"He Sees Us and He Blesses Us...."

As a lone candle burns in the famous study-window of the Papal Apartment on this Beatification Eve, the following quote comes easily to mind....

"None of us can ever forget how in that last Easter Sunday of his life, the Holy Father, marked by suffering, came once more to the window of the Apostolic Palace and one last time gave his blessing urbi et orbi. We can be sure that our beloved Pope is standing today at the window of the Father’s house, that he sees us and blesses us...."

Lest anyone forgot, that was the climactic thread of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger's funeral homily for John Paul II.

As for what he's got up his sleeve this time around, we'll know in about five hours. Like its predecessor, though, we can be fairly sure it'll likewise stand the test of the years.

Indeed, church, what a night it's been... and as ever, with tens of thousands already standing or sleeping at the barricades -- and the waiting crowd multiplying in size by the minute -- the best is yet to come.

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