Deacon Lawrence and his family attend the canonization of two popes in Rome

Deacon David Lawrence, his wife, Janet and, daughter, Cecilia  traveled to Rome to see two popes canonized by two popes.They were in attendance for the canonization of St. John Paul II and St. John XXIII.They were among the crowd of people who cheered when Pope Benedict came outside and when Pope Francis embraced Pope Benedict.
Janet said, “I never attended a canonization before. It was very powerful when the declaration took place. The Church listened to the petitions and investigated the lives of both men and declared them saints. Everyone erupted into cheers. I could feel the saints in heaven waiting for the declaration.”
Janet and her family arrived at St. Peter’s Square at 3 a.m., but the crowd was so large they had to stand in the back by the Tiber River. The large TV screens along the way were for the thousands of people in attendance to celebrate the Mass and ceremony. The books were in Latin, Italian and English. The Mass lasted less than two hours. Everyone participated in the Mass – standing, kneeling and singing hymns. The music, especially the Litany of the Saints, was beautiful.
The Lawrences traveled to Rome with the Educational Opportunities group. The main purpose of the group is to travel with people to see the Holy Land and further their faith through a pilgrimage. The 19 people who traveled together were able to visit many religious places before the canonization of the popes.
Janet shared, “We waited in line for three hours for an audience with Pope Francis. Mostly school children were there to see the pope. He drove past in the popemobile, which is slightly bigger than a golf cart. St. Peter’s Square is larger than you can imagine. It is huge. The columns are at least five feet in diameter. There is room for 40,000 chairs or room for 200,000 without chairs, but at least 800,000 people were crowded into that space.”
One of the day trips was to Orvieto's magnificent basilica. Janet said that 750 years ago Peter of Prague, a priest, had doubts about the presence of Christ in the Eucharist, but when he broke the host it started bleeding. Pope Urban IV declared it a miracle. While there, Deacon Lawrence was able to assist at Mass for the jubilee of the feast of Corpus Christi; singing hymns that Thomas Aquinas composed for the feast.