Stories of joy from faces in the crowd

Pope Francis waves at the faithful as he arrives at Rizal Park to celebrate his final Mass in Manila, Philippines, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2015. Millions filled Manila’s main park and surrounding areas for Pope Francis’ final Mass in the Philippines on Sunday, braving a steady rain to hear the pontiff’s message of hope and consolation for the Southeast Asian country’s most downtrodden and destitute. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

MANILA, Philippines–He is a pope who transcends and binds generations, leaving a trail of blessedness everywhere he goes.

From his encounter with Filipino families at SM Mall of Asia Arena on Friday to his concluding Mass at Rizal Park on Sunday, Pope Francis drew the admiration of generations of Filipinos who endured long hours of waiting on roadsides, sidewalks and traffic medians under the rain just to see him and his smile.

Khristian Dacanay, a rescue volunteer from Muntinlupa City who was on duty during the papal Mass at Rizal Park, cited the Pontiff’s unifying presence.

“There are so many issues in our country, but for five days, it seemed everyone was united,” Dacanay said.

Dacanay could not stop his tears from falling as he watched a wide screen that showed the Pope’s encounter with young people at the University of Santo Tomas, while manning his post under an overpass on Roxas Boulevard.

“I am really affected because in our profession, we are responsible for the lives of people. Every time I climb up the ambulance or go to an accident site, I pray for God’s guidance,” Dacanay said.

For his fellow volunteer Jacqueline Nois, 24, the papal visit was an assignment of a lifetime.

Stationed with rescue crews on Roxas Boulevard on Sunday, Nois felt privileged to be among the countless volunteers tapped to look after the record crowd of at least 6 million gathered at Rizal Park and its peripheries for the Pontiff’s finale.

First papal visit

Too young to remember Saint John Paul II’s 1995 visit to the Philippines, Nois considered Pope Francis’ apostolic visit the first for her.

“I really didn’t feel at the time that the Pope visited. So for me, this is actually the first time,” said the Muntinlupa City resident.

It was not at all a bother that she had barely slept since the Pope’s arrival on Jan. 15: “This happens once in every 20 years… How he smiles, it’s really genuine. [It gladdens the heart].”

Simby Torres was at Rizal Park in 1995 for John Paul II’s concluding Mass for World Youth Day celebrations. She made sure to come back for Pope Francis, unmindful of the rain that drenched the crowd throughout Sunday.

“It is rare for a Pope to come here… We have to endure and sacrifice so we could hear the good news he would bring,” Torres, 46, said.

Torres got separated from her family in the crush of people that flocked to Rizal Park for the Mass, but it didn’t matter.

“I’m used to it,” said Torres, a veteran of large-crowd gatherings at Rizal Park, being a devout follower of the Catholic charismatic group El Shaddai.

Pilgrims’ progress

Ester de Oro, a pilgrim from Los Baños town in Laguna province in her 50s, was overjoyed.

“Superb,” she said after the Mass in the park. “It was a wonderful experience.”

Starting out at dawn, Oro and hundreds of Laguna residents traveled to Manila for the papal Mass, hoping to be blessed by the Holy Father.

It was difficult, she said. The ride ended at Quirino Avenue and from there all of them walked to Rizal Park, where millions of people jostled for the best spot from which to see the Pope.

Oro, whose name means gold, felt so blessed, as the Pope came riding in his open-sided popemobile and passed right in front of her.

“Deep in my heart, I feel I have been blessed by God through the Pope,” she said. “It was a miracle.”

Together with more than 20 young people, Leo Cabildo, who is in his early 20s, left San Pedro City in Laguna at midnight on Saturday to attend the papal Mass on Sunday afternoon. The early start didn’t help, as the park was already a sea of people when they arrived hours later.

Just as rain started to fall, his group found and squeezed into a small space near the flagpole. Without umbrellas or raincoats, they stayed there all night, waiting for the Mass that was to start at 3:30 p.m. Sunday.

“But all fatigue and hunger vanished when we caught a glimpse of the Pope on his way to the grandstand,” Cabildo said.

Another pilgrim from Laguna, Kelly Beltran of San Pablo City, went with about a hundred people to Rizal Park to see the Pope for a second time. The first time she saw Francis was last Friday at MOA Arena and she said she became “speechless” when she saw the Pontiff.

At Rizal Park on Sunday, Francis passed by on his popemobile only steps away from where Beltran stood. She said she was “crying because of joy and excitement.”

“I was truly blessed,” Beltran said.

Coming to be blessed

Outside the MOA Arena last Friday, siblings Norma Santos, 88, Asuncion Wijangco, 90, and Gloria Mercado, 96, came early in the morning from their homes in Malabon and Quezon City to see the Pope at the 5:30 p.m. meeting with Filipino families.

The sisters, who came with other relatives, stayed outside the SMX Convention Center adjacent to the arena to wait for the papal convoy.

“I love the Pope,” said Santos, wheelchair-bound like her sister Gloria. “Even if it’s hard for us, we came to see him. We hope that even from far away, he’ll bless us.”

Fe Reyes brought her kids and their cousins to the MOA Arena to cheer not just the Pope but also her grandmother, Wilma Esperanza, a lay leader in their parish who was among those selected by the Church to have a seat inside the venue of the ticketed event.

Esperanza was not allowed to bring company into the arena so Reyes and her gang of seven kids, aged 3 to 12, made do with waiting outside.

“We’re super-excited,” Reyes’ son Noah said when asked about seeing the Pope.

