Patch of Faith: An Audience With The Pope

Editor’s Note: Christian Coleman is a freshman at Chaminade College Preparatory School in Creve Coeur. He’s a member of the St. Louis Archdiocesan Children’s Choir, which in December participated in the International Federation of Pueri Cantores, which drew 2000 singers from around the world to Rome. The Federation of Pueri Cantores is a Catholic organization which promotes sacred music and meets in Rome every five years to sing for the Holy Father.

When we arrived in Rome, we immediately went to Vatican City and entered the Audience Hall where we met up with the other singers. There was a procession of every country with their flag, followed by rehearsal and an address from the "Secretary of State" for the Catholic Church. The following day, our choir sang a Mass at St. Paul Outside the Walls with the other English-speaking choirs. St. Paul contains portraits of every Pope predicted by St. Malachy. After the Mass, our choir took a tour of St. Paul, the Roman Forum, and the Colosseum. The next day, we returned to the Audience Hall with the 2,000 other children and had an audience with the Pope! It was amazing to hear all the kids roar louder than a rock concert for this one man, who represents Peter and the Church. Benedict said a few words to us thanking us for what we do. He told us that music and singing in particular is the highest praise we can give to God. Following the Papal audience, we walked to the palace of His Eminence, Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke, former Archbishop of St. Louis, where he greeted us and took pictures with us. Later that evening, we performed at St. Peter's Basilica. The Mass was celebrated by the Holy Father, and I was lucky enough to have an aisle seat and be literally four feet from Pope Benedict. It was such an incredible moving experience to be singing in such a wonderful space with the Holiest man on the planet.

The next day, New Year’s Eve, we visited the Vaticini Museo, or Vatican Museum. We also got to go inside the Sistine Chapel--but no pictures—and touredSt. Peter's Basilica. New Year's Eve doesn’t just mean pretty fireworks in Rome, but loud explosives, too. We literally got to see almost a hundred (if not more) different fireworks shows from our hotel roof. The whole sky was lit up and noisy, but when you looked in the direction of the Vatican, you saw the dome of St. Peter's Basilica lit up and completely silent.

   New Year’s Day brought us to Trevi Fountain, where I tossed a coin over my shoulder, along with stops to the Spanish Steps, and the Pantheon. Later that night, we performed with three others at St. Ignatius Church, where hundreds of people flooded in when the doors opened. That was our big finishing night, and the next day we got up early and flew back to America, leaving the beauty of Rome and the Vatican behind.

   This trip to Rome has been a life-changing experience for me. My dad doesn't have a job right now, and my parents sacrificed much of their hard-earned savings for me to take this trip. After being at the Vatican, at the heart of the Catholic Church, and seeing the Pope, the leader of it all, it really inspired me and made me realize that as Christians, we are called to live good lives, so that we make it into heaven, but to be selfless giving people, and spreading our faith. This experience has me looking at becoming a priest in the future. Whatever years we have on Earth cannot compare to the eternity that we get to spend in heaven with God. We need to learn to be truly humble and not put our effort into things with no gain. I know it's such a hard thing to do but in the end it's all worth it.