At least two members of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis studying in Rome assisted at this year’s Easter morning Mass with Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square.

Transitional Deacon Joseph Wappes served alongside five other deacons, each with different roles during the Mass. The group met with Pope Francis before the liturgy started, the deacon wrote in an email exchange about the day.

Meanwhile, University of St. Thomas (UST) in St. Paul sophomore Brendan Bonin proclaimed the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, with his parents and siblings in the congregation. Bonin came to Rome with UST’s Catholic Studies program.

Deacon Wappes, who is preparing for priestly ordination in May and is a member of St. Charles Borromeo in St. Anthony, wrote that at the beginning of the Mass an icon of the risen Christ was opened in front of the pope.

Then, Deacon Wappes wrote, “the deacon (me) sings, ‘Surrexit Dominus de sepulcro, qui pro nobis pependit in ligno; surrexit Dominus vere, et apparuit Simoni’ (The Lord has risen from the tomb, he who was hung on the cross for us; the Lord is truly risen and has appeared to Simon).

“After singing that part, I then incensed the icon,” Deacon Wappes wrote. “The most moving part was that in that second phrase I was announcing to “Peter” (Pope Francis, St. Peter’s successor) the good news of the Resurrection! In fact, as we were rehearsing, the MC (Master of Ceremonies) directed me to turn toward the Pope as I sang that phrase, instead of being turned toward the congregation as I thought I should be. I was very honored and humbled to have the role of announcing the Good News to the Pope!”

Deacon Wappes wrote that the Vatican Liturgy Office reached out to his seminary, the Pontifical North American College, asking for deacons who could assist at the altar and sing parts of the Mass. Deacon Wappes, a cantor at seminary liturgies, explained he was asked to try out, then was scheduled for the Easter morning Mass.

“It was so beautiful for me to pray with the Universal Church, so clearly represented by the large, diverse crowd assembled in the Piazza on Easter morning,” Deacon Wappes wrote. When the pope gave his Easter message and blessing after Mass, “urbi et orbi” (to the city and the world), Deacon Wappes wrote, “I sensed the spiritual authority of the Chair of St. Peter, calling down God’s blessing on those gathered that day and on the entire Christian people.”

Bonin’s parents, Brian and Rachel, of St. Mary of the Lake in White Bear Lake; his two brothers, Ben and Jude; and Ben’s fiancé, Codi Zwack, traveled to Rome to be with Brendan during Holy Week and Easter. It was the family’s first trip to Rome. Brian and Rachel said they were surprised to learn during the trip that Brendan would read at the Mass.

“We were excited to have Brendan lead us on a holy pilgrimage through Rome,” Brian said. But they didn’t imagine having a front row seat at Easter morning Mass in St. Peter’s Square to see and hear their son lector at Mass.

Getting to the right spot was difficult due to the crowds and they feared they might miss part of the Mass, Rachel said. Before they found their seats in time for the liturgy, she began praying and felt at peace, giving up her desire to see her son. “It was clear to me he was needed elsewhere, and I offered it up,” she said.

Brian and Rachel said they were proud of Brendan, who read the Scriptures with strength and confidence. It was windy, and he had to wrestle with some of the pages. At one point, a large object fell with a loud thud just behind Brendan, but he continued to read as though nothing happened, Brian said.

“He was so locked in,” Brian said. “He so embraced this role. He was so honored to have the opportunity to read.”

Brendan said one of his professors was asked about obtaining lectors for Holy Week and Easter Masses in St. Peter’s Square. Two women from UST’s Catholic Studies program read at Palm Sunday Mass and the Easter Vigil, and 13 students from UST’s campus in Rome participated in the procession of palms from the Palm Sunday Mass. Brendan was chosen to read at the Easter Mass in part because his family would be in Rome.

“Hearing that I might read at the pope’s Mass was amazing in itself, but realizing I had been chosen left me speechless,” Brendan wrote in an email exchange.

Arriving early, Brendan wrote that he spent some time alone in front of Michelangelo’s Pietà in St. Peter’s Basilica.

“There were no tourists in front of it and all the voices coming from outside began to fade away,” he wrote. “I was able to spend about 10 minutes with one of the greatest pieces of art ever created … completely undisturbed. I felt exactly what the Pietà should make believers feel … pure joy. I was so grateful for the sacrifice that Jesus made for the sake of my soul and I rejoiced at the fact that I would be able to proclaim his mission to countless people on the day he rose from the dead. It was the fullest moment of my life. From then on, all the nerves that I had went away. I was just full of joy for the opportunity in front of me.”

Brendan credited his parents for encouraging him to discover new aspects of the faith, and he praised the Catholic Studies program at St. Thomas.

“I would not be who I am today if it wasn’t for this program,” he said.

The Bonins said they worked hard at keeping faith alive in their home through a weekly Holy Hour, family prayer time and staying active in their parish. Their hopes it would take hold in their children appear to have been fulfilled, they said.

“All three of our boys have embraced that, and taken the opportunity to talk about their faith,” Brian said. “I think they all would have liked to be at the ambo.”

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Two students in Rome with UST’s Catholic Studies program — Evelyn Edwards and Naomi Peters — read during Holy Week and Easter Masses, both with Pope Francis presiding.

For Palm Sunday Mass in St. Peter’s Square March 24, Edwards proclaimed the second reading, from Philippians. Peters had the second reading for the Easter Vigil, from Romans.

“I felt extremely blessed to participate in a celebration of the Mass with the Holy Father, as well as faithful Catholics from all over the world,” Edwards wrote in an email exchange about her opportunity. “I was nervous at first but prayed to God to take away all fear and replace it with joy. And while I looked out at maybe 70,000-something people gathered in the square, I knew only God’s grace could remove all my fear.”

In addition to Edwards participating in the Mass, 13 students from UST’s Rome campus participated in the procession of palms into the Mass. Those students were Payton Dailey, Thomas Fischer, Eleonor Graddy, Maximus Gregory, Kaity Kisch, Jennifer Torres Lopez, Lizzie Michalak, Martha Miller, Kora O’Reilly, Michael Rossini, Cece Shriver, Tim Tibesar and Aloisius Washburn.

After her experience, Edwards — whose home parish is Holy Family in St. Louis Park — shared that she feels more connected with fellow Catholics around the globe. And “I know that nothing is impossible with the strength of God,” she wrote. “If you rely on his strength and not your own, your faith is unshakeable.”

Neither Edwards nor Peters met Pope Francis, but Edwards noted that at the Easter Vigil “he gave us readers a thumbs up as he rode away!”

Peters, whose home parish is St. Bridget of Sweden in Lindstrom, wrote in an email that she was delighted when she found out she would read at the Easter Vigil in St. Peter’s Basilica. “It’s my favorite Mass of the year,” she wrote. “I adore the ceremony and the symbolism we participate in, with the lighting of the candles, and the chronological readings leading up to the crescendo of our Lord’s resurrection.”

Peters was traveling, and because of a flight mix-up, she arrived in Rome from Paris at 2 a.m. the day of the Mass. The lectors had a brief rehearsal at 9 a.m. at the basilica, and a logistics meeting at 5:30 p.m., then had a chance to visit with one another, she wrote.

Minor butterflies preceded her stepping up to the ambo, but once there “grace took over and allowed me to appear in the way I did,” she said. “It was surreal to look up and witness a sea of distinguished religious and Pope Francis not 20 feet away.”

“Truly it was all a gift,” Peters wrote. “But it would not have been made possible in as seamless a way without an extreme amount of grace for all of us.”