chosen to win tickets -- and were initially disappointed when Mrs. Fitzgerald's mailbox was empty.

Then Mrs. Murphy called and said she had received notification that she'd won. Following the immense crowd into Yankee Stadium, the pair said it was "meant to be."

* Mickey McGuire of St. John the Evangelist parish, Schenectady: "[I'm here] to see the Pope and get the Catholic people unified. There aren't enough people who are practicing Catholics. We need more priests. I think the Pope knows that."

* Frank Bonesteel was traveling in Munich when Pope Benedict stopped there last year. He didn't get to see the Pope then but "picked up the requisite Pope t-shirts" for friends and family. This time, his wife had a business commitment and couldn't make the trip, but he was determined to come anyway.

Pope Benedict "has been the man behind the scenes for a while," he said; "and I'm a Yankee fan! Aside from the spirituality of the event, this is probably the last time I'm going to get to the stadium before it disappears. I wasn't going to miss it."

* "I knew it was going to be cloudy, but I didn't know it was going to be this cold."

"Once we get inside, it'll be warmer."

"I just hope it doesn't rain."

"This [sweatshirt] was $65."

"The gift shop has blankets...."

-- hypothermic pilgrims, discussing the unexpectedly frigid weather and their purchases to combat it.

* "I didn't dress warm enough, that's for sure," said Margaret O'Brien of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Albany, huddled near a snack bar with a cup of hot chocolate.

Her other complaint was that the Capital District's TV media had been calling her, thinking she was the oldest traveler going to see the Pope.

"I'm 86!" she protested -- much younger than 92-year-old Virginia Cuomo, the "official" senior pilgrim.

* "It's better than being in Rome! Excellent! Wonderful!" exulted Susan Agcaoili of Holy Spirit parish in East Greenbush from her seat with an up-close-and-personal view of the day's events.

* The seats were "phenomenal! I can't get over it," said Matt Castiglione.

* Seminarian Dan Quinn, on his first time in the presence of a Pope: "I'm happy to be here. He never took our invitations before."

* At communion time, scores of priests scattered among the tiers of seats with hosts, escorted by police or firefighters. Brian McCaffrey of St. Thomas parish in Delmar thrust his hands forward to receive just as a priest moved on, and called out: "Wait, before you go...."

* "Well, I'm cold, and I'm tired; we've been at it for quite a few hours now. But I'm edified to be with the Holy Father. It will probably be the last time in my lifetime." -- Jim Ilowiecki

* As the popemobile drove slowly to its end point after Mass and the Pope got out amid deafening cheers, Elizabeth Doepper of St. Mary's Church in Glens Falls seemed prepared to trail the pontiff home.

"You could follow that man right out, and no matter where you would go, you would know you were walking in the way of our Lord," she explained. "I came here to meet a new pope, because John Paul II was a hard act to follow -- and he has proven he can do it. He's a very saintly man, and he knows his theology."

Pointing to her husband, she added that the couple believed the papal blessings would have another effect: "We're Yankee fans. This is going to guarantee the Yankees do better this year!"

* Bill Powell of St. James parish in Albany was crestfallen when he ducked inside to escape the cold for a few minutes and overheard a shivering boy say to his mother, "Couldn't we just watch this on TV?"

"It was wonderful," Mr. Powell said of his own experience. "Just to have a chance to have Mass with the Pope [is] a rarity, for sure. I was wondering how they would put it together with so many people [attending], but it was really nice."

* Hearing Pope Benedict refer to young people, even at an event not focused on them, made the day for Fran Luzinas of St. Stanislaus parish in Amsterdam.

"The Mass was just beautiful -- very inspiring and emotional," she said. "I had seen Pope John Paul in 1995, so I was very fortunate to see this pope -- and to have the Pope speak to children again today! There weren't that many children [here] today, but he still spoke to youth."

* Many pilgrims were most impressed at dozens of young people walking around the stadium flying gigantic paper doves on sticks like kites, filling the space with the appearance of birds in flight as soaring music played -- concluding with a gasp from the entire crowd of 57,000 as a flock of real white doves were released to circle the stadium.

"I was very emotional when they did the doves," said Marge Dussault of St. Mary's parish in Rensselaer. The whole day, she said, was "absolutely amazing, the most exciting thing I've ever seen in my entire life."

* "It was my first opportunity to see a pope live. It was thrilling: the entire congregation, [tens of thousands of] people of all different ethnicities and different religions, even....We can all get along. We worship the same God. And the people I was sitting next to, it was like you'd known them forever. I expected to be thrilled, but it went beyond my expectations. You felt chills when the Holy Father entered the stadium." -- Matt Marino, Corpus Christi parish, Round Lake.