When asked about Pope Francis, his 3-year-old brother Simon could think of only one thing: “Airplane!”

Hope for storm survivors

Despite an approaching storm, Pope Francis flew to Leyte province last Saturday for a mercy mission to the survivors of Supertyphoon “Yolanda” (international name: Haiyan), which flattened entire communities with tsunami-like waves and left more than 6,300 people dead, thousands missing and 4 million homeless when it struck Eastern Visayas on Nov. 8, 2013.

Vincent Basiano sang and cheered along with a sea of other joyous Yolanda survivors as the Pope celebrated Mass at the airport in Tacloban, ground zero for the monster storm, but after the Mass the euphoria passed quickly.

“While I was there in the presence of the Pope, the joy was overflowing,” Basiano, 32, said. “But when I got home, it was back to reality. Here comes another typhoon. We try to take this reality in stride, being vulnerable to the dangers of typhoons, but we also need to prepare.”

Basiano lost his shanty in Anibong village, where the bow of a ship that was beached by Yolanda’s monster winds still lies.

“If the Pope had visited here, he would have been shocked with what he saw,” Ofelia Villarmenta, a 37-year-old mother of four, said.

“We have not rebuilt our homes here because we have no money,” said Villarmenta, whose fish-vendor husband has been jobless since Yolanda struck.

Basiano said he was out of work for more than a year after Yolanda, as the huge storm surges generated by the typhoon demolished the computer school where he taught.

Still, Basiano said the Pope’s visit had given renewed hope to the survivors, and he said he expected it to jolt the government into accelerating the painfully slow pace of rebuilding the region.

“Because of the sympathy showed by the Pope, we are holding on to hope,” he said. “He gave us a voice and strengthened our faith.”

Unexpected guest

Roby Aguilar and his wife, Jennet, were watching the live TV coverage of the papal visit to Tacloban when power went out.

The couple decided to go out and join the thousands of people lining the road on the Pope’s motorcade route to Palo town.

But to the couple’s surprise, the popemobile stopped in front of their shanty in Barangay 86. Pope Francis got off and walked toward them.

“Right away, we ran toward him and kissed his hand, which is so soft and cold. We were crying and in shock,” Roby, a carpenter, said.

The Aguilars lost their 7-year-old son Rogen during Yolanda. Roby said he lost his faith because of that tragedy.

Solace

“We still cannot accept the fact that our son is no longer with us. But with the Pope visiting us, we somehow find solace [in the belief that he is in] a better place,” he added.

“Perhaps our son led the Holy Father to our house. That was why [the Pope] stopped by at our small house,” he said.

Jennet said seeing the Pope was like seeing Jesus.

“Our eyes met, and I cannot not really explain how I felt at that time,” she said.

Francis blessed the couple’s daughter Junko and three other children who were there. Then he gave the Aguilars four rosaries, each in a brown pouch, then went on his way to Palo.

Roby said the rosaries were now the family’s “treasures,” and that he would resume hearing Mass at the village chapel.

Saying goodbye

Pope Francis ended his visit to the Philippines on Monday, sent on his way home by about a million cheering Filipinos who again lined the roads on his motorcade’s route from the Apostolic Nunciature on Taft Avenue, Manila, where he stayed, to Villamor Air Base in Pasay City.

For 29-year-old mother Maria Agnes Honra, seeing the Pope for the second time was a sign of a pouring of blessings for her family. Honra and her 11-year-old daughter braved the heat of the morning sun and the press of the thousands of people gathered along Andrews Avenue, outside Gate 5 of the base, to bid Francis goodbye.

Though she was not able to see the Pontiff up close this time, unlike on his arrival last Thursday, Honra said it was enough for her that she and her daughter were able to send him off.

“We just wanted to say goodbye to him,” Honra said.

Giving way to others

Sister Mayet Odtuhan of the Missionaries of the Child Jesus in Makati City said she was supposed to be in front of the security line at the Skyway ramp near Villamor, but she ended up at the back of the crowd after going around to distribute prayer leaflets.

“I tried going back to our original post but there were already so many people who would not let me pass through,” she said.

But that’s all right, she said, adding that she was already “fulfilled” after seeing Pope Francis four times during his visit.

On Monday, she said, it was time to give others a chance to see the Pope.

Best Pope ever

“The thirst, the hunger and the pain I felt in my knees while I was standing there for three hours was all worth it. I feel so blessed that I was able to see the successor to St. Peter before I die,” 68-year-old Gilberto Antenor, a retired soldier, said. “I also know that I have somebody close to Him who will help grant my prayer requests for me and my family. The Philippines is very lucky that the Pope visited us.”

Avryll Nartates, 11, wrote a letter for Pope Francis. She and her parents had hoped to get the rare opportunity to have personal encounter with the Pontiff and hand him the letter herself.

In her letter, Nartates told Francis that he was able to “touch everyone’s hearts.”

“You touch the hearts of the blind, the deaf, the mute, the diseased, the street children and everyone,” she wrote.

“In exchange, we touch your heart, too, with our prayers, our smiles and our love of God, Jesus, Mama Mary and you. God bless you. We love you and we’ll pray for you,” she said.

Nartates’ cousin, 11-year-old Shawn Ceresa, also wrote a letter to the Pope. “You’re the best and [most] loving Pope ever,” he wrote. “Please pray for me and my brother so we will be priests like you.”–With reports from Christian V. Esguerra and AFP