St. John Paul II High School students make pilgrimage to canonization of patron saint

Students from St. John Paul II High School and some of the chaperones visit the Vatican museum. The Vatican gardens and the basillica of St. Peter’s dome is in the background. The students were part of a pilgrimage to Rome during the canonization of Sts. John XXIII and John Paul II. Pictured in the first row, from left, are Father Patrick Higgins and Ted Garcia. In the second row, from left, are Olivia Hinojosa, Christina Hinojosa, Ileana Villarreal, Jane Elia Longoria, Cameron Galvan, Maria Lloyd and Iliana Beltran. In the third row, from left, are Tony Gonzalez, Father Peter Martinez, Perry LeGrange, Benjamin, Nye, Michael Lira, Alexander Fletcher, Matthew Sanchez and Stephenie Broll. Contributed Photo, St. John Paul II High School

It took a very long trip, and an even longer wait outside and inside St. Peter’s Square, but it was all worth it for the nine students from St. John Paul II High School who were part of history—the canonization of two saints including their school’s patron.

“It was crazy. When we started waiting in line, we thought, if we could just get in the square it will be calmer, because it’s holy ground, but it was worse, so we got out of there,” junior Olivia Ann Hinojosa said. Father Peter Martinez calmed them with prayer and “we were able to see the beauty of the moment,” she said.

With Hinojosa and Father Martinez were Stephenie Broll, Christina Hinojosa, Ileana Villarreal and Iliana Beltran.

Hours before the canonization of St. John XXIII and St. John Paul II started on April 27, the street leading to St. Peter’s Square “was packed with people trying to enter the square,” Hinojosa said. After waiting a number of hours to get into St. Peter’s Square, Hinojosa and her group, which included Father Martinez, spent five minutes inside before being pushed out by the crowds.

Not everyone was pushed out of St. Peter’s Square, though. Theology teacher Benjamin Nye and students Cameron Galvan, Michael Lira, Alex Fletcher and Matthew Sanchez waited in line for 10 hours just to get into the square. When they did get in at around 5:30 a.m. they had to wait another four and a half hours before Mass began. Once inside St. Peter’s Square, Nye said that he just curled up into a ball and went to sleep on the cobblestones. “I was done,” he said.

The first five hours were well worth the wait, Nye said. A woman from Poland with a guitar climbed one of the olive trees lining the streets and played and sang for three hours. Voices could be heard in the distance, and throughout the crowd, singing familiar songs in their native languages. The students saw flags from all around the world draped on police barricades used to cordon off certain areas.

Lira said he had always wanted to go to Rome. “The hardest part was keeping yourself together,” he said. He had to remember they all had the same goal.

“The flags and languages symbolized all of us coming together. Singing the songs in different languages…we would all kneel down and pray together, ‘John Paul II pray for us.’ To see the Catholic faith come alive in front of you showed me that our faith is universal,” Lira said.

When the huge screen to the left of where Galvan was standing lit up with a picture of St. John Paul II, the crowd roared and he thought, “I go to a school named after that great man.”

“Although my teacher and I had been standing for hours, the excitement and awe of St. Peter’s Basilica on the morning of April 27 astounded me. Seeing the canonization that morning, made me feel closer to the fact that I am now a part of history. I was there to witness an event for someone who is with God. It was amazing to see how two men who were once sinners like us, now became saints who united thousands, if not millions in one city,” Galvan said.

Before the canonization, the students toured Rome and Vatican City. Nye said they would go into various churches. Some of the churches were not all that interesting to look at on the outside, but were magnificent on the inside.

“Every church was decorated—from the floors, to the walls to the ceilings and even the bathroom,” Nye said. “I was really moved by the art in the Vatican, the museums and the basilicas. The art expressed the faith in such a vibrant and alive way.”

In the Basilica of St. John Lateran they saw 20-foot statues of the 12 apostles and how they were martyred. In the Cornaro Chapel in Santa Maria della Vittoria, they saw the Ecstasy of St. Teresa. In the church of St. Andrew, they saw the crucifixion of St. Andrew. In the Vatican they saw Tommaso Laureti’s “Triumph of Christianity.”

“At St. Peter the Basilica we saw Pope Leo the Great facing down Attilla the Hun—not to sack Rome. What struck me was his courage. No one expected him to do that. I felt called in a small way to be like St. Leo. Not to count on other people to do the right thing and not to just sit back. I need to step up,” Nye said.

Some of the students from St. John Paul II High School tour the sites in Rome at night, including the Piazza del Popolo. The students are, from left, Iliana Beltran, Stephenie Broll, Olivia Hinojosa, Matthew Sanchez, Michael Lira, Cameron Galvan and Alexander Fletcher. Benjamin Nye, St. John Paul II High School

Hinojosa said the highlight of the trip for her was the Scala Sancta, which are said to be the steps leading up to the palace of Pontius Pilate in Jerusalem. She said that St. Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, brought them from Jerusalem to Rome and that “It was very moving. To climb the steps on your knees, granted you a plenary indulgence.”

For Lira the highlight of the trip was seeing Assisi. “St. Clare of Assisi is my patron saint for theology,” he said. “It was just so peaceful. It was a great place to meditate. You can see the beautiful countryside and hear the birds chirping…that would be something I’d definitely like to do again.”

The nine students were accompanied by chaperones, including priests, teachers, parents and staff. All told the pilgrimage took eight days and included touring sites in Rome, Vatican City, Assisi, Pompeii, Monte Cassino and—for a few—witnessing the historic canonization of Sts. John XXIII and John Paul II.

Father Patrick Higgins and Perry LeGrange, principal of St. John Paul II High School, led the pilgrims. Father Martinez, pastor of St. Paul the Apostle Parish, also accompanied the students.

The students held a car wash and sold raffle tickets to help with the cost of the trip. With the help of an anonymous donor and a raffle-drawing put on by the school, four students went on the pilgrimage all-expenses-paid. Freshman students Sanchez and Salazar won a raffle and seniors Lira and Galvan received an anonymous donation.

“The students made us proud and they represented our country well,” Principal LeGrange said. Remembering the first day they had arrived, LeGrange said his jaw dropped upon entering the Vatican. He found the tomb of St. John Paul II and knelt before it.

“Everything just came to my mind, being the principal of John Paul II, all the students past and present and my family. I just kind of left it all there. It brought everything together for me and I thought how blessed and grateful we are to be on this trip. Things we deal with here were very minimal at that point. I realized there are bigger things out there.”

All the pilgrims agreed that the trip to Rome was a great experience. For Galvan, it was the first time he flew on an airplane, the first time he went anywhere out of the state of Texas and the canonization just made the trip all the more special.

“It was humbling to see the millions in Vatican City, the flags, the cheers, the diversity, all–beautiful. It made me realize there is not just Corpus Christi, Texas there are places and people the world has I wish I could see,” he said.

“The trip inspired me to be a role model to others, and to represent the United States well. I thank God for granting me the opportunity to participate. It was the trip of a lifetime. There are countless stories to be told and it will be a memory I will carry for the rest of my life,” Galvan said.