* Mary Grace Dansereau of St. Teresa of Avila, Albany, was among many pilgrims who found connections with fellow Catholics who'd been strangers before: for example, two people sitting near her knew her previous pastor.

"The people around me were so nice," she stated. "It was just a beautiful, beautiful day."

* When they won tickets, Irene Boyle and Evelyn Falsarella of St. Vincent de Paul parish in Cobleskill were initially concerned about whether they could go: Both walk with canes.

But "everybody helped us!" they said. "It was meant to be; our names [were] picked, and here we are!"

"I couldn't get to Rome, but Rome came to me!" Ms. Boyle declared.

* Peter Meskoskey from St. Francis de Sales parish, Troy, said, "The entire day was amazing. Each portion had its own beauty. For me, this has been a time for understanding; to be at peace and really think about what's important in life. I think the one thing that jumped out at me was the energy of the crowd. Waving the white and gold hankies, calling the Pope's name, singing and chanting, and cheering."

His wife Debbie added that the dance with the doves "really affected me. When they released the white doves that flew over the stadium, you could have heard a pin drop. Then everyone cheered."

* Charlene Petsch of Holy Spirit Church, East Greenbush, noted that the trip was "the fourth time I've seen a pope. This day was absolutely wonderful for me, one of the best. I thought it was profound when the sun came out just as Pope Benedict entered the stadium. The clouds cleared, he came in, and the sun began to shine. I'm German, so it was really wonderful for me to hear him speak with his wonderful accent. I felt proud and happy to be here!"

Dee Murphy, her daughter, continued, "Pope Benedict was very impressive. I was amazed with the calming effect he had when he spoke and the way everyone quieted down. I loved to hear his voice. We had awesome seats, too; I never thought we'd be that close to the altar. We got to see everything, and I thought the entertainment was wonderful. I also liked his red shoes!"

* Karen Terradista, also from Holy Spirit, East Greenbush, said, "The Pope has such a kind face. I was very impressed with the way he reacted to all the cheers for him, smiling and waving to everyone. I think he was very brave to [take time to] speak with the families and victims of the sexual abuse scandal. It showed some spontaneity and great caring on his part. I'm so glad he did that."

* "His emotion just poured out of his face," said Vicky Barthel of St. Joseph's parish, Rensselaer. "It was beautiful to see: his smile, his reaction to the outpouring of love and emotion of the crowd. He was genuine."

* Bettianne Smulsky, who attends Immaculate Heart of Mary parish in Watervliet, said, "It really was a beautiful day. When the Pope came into the stadium [accompanied by] all the cheers and white hankies waving, I just wept."

* Kathleen Rosenbaum from Holy Spirit parish, East Greenbush, explained that Cathy Scott and she "brought 80 pairs of Rosary beads to be blessed by the Pope. They were made by Pat Lanza and Sue Agcaoili of our parish. Cathy's son Michael is receiving his First Eucharist in May with 79 other second-graders. At the end of the Mass, when the Pope made his blessing, we held up the rosaries. We wanted this to be a connection for our children.

"We were very much moved by the entire experience -- the Mass, seeing Pope Benedict, hearing the wonderful entertainment. We feel blessed that we've been given an opportunity to bring back our experience to our parish and school community."

* Denise and Clay Danish from St. Francis de Sales parish in Troy celebrated their 28th anniversary on April 19, the day before traveling to see Pope Benedict at Yankee Stadium. They look at their opportunity to make the trip as graced due to a turn of luck they never expected.

"Our names weren't originally picked in the drawing. We were chosen as alternates when someone else dropped out," Mr. Danish said at 4:30 a.m. Sunday, while waiting in the dark at LaSalle Institute in Troy for their bus to Yankee Stadium.

"We're excited to be going at all. We've had a lot of things go right instead of wrong this year, and going to see the Pope is one more good thing," he continued.

His wife said, "Besides, we know the young man that will be carrying the torch in the Mass procession. He's a seminarian now in the Archdiocese [of New York], but he knew our daughter when they both attended Siena College. We can't wait to see him."

On the way home, Mrs. Danish shared her impressions of the day: "I've struggled all my life with my hearing. [Eventually,] I became deaf. Five years ago, I had cochlear implants. Today, I can hear again, so going to the Mass was truly a blessing for me. To be able to come to something as wonderful as this, hear the beautiful music, the crowds cheering and singing, and then be able to share in the Eucharist at this lovely Mass with the Pope -- it has been life-changing!"

(Reported by Kate Blain, assistant editor, and Pat Pasternak, staff writer.)

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