Jesse and Connie Villarreal of Austin, Texas, sit in Nationals Stadium.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — 7:30 a.m.,
Jesse and Connie Villarreal of Austin, Texas, were in their seats at Nationals Park baseball stadium. The retired OSHA compliance officer and elementary school teacher were thrilled to be attending this morning’s papal Mass.

"We got up about 4:30 this morning. We thought we were beating the crowds, but by the time we got to the subway, hundreds were there before us.”

Most Catholics in the crowd agree that the best thing about a papal Mass is seeing so many Catholics come together to celebrate our faith. “I’m so excited!” exclaimed a woman who asked not to be identified. “I feel just like a little kid. I have butterflies in my stomach and everything!”

	Thomas Young of Suitland, Maryland smiles in Nationals Park. Photo by Kathleen Stauffer.

Thomas Young, a retired State Department employee from Suitland, Maryland, won his tickets in a lottery at St. Teresa of Avila Parish. Not coming to the festivities seemed almost inconceivable to Young. “Oh my goodness,” I am a fourth-generation Catholic! I am very, very active in my church. I call myself a walking, living miraculous testimony of God. Oh, yes, this is my life, honey.”

Farther down in the bleachers, 29-year-old massage therapist Elizabeth Kimball shaded her eyes against the rising sun. “I just really wanted to see it,” she said of the papal Mass. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the pope in your hometown. It strengthens your faith to see so many Catholics in one place sharing your beliefs.”

Homeschooling Mom Nancy Brien of Manassas, Virginia, brought her children, Sarah, 11, and Hugh, 13. “It’s the ultimate field trip,” she explained.

By 8:30, the bishops began their parade onto the ball field at Nationals Park. Their scarlet robes swayed in time to a resounding choir and state-of-the-art, record-size video screen hanging above the outfield.

There was some anxiety among archdiocesan officials in Washington, whose preparations for the papal event were hampered at times because the brand-new stadium was in the final stages of completion as officials themselves were putting final plans into place for Pope Benedict’s arrival.

	Papal Mass takes place at Nationals Park. Photo by Kathleen Stauffer

Positioned just blocks from our nation’s Capitol, Nationals Park was in fact completed on March 30, just weeks before the Pope arrived in America. Including onfield seating, the stadium’s capacity is 42,000. It will host about 46,000 today.

Although the pope was not expected to say Mass until 10 a.m., the stadium was all but filled by 8:30. Video testimonies of faith and spiritual song performance occupied the anticipatory crowd.

Only 103,000 tickets were available for the papal Masses in Washington and New York combined making attendance at today’s celebration all the more coveted. Organizers worked hard, also, to ensure tickets could not spark a resale circus, requiring IDs in addition to tickets for general admittance.

In his homily today, the pope is expected to salute America’s growing generations of faith and, in particular, the leadership of Washington’s archbishop Donald Wuerl as well as the growth of the dioceses of Boston, Philadelphia, and New York.

In addition, the pope will speak of the need to witness faith in our world and note that this is a time of great promise but also a time of alienation and a coarsening of sociability.

Pope Benedict arrived at Nationals Park at about 9:30 as the choir broke into “Holy God, We Praise Your Name,” a song of German origin and a tribute to Benedict XVI’s Bavarian heritage. A ballpark ethereally transformed into an open-air cathedral, the stadium-church erupted in applause as the pope circled the field.

Ten minutes before 10 a.m., the Pope approached the altar to a thunderous Alleluia choir and an enrapt, silent crowd.

The 10-by-4-foot altar, positioned on the outfield, was draped in white and gold with a 6-foot gold fiberglass crucifix suspended above the papal chair. As the sun caught the colors, an otherworldly aura enveloped the altar. Four choirs, including a children’s choir, filled the stadium with song while the Capitol dome hung suspended in the distance, just over left field.

Participating in today’s Mass with the pope were 14 cardinals, 250 bishops, 1,300 priests, and approximately 45,000 lay people.

Ten minutes before 10 a.m., the Pope approached the altar to a thunderous Alleluia choir and an enrapt, silent crowd. Smiling broadly, he blessed the faithful on both sides of the aisle before mounting a ramp and taking his place at the altar. Taking up a censer, he blessed the altar and crowd with incense. And the Mass began, “In the name of the father, and of the son, and of the Holy Spirit...”

Stay with Catholic Digest for more live coverage of this papal Mass. CD