In all honesty it is difficult for me to write this due to the fact that I am in a bed and breakfast in Rome and I don’t want to this break to end in a few days.

But c’est la vie, I will do as the Romans do…

I’m not exactly sure where I was going with that but it sounded catchy.

This past week has been nothing short of holy, and when I say holy, I mean Pope Francis himself.

After touring Saint Peter’s Basilica and the Sistine Chapel yesterday, I won a golden ticket to the Ash Wednesday mass given by the Pope, and became possibly the luckiest girl in the world.

I never in a million years would have even dreamed that I would get to attend a mass at the Vatican, let alone see the Pope, so this really was the coolest experience I’ve had so far.

Two other friends and I arrived at the Vatican way before our normal waking hours on completely empty stomachs with the hopes of finding our seats in the massive crowd of people.

As it turns out, the crowd wasn’t too hard to navigate, and we ended up with a perfect center view of the Basilica, sitting behind a family from Louisianna and in front of a family from Germany.

Pope Francis immediately came out and informed everyone that there would be free wifi, and the password for the afternoon would be WWJD (What would Jesus do).

Just kidding.

The mass was given in about seven different languages, but that didn’t matter too much because everyone in the audience spoke Instagram. With the pope mobile slowly making its way through the crowds, we were actually close enough to witness the momentary fright on his face when he almost lost his balance.

He gracefully came back from the near fall by cracking a joke, saying, “What a rowdy crowd you are!”

As much as I wanted to hang out with the Pope for the rest of the day and have him show me around the ancient ruins and take me to his favorite pizzeria, his holiness has a very busy schedule to keep.

All joking aside, I will always remember the Ash Wednesday I got to spend at the Vatican in Rome, Italy, attending a mass given by the Pope.

I guess I could say I am officially blessed.