A profound spiritual moment for devotees

Pilgrims wait in the rain for Pope Francis at the Quirino Grandstand in Luneta on Sunday. GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

MANILA, Philippines–Estrella Cruz, 38, could not explain how she felt when she saw Pope Francis pass by on the road where she and her three daughters had been waiting for hours for the papal motorcade. “I got goose bumps when he waved at us.”

Living on the sidewalks of Manila, Cruz said she scavenged for food and sometimes resorted to stealing so she could feed her three kids and ailing mother. Her husband died two years ago from a lung ailment.

But on Sunday, as she and her children aged 7, 6 and 5, saw the Pope on his way to the University of Santo Tomas, after standing for hours on Taft Avenue, Cruz said she felt different.

“I myself am surprised at how affected I was upon seeing the Pope. It felt as if my sins were already forgiven. It was overwhelming, I can’t describe it but tears were suddenly rolling down my cheeks,” she said, adding that it prompted her to proceed to Roxas Boulevard to again wait for the papal motorcade.

At the regular press briefing on Saturday, Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle said those who shed tears when they see the Pope could be experiencing a profound spiritual moment.

Gift of tears

“In Christian tradition there is a thing called the gift of tears,” the cardinal said. He added that people who experienced the divine and profound expressed the moment by shedding tears.

Cruz, clad in a raincoat she fashioned out of plastic trash, said she would go to Luneta (Rizal Park) for the papal Mass.

The rains did not stop devotees, many of whom came from other parts of the country, from trooping to Rizal Park to hear the Mass celebrated by the Pontiff.

“I am not afraid of the rain. I’ll be here despite the storm,” said Abegail Trinidad, 36, a call center agent from Laguna.

“This is history and this will probably be my last chance to see a pope in person,” said Belen Angeles, 65, from Pampanga, who came with her husband who has been battling cancer for years now.

“I’m praying that he gets better when he sees the Pope. I hope he’ll be able to bless my husband.”

Many others, however, were disappointed because they were unable to get near the stage at Quirino Grandstand because they were unable to enter the barricaded area.

Renato Santiago, 66, from Pampanga, left his home at around 5 a.m. with his son and four grandchildren.

They arrived in Luneta past 7 a.m. and they immediately lined up at the Maria Orosa entrance to enter the barricaded area of Luneta but eventually gave up.

Injuries in jostling

The sheer volume of people wanting to hear Pope Francis’ Mass at Rizal Park led some impatient early birds to push their way into the venue on Sunday morning and get the best spot at the front.

Some people sustained minor injuries in the jostling and shoving near the Maria Orosa Avenue entrance, where two layers of security checks were set up for the historic Mass.

The commotion prompted the Philippine National Police to open the gates earlier than the 6 a.m. schedule to ease the pressure of thousands of people wanting to get in.

From an initial 50 entrances, 75 entrances were set up on Orosa Avenue to accommodate the attendees. Ground commanders decided to open the gates early by an hour or two so that the 50 quadrants in front of the Quirino Grandstand would be occupied.

To allow people outside the Luneta to watch the Mass, 40 video walls around the park and on trucks were set up for the event.

Sea of faith

Even battle-scarred police officials were moved by the throng of people who braved the rains, walked several kilometers and squeezed through the crowd to attend the Mass celebrated by Pope Francis at Rizal Park. A number of them were children and elderly.

“What we’re seeing today is a sea of faith,” said Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina, PNP officer in charge. “Anybody will have goose bumps just witnessing the group of people walking toward Luneta to attend the Mass.”

Pedestrian traffic

Interior Secretary Mar Roxas directed pedestrian traffic from 8 a.m. to 12 noon at Maria Orosa Avenue, which served as the main entrance point for people coming from the east side of Luneta and Taft Avenue.

Several fainted during the long wait and the crush of crowd exiting the site but medical personnel were quick to respond.

Octogenarian

Epifanio Reserva, 84, braved the throng of people as he arrived at 6 a.m. from his home in Tanay, Rizal. “This is my third papal Mass in Luneta. I was here both times when Pope John Paul II held Mass in Luneta (1981 and 1995). I was younger and stronger then, but I’m far wiser now and closer to God,” said Reserva who used to work in a lumberyard.

He was one of the few elderly and disabled allowed by security on the motorcade route. “I remember that it was hot and sunny then. This is the first time it rained. But I don’t mind.”

From Masbate

Purita Gilutin, 68, came all the way from Masbate to attend the Sunday Mass. She came alone and felt lucky that good-hearted police personnel allowed her out of the swarm of people to get a front view of the Pope motorcade.

