Saturday Night Easter Vigil In The Vatican

So Friday morning I woke up early to wait in line for the Coloseum.  During the day the line can be up to 4 hours long, and I didn't like that.  So I got there around 7:30am, and I was one of the first people there.  It was slightly chilly, and so I was wearing a sweatshirt. My Binghamton University sweatshirt to be specific.  These two gentleman come up behind me in line and are sitting there for a while.  Then one of them says to me,

"Do.. you go to Binghamton?"

Here's the thing about Binghamton: It's a great school, but maybe one in a million people in Italy no what it is.  So I knew something was up.  Long story short, he didn't go to Binghamton, but grew up in Vestal, the city in which Binghamton is located.  So we started talking.  And we talked for about an hour while we waited in line. Him and his friend were both about 30, and very cool guys with great stories.  We ended up traveling through both the Palantino and Coloseum together.  At one point, one of them says to me..

"So.. my friend works in the US embassy here in Rome, and he got us tickets into St. Peters Basillica saturday night for the easter vigil. We have an extra ticket, and you are the first american we've met here who we've actually talked to and gotten along with, do you want to come with us?"

Of Course I said yes.  An opportunity to participate in this historical ceremony, in the presence of the pope, in the vatican, and free entrance to the basilica.  Of course I said yes.  One thing though was that I hadn't brought pants with me, so I had to buy a pair.  Which was awesome because I had an excuse to buy myself a really nice pair of Italian dress pants, which are cheaper than jeans in Italy.


Anyways, here are some of the videos.

The choir and other people did the chanting and songs in Latin. It was beautiful.

The Pope's voice isn't quite as beautiful.

This is a long video.  You'll see the swiss guard, college of cardinals, bishops, and The Pope at around the two minute mark.