When I had a trip to Italy I went to Vatican City in 2001, the pope was John Paul 11 then, I never got a chance to see inside the building let alone near it.
There were 140,000 people there! We were all getting scanned at entry point, like the airport scanners.
But Pope John Paul was there giving a ceremony and blessings.
I looked up at the roof and it looked celestial, a glittery white colour, almost blending in with the sky above.
I wondered if a special paint was used to have that effect?
Anyway, during the ceremony I heard the microphone the Pope was talking into go “thud” and then silence!
I had a moment I thought he might’ve …well, you know.
Then he started talking again, I felt relieved because last thing I wanted, to be at the Vatican only time in my life, getting blessings, only to have the Pope die on me! He did live on another 3.5 years after.
Maybe I blessed him with my presence, as an outlier!
Anyway, I bought a gold cross. Now it it very lacy looking and not obviously a cross unless a close up look. I seemed to have problems wearing a gold cross all my life, they just disappear from my neck. Whether they get loose and fall I have no idea! My mother was always annoyed at me losing them!
So I’m too nervous to wear it now.
But here I will share a photo of it, I keep in a jewellery box in a large safe. So it doesn’t escape