“They thought I needed medical attention. But I told them I was only asking to get a better view of the Pope. I just want to see him with my eyes,” said Gilutin. She came with a bag and a hat and nothing more. The police shared an extra blue rain coat and this made her feel even more blessed.

Gilutin said she hoped the Pope would bless her with good health and good fortune for her seven children.

On wheelchair

Beverly Sagrario, 86, was also chosen to sit at the street corner. She was visibly elated with the opportunity. This was her first time to see the Pope.

She had to go to the comfort room after hours of sitting on her wheel chair waiting for the Pope but she came back in time with just minutes to spare before the popemobile came gliding by.

Double amputee

Angie de Ramos, 34, a double amputee who uses her feet to paint, was with a group of sisters from Hospicio de San Jose led by Sister Marites Buensuceso.

Angie brought her painting of the Pope. Her group looked like it was going on a picnic and was in a gay mood.

Once in a lifetime

“It’s a once in a lifetime experience” was the common reason given by those who stayed on despite the rain at Rizal Park to hear Pope Francis’ culminating Mass.

“We’ve been here since 7 a.m.,” said 61-year-old Salvacion, who found a good corner at the Lapu-Lapu Monument where she and her 65-year-old husband sat and listened intently to the Mass that started at around 3 p.m.

The couple, who donned ponchos and brought an umbrella for added protection, said that they didn’t mind the rain and the hours-long wait because “we might not be alive the next time a pope visits the country.”

The couple first encountered the Vicar of Christ when then Pope, now Saint, John Paul II celebrated the World Youth Day Mass at the same venue in 1995. Salvacion said that during that time, they heard the Mass at the park’s Japanese Garden.

And while the couple didn’t have the opportunity to get as close as possible to the third pontiff to visit the country, she said that “what’s important is that we feel blessed.”

Babies

Many families who came to see Pope Francis in Luneta brought with them their children, some as young as babies, and did not leave even when the rains began midday.

One-year-old Khrea Venice del Rosario was brought by her mother and grandparents from Cavite, reaching Roxas Boulevard corner Kalaw Avenue by 5 a.m.

Champagne Amador, 16, from Parañaque had no complaint despite the long wait in the rain. To get past the thick crowd, she climbed a tree on Roxas Boulevard (near the corner UN Avenue) where she was perched when Pope Francis zoomed past.

For sick mother

“It’s for Mama. She’s sick. She can’t walk very well,” said the shivering teenager who along with her family began their wait for the Pope at 5 a.m.

Her cousin Dana Joan Amador, 9, was standing with several others on a truck parked on Roxas Boulevard when she saw Pope Francis pass by. “It’s for my tita (aunt),” she said.

The two girls saw the Pope for the first time, and were unmindful of being soaked to the skin. “I was screaming. I shouted, ‘Hello Lolo Kiko!’” Champagne said. “I felt happy. I waved to him,” Dana said.

Jane Bernabe brought her son Wacky, 10, and daughter Carla, 8, to Luneta so they could “feel [the] holiness” of the Pope.

What struck her the most in the Pope’s visit was his “effort to go to Tacloban,” despite the unfavorable weather conditions.

Bernabe said that she was reduced to tears when the Pope delivered an impromptu speech to the survivors of the storm, which left more than 6,000 dead and at least 3,000 missing.

“I may not have experienced what they went through but I felt their pain. And it’s something that I don’t want to happen to my family,” she said.

Unlike most families who attended the Mass, Arnold Alido and Len Alimoro are unmarried as they are live-in partners. Despite their status, Arnold said they felt they had to come and see Pope Francis say Mass.

“We just thought of going here over the past few days,” Arnold said. “I can’t give you an answer why, but we just felt we had to. He’s the Pope, after all, and we hope to get his blessing.”

Nicita Denso did not mind the rain that soaked her back and feet despite her heavy sweater and rubber shoes as she stood patiently all throughout the final Mass of Pope Francis in the country.

“This is a rare occasion,” said the over 40-year-old Denso, an employee of a company that offers foreign magazine subscriptions, who after hearing Mass and standing in the cold for four hours whispered a prayer of thanks that everything went on smoothly.

Denso said she had prayed she would be able to inch her way to Quirino Grandstand before Pope Francis holds the Mass.

She ended up along with thousands of others at the Lapu-Lapu monument, as dazed as the others on how to reach the grandstand given the flock of people equally battling for space this time for a better view of the widescreen put up there.