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ONE YEAR LATER, VC ALUM RECALLS SERVING MASS FOR THE POPE

OIL CITY, PA, February 11, 2011 – A little over a year ago, 20 seminarians from the Diocese of Erie traveled to Italy and France for a spiritual pilgrimage during what the Vatican had deemed "The Year of the Priest". What these young men did not realize was that in addition to traveling, they would be serving New Year's Day Mass in Rome with Pope Benedict XVI. Joseph Janidlo, son of Joseph and Margaret Janidlo of Franklin and a 2008 graduate of Venango Catholic High School, was lucky enough to be in attendance.

The seminarians were not made aware of the opportunity to serve Mass with Pope Benedict XVI until after they had left on their trip, which included stops in Rome, Italy, and Ars and Paris, France. Each seminarian was able to serve in some way during the Mass, and each was assigned a specific task.

Janidlo, along with fellow Oil City native Wesley Wheeler, son of Evelyn and Dan Wheeler of Oil City, and third year Philosophy major at Gannon University, had the honor of washing the Holy Father's hands before the consecration. Janidlo noted that the pitcher and bowl used for this process were very old, very heavy, and extremely ornate, embellished with gold and silver.

While Janidlo certainly acknowledges how special it was to serve in this way, his most memorable moment was not caught on camera. "When I had arrived at Saint Peter's with my brother seminarians, we were escorted to the back corner of the basilica, which had been curtained off and guarded by Swiss Guards, to the chapel of the Piata, the sculpture by Michelangelo. We all then vested in the chapel, in white Vatican surplices, and we were all then given a vestment, the Pope's vestments, to hold as we awaited his arrival. So there I am, vested in cassock and surplice, standing within feet of Michelangelo's Pieta, holding the Pope's miter in my hands, standing and waiting for the doors to open connecting the Basilica to the Apostolic Palace. And then suddenly, the doors open, and out comes the Pope himself."

Janidlo then goes on to describe the experience of being in the presence of Pope Benedict XVI. "One by one we presented the vestments to him as he recited the proper vesting prayers in Latin. I was last to present mine, the large white and gold miter. I then bowed in reverence and then was led outside the chapel, back into the basilica where we took our places for the procession. And then, only moments after, the curtains parted open and the procession began. And there I was in the midst of it all, processing down the long center isle of the Basilica, inching my way closer to Bernini's Baldacchino, to the tomb of Saint Peter the Apostle, with the Holy Father, the successor of Peter, only yards behind. It was truly a surreal moment—a glimpse of Heaven. Truly that day, the glory of Christ's Church on earth was made known to me."

Janidlo is currently in his third year at St. Mark Seminary in Erie, PA, and is studying Philosophy at Gannon University.

Originally published in the Titusville Herald on March 25, 2011.