Persistence has its rewards: Attending a papal Mass

By Christine Bordelon
Clarion Herald

During their recent 11-day Italian pilgrimage over the Mardi Gras holidays, members of the Janusa family, parishioners of St. Angela Merici Church in Metairie, were able to attend Ash Wednesday Mass on Feb. 22 with Pope Francis at the Basilica of St. Sabina on the Aventine Hill in Rome.


The basilica holds about 600 people, so Michelle Janusa said it was a miracle her family was selected to attend. The majority of the audience at the Mass was religious.

“I had no expectations of going at all,” she said, after being told repeatedly by email communications to apply for admission to all papal Masses and the Wednesday audience during her days in Rome and hope for the five tickets she needed.

“The day after we arrived in Italy, we discovered we were chosen and needed to come to an orientation, and we had to go and pick up the special tickets at the Prefecture of the Papal Household in Vatican City State,” Janusa said.

An English-speaking priest conducted an orientation for the pilgrims on how to act.

“They didn’t want you to kneel … showed you how to receive Communion by the hand,” she said. “He told us where to go and said we had to be there three hours ahead of time.”

When they arrived for the Ash Wednesday Mass, “there were people everywhere trying to get through the barricades just to see,” Janusa said. “Unless you had this yellowish, orange ticket, you couldn’t get in. There were nuns out there who were crying because they couldn’t get in (and had tried for years). I felt awful.”

Janusa said her family – husband Gabriel; son Austin, 13; daughter Kaitlyn, 10; and mother Ana Graci – was seated on the aisle and were featured on the live EWTN broadcast of the Mass as the pope passed.

“It was just exciting,” Janusa said. “Even though you didn’t understand what was happening – everything was in Italian – just seeing the cardinals in red, you knew you were so special to be there. It was really special, especially to my kids, which I didn’t expect. The foundation they are getting at Stuart Hall and Sacred Heart really prepared them.”

Never gave up
Janusa said persistence was the key to getting the tickets. Six months in advance, she emailed the Vatican office that distributes the tickets and followed up with additional emails asking about her chances to attend the Ash Wednesday Mass. She said a priest waiting in line to enter the basilica told her that persistence was key.

“I was pretty persistent,” Janusa said. “I emailed about every three weeks, asking, ‘Hey, any word? Any shot of getting in the Mass?’”

The Janusas made the most of their first trip to Italy, visiting Rome, Venice, Florence, Pisa, Tuscany, Pompeii and Naples. In addition to the papal Mass, they took the underground St. Peter Basilica Scavi tour, where the bones of St. Peter and other popes are buried.

“It’s almost like taking your breath away chilly,” Janusa said.

Other meaningful Catholic sites they visited were Our Lady of Good Health Church in Venice for adoration and a small church in Rome where the host was exposed, but no one was keeping vigil.

That prompted Kaitlyn to tell her mother, “We have to stay until somebody comes,” which resulted in 40 minutes of adoration. Janusa said her daughter Kaitlyn came to love adoration during COVID when their St. Angela pastor, Father Beau Charbonnet, held outdoor adoration in the parish parking lot. 

Janusa said they saw St. Thomas’ finger and other relics at another church in Rome, and climbed the Spanish steps to the Mater Admirabilis (Mother Most Admirable) fresco painting of Mary dressed in pink, painted in 1844 by French postulate Pauline Perdrau, now housed in the Mater Admirabilis Chapel of the Trinità dei Monti school. It was special to Kaitlyn, 10, who goes to Sacred Heart School on St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans with their Mater campus.

“She knows all about it from school,” Janusa said about the painting.

While in Rome, they had learned that their son Austin was accepted into Jesuit, so they made a special trip to a Jesuit church “and got some pictures of Austin in front of the church and bought St. Ignatius of Loyola medals” in honor of the Jesuits’ founder.

“You can never question your faith again when you’ve been on a pilgrimage like that,” Janusa said.

How to obtain tickets
It’s as easy as a quick click online to get free tickets to Masses with the pope either at St. Peter’s Basilica or St. Peter’s Square. Visit: https://www.pnac.org/visitorsoffice/contact-us/ or try http://www.papalaudience.org/papal-mass.

If six or fewer tickets are needed, visitors can go directly to St. Peter’s Square’s “Bronze Door” and ask the Swiss Guards for availability. Tickets for popular Masses such as Christmas and Easter have to be reserved in advance (two-month minimum) and collected 1-3 days before the Mass at vaticantour.com.

For 10 or more tickets, it is recommended to have a parish priest or some authority of the church write a letter to the Prefecture of the Papal Household 00120, Vatican City State or email [email protected] or fax +39 06 6988 5863. Additional resources can also be found from The Pontifical North American College’s Bishops’ Office for United States Visitors to the Vatican located at Casa Santa Maria. Visit
https://www.pnac.org/visitorsoffice/about-the-visitors-office/.

“People should bring their kids,” Janusa said. “It is so forming.”

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