This past September, Ian and Bryn, a newly-married couple from our St. Jane Frances de Chantal Parish (Janesville), attended a Wednesday audience with Pope Leo XIV as sposi novelli (newlyweds)! The sposi novelli section of the pope’s general audiences features a special opportunity for couples married three months or less to greet and receive a blessing from the Holy Father.
Here is an account of that special day from Bryn! (She’s the one holding the Holy Father’s hand in this photo; her husband Ian is next to her.)
“Nothing could’ve prepared us to meet the Holy Father. Although we had been planning the trip for months and scheduling specifically for the papal audience, it didn’t feel real. Watching him go through the crowd and speak at the audience felt like a dream. When it came time to shake his hand, I had prepared what I was going to say in my head – but everything went blank. My mind was empty and my mouth was speechless. He was going down the line saying ‘God bless you’ and all I could think to say was ‘thank you.’ After hearing me speak English (and probably my Midwest accent) he stopped at me and my husband and asked us where we were from. When we told him Janesville, Wisconsin, he said ‘oh, lovely.’ Pictures can’t describe how blessed we feel to have gotten the opportunity to go to Rome and to even see Pope Leo, let alone shake his hand and get to have a quick conversation. It is something we will remember forever.”
Did you attend one of these special audiences with the pope in your newlywed days? Please share your photos in the comments!
(Photo credit: ©️ Vatican Media)
