I'm a John Paul II Generation Catholic: the papacy in the life of your Catholic Librarian

Last night I couldn't sleep very well. It's been like that for several nights now. I wake and think about what time it is in Rome (5 hours ahead of me) and what is going on there. Last night, I was thinking that the sweet new pope was likely not getting a wink of shut eye. How could you after the evening he had? You'd be on an adrenaline high for days.

Anyway, I then started thinking about how the papacy has played out over the course of my life, and if you're interested, here it is:

When I was born, Paul VI was still pope, though I do not remember him. The infamous "birth control encyclical pope," interestingly enough. I was 3 years old when he died, and this my friends, was a crucial point in the life of the Church. The original Pope John Paul was elected, and 33 days later he died. At the time, that had to seem jarring. Why did the Holy Spirit lead the cardinals to select someone who would die so soon thereafter? Well, it seems very clear to me. :) If that hadn't happened, we would never have gotten John Paul II. Because of John Paul I's death, the cardinal electors were suddenly open to somebody young and non-Italian, a completely different direction for the papacy. Somebody who could lead the Church for a long time with his youth and vitality, his strong intellect and sense of morality in a time when society's morals were getting much looser . And the whole world was changed as a result.

There will never be another John Paul II. My husband characterized him last night as "a superstar." He was a pope for the ages. I got emotional thinking about him again last night. It's hard to believe that he's been gone for 8 years already. He was the pope of my childhood, young adulthood, and entry into mature adult life. I do not think of myself as being in "Generation X;" I am a John Paul II generation girl.

I was devastated when he died. I remember watching his funeral, the period of mourning. During that Conclave, I was of course extremely interested in how it would come out, but I was not involved like I was yesterday. I was still mourning John Paul II and couldn't fathom anybody else as pope. When the Conclave started, I was watching for news, but I didn't feel a part of things. I remember being on the reference desk on the second day of the Conclave. A colleague came out to tell me that she heard there was a new pope. Desperate for news, I navigated to one of the big news sites. I read that there had been white smoke. Then a patron came to the desk.

%&*!

Not only did a patron come to the desk, she wanted me to help her interpret a chemistry reference source that was in German.

*long suffering sigh*

I remember being in the reference stacks with her, feeling like I had ants in my pants because I wanted so badly to get back to the desk and check the news. Finally, I was freed. I went right to CNN's web site.

Ratzinger!! I remember feeling triumphant. So many people were saying the "Church needs to change, yadda, yadda" thing, like they always do, and I was happy that we had a pope who clearly would keep with John Paul II's vision. It was jarring to see him in the papal vestments, but it felt right. It was like I was shocked and yet not surprised at the same time. It just made so much sense.

The years passed. Then we came to his resignation. And the first Conclave of the social media generation. I kept up with everything via my podcasts and Facebook, and then Twitter (which I have come to love over the past 2 days; Facebook has been annoying me for a long time, and Twitter has a totally different feel).

Yesterday, I was watching the chimney cam. I was keeping up minute-by-minute with Twitter. I saw the white smoke *live* the instant it appeared above the Sistine Chapel. I shared it with my sisters, who both live in different states from me. It was wonderful.

I was hopping up and down in my seat waiting for the announcement and for the new pope to come out onto the balcony. I saw the bands come into St. Peter's Square and play the anthem. I didn't see ANY of that before.

When the announcement came, I missed it because my Vatican Radio video feed had frozen due to overuse. When I tuned back in, all I could hear was Latin that I couldn't even come close to interpreting since I came in right in the middle. But I was immediately brought up to speed by my sister and Twitter.

An Argentine! A Jesuit! Taking a name never before used by a pope, Francis!

I LOVED.

And I *adored* his first speech and blessing, so sweet! He seems very humble, very serene, VERY prayerful. He asked for *our* prayers and extended his blessing to those watching over television and Internet. I was impressed.

And I learned that this morning he was up early, bright eyed and bushy tailed, go go pray at the basilica of St. Mary Major and ask for her intercession for the people of Rome. I just love this guy.

I've been watching some beautiful coverage on EWTN, thank the good Lord for saving me from the secular media. I do watch secular coverage as well, but it's nice to have an alternative. EWTN had on a documentary about the papacy the other night that was awesome. It would have been even better if I could *hear* it without Henry talking through it, but you can't have everything I suppose.

Oh! And I'm reading an ebook right now that I'm adoring. It's Jimmy Akin's Pope Names. Granted, we now have a pope that chose a unique name, but I'm still fascinated. And it's only $2.99 for Kindle, a bargain. He discusses the history of pope's taking new names and trends in the names they choose. Good stuff.

Anyway, back to our pope. I'm very excited for his installation Mass, which I hear will be this coming Tuesday, March 19th, the feast of St. Joseph. And I'm SO excited that we will have him for all of the Holy Week and Easter liturgies. God is good!

I'm overwhelmed

If this is how I feel, I can't even imagine how the new pope feels.

Wow. Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio from Buenos Aires, now Pope Francis. The first Jesuit pope in history. 

I got tears in my eyes when I first spotted him on the balcony, after saying several *very bad* words because my feed had just frozen. I will have you know that I recovered quickly from my free fall into panic mode. How could my feed freeze THEN?!

My first impression: he seems very humble and prayerful. From popular surmise, he is very doctrinally orthodox. He's older than I thought he would be, but that's no matter.

