Today was perhaps the most eventful day of the week, but I will be brief in

recounting it, for lack of time.

Last night a friend said that he heard from someone who heard from someone

that there was a group offering Mass this morning "somewhere at St. Peter's"

and he thought we could tag along. It sounded a bit unlikely, but I figured

perhaps they had arranged the use of a chapel in the crypt. So I went

along.

To my surprise, when we got to St. Peter's it turned out to be a major

liturgy at the Altar of the Chair, the large altar immediately behind the

high altar before which the Holy Father's body lies. I thus had a brief

moment to say a prayer while passing his remains and--much more

importantly--to concelebrate Mass in the basilica for his soul, while his

body was there.

It was, for me, a real "funeral," because tomorrow only cardinals will

concelebrate. I found this a real and totally unexpected blessing, and a

great privilege, since I was neither able to join the queue to pay my last

respects nor willing to try and circumvent it when so many had stood for

hours.

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And speaking of such pilgrims: another great experience was the visit of my

old friend Rob Fuller, a former seminarian who is now married and the father

of four. Before the Holy Father died, he had already e-mailed to say he was

coming to Rome. I had so little insight into what would follow on the

Pope's death that I wrote back to see if it was a business trip or not! He

gave me the first clue of how people would respond.

Yesterday he flew from Ireland, where he now lives, landing at 4 and heading

directly to St. Peter's from the airport. He arrived at the College to

sleep at 6:30 this morning.

Rob is not a man of many words, but when I asked him why he came he said:

"Because I wanted to bring all my family and friends who couldn't come."

He described his experience inside St. Peter's as the pinnacle, but said

that the hours he spent in line were no less prayerful and filled with

gratitude.

That's the word as the sun sets here: gratitude. I feel gratitude for the

unexpected chance to offer the Eucharist in such a setting, gratitude to Rob

and his million or so companions for their witness of faith and love and

sacrifice, and gratitude to God for the gift of a shepherd who could touch

our hearts in such a way.

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Talking to the media may be exciting for some, but it's no pleasure for me.

Some in the house just won't do it, but several of us feel we have a

responsibility. I might reappear tonight on The National, and tomorrow on a

CBC radio special on the Pope.