I like him very much. It's hard to compare anybody to my beloved John Paul II, but I have a good feeling about this pope. A very good feeling.

Could the delay in the smoke...

...be due to scaring up all of these bands?

I think so.

My goodness. I didn't get to see ANY of this last time. What a beautiful moment to be a part of the universal Church! I'm so grateful that due to modern technology and social networking I got to experience this. Just so grateful.

Habemus Papam!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am in tears. I saw the white smoke and now I'm listening to the bells. Now to wait for the big reveal!! I can't stand it, I'm so anxious!!

On smoke watch again...

This could be the one. I'm watching a live stream via www.ewtn.com right now, real good focus right on the chimney. Biting nails!!!

Our wait continues...

I was awake at the early hour of 6 am EDT fumbling with my remote to tune in to Chimney Watch 2013. If you are not following @ConclaveChimney over on Twitter you are seriously missing out, let me tell you. That thing cracks me up.

Anyway, I digress. Happily, EWTN had a live camera on the chimney that it was displaying in a corner over the top of it's regular programming. I watched some woman play the organ while staring at the chimney cam. Soon, I had to get Henry up and on his way to getting dressed or that child would never drag himself out of bed.

I did so, and as I returned to begin dressing the big moment came: Gray smoke. Gray?! Wha... Oh, it's black, yes, very black. I wasn't surprised. In fact, I think it's better that they take more time. The soonest I expect while smoke is in the afternoon votes today, so no biggie. You can get I'll be at my computer nearly peeing my pants this afternoon.

I also heard about www.popealarm.com (thanks Amy!) and signed up to receive a text message when white smoke appears above the Sistine Chapel, on the off chance that I'm not acting all stalkerish on my computer when the Big Moment comes.

This afternoon is an important vote. I believe this was the time in the last Conclave that Pope Benedict XVI was elected. I think it's fine if the smoke is still black, but it'll be hard to wait yet another day for more results. The humanity!

I REMAIN EXTREMELY EXCITED.

BLACK SMOKE

WHY IS SHE BLOGGING AGAIN WHEN SHE SHOULD BE WORKING?

That is the question of the day, to be sure. But seriously, how can I not be? THIS IS HISTORIC, PEOPLE. I'm writing a book review in between my stalking, I promise.

I went for my knitting lunch at 1 pm, and was anxious to return to smoke watch an hour later. 
I was simultaneously tweeting and wrestling with Vatican tv when word came in that black smoke was rising from our precious chimney atop the Sistine Chapel. Smoke?! How could I not have a live feed?!

This is going to be a problem. It took several attempts before I forced the Vatican feed to allow me to see the shot of the chimney. Apparently the cardinals didn't want to leave anything to chance this year: people were reporting a voluminous cloud of black smoke coating St. Peter's Square, and the chimney was having to defend itself against some people tweeting about pollution, lol. Suddenly, I love Twitter.

Ok, so the word on the street is that the morning ballot will take place at approximately 4:30 am EDT and we can expect smoke sometime after 7 am here on the east coast. I'll still be at home inevitably packing my lunch and reading to Anne then so she's going to have to live with watching something, anything, that will show us the chimney cam. Maybe EWTN will come to our rescue? I'd think the cable news networks are going to just cut away and show us once the smoke appears. I don't know, BUT I'LL BE STALKING, rest assured.

Just in case you didn't know already: I AM SO EXCITED.

The doors are closed!

I'm so excited I can hardly type. I just watched the entire procession and oath taking ceremony live from the Sistine Chapel. I'm burning up my Twitter feed after lying dormant for something like 2 years. @ConclaveChimney is hard at work reporting in.

I found a Vatican tv feed to watch. Is it just me, or is the Vatican web site not all that easy to navigate? I watched it on a third party site. Right now Vatican Radio looks like the place to be for streaming.

I also just adopted a cardinal to pray for. PRECIOUSNESS!! You can too by going here.

I don't know what to do with myself right now. Right. I should be working.

Big day

Today is the BIG DAY. I know that it is highly unlikely that a new pope will be elected today, but I'm super excited all the same since it is the official beginning of the Conclave. I love that my campus is on spring break so I have lots of extra time to stalk the places via which I'll be monitoring coverage. So, what am I doing?

(1) Keeping up with that precious Fr. Roderick. His Twitter handle is @FatherRoderick and I follow him on Facebook. As well, I'm awaiting each installment of his Catholic Insider podcast with baited breath.

(2) Apparently, #HabemusPapam is the hashtag to search for on Twitter to keep up on minute-by-minute coverage. There is also a #Conclave hashtag.

(3) I am also now following @Raymond Arroyo now (from EWTN) and @ConclaveChimney. Isn't that just the cutest thing? The first Tweet I saw from the chimney read "Guys, I'm stuck up here on this roof..." I just about died laughing. He's re-Tweeting some good stuff.

(4) I'm keeping my eyes peeled on the Vatican's web site, which does has a live stream of St. Peter's Square. I'm hoping that they will have a "chimney cam" going once the cardinals begin voting.

I don't have a Smartphone, but for those that do, I know there is that fabulous new Pope App, and for once, I'm very jealous of those that have access to this.

I'm just trying to keep up and trying to stay prayerful. As soon as something happens, I'll be on here chattering about it.

I'M SO EXCITED I CAN HARDLY STAND IT.