A Time to Worship

They endured hours-long lines and security checks, they knelt on asphalt, and most were separated by a sea of humanity from the man who had brought them together.

But on a day when the Ben Franklin Parkway was transformed into a grand open-air cathedral, when the raucous atmosphere of Saturday night's celebration yielded to reverence, those present said they were indelibly moved by the experience of attending a Sunday Mass celebrated by Pope Francis.

"I could see him light up when he saw babies and little children," said Gloria Martinez, 68, a retired college administrator from Ohio, who said she kept her eyes aimed on the pontiff from the minute he entered the Parkway. "But then, during the Mass, he was in a different state, a very spiritual state. I don't even know how to describe it."

Francis appeared tired at the end of his whirlwind weekend in Philadelphia - coming after trips to Cuba, Washington, and New York - but his presence produced something close to a miracle on the stretch of blocks that has long been a venue for some of the city's loudest and most rambunctious events.

With people crammed just inches apart, as the Mass got underway the crowd was absolutely silent - not even a child's cry - as organ music played and Jumbotrons carried images from the altar.

Parents held children aloft. Some sat on asphalt that was covered in white traffic paint, others stood on achy feet. Some had heads down as the pope spoke in Spanish.

Compared with that of the Festival of Families at the same spot Saturday night, which featured performances by pop legends Aretha Franklin and Sister Sledge, the atmosphere Sunday was a quiet and dramatic contrast.

For hours on end, the faithful had inched toward security gates and through metal detectors. Some held tickets for the reserved seats above Logan Square, others hoped simply to get a few blocks away and be part of the historic service.

The Mass was preceded by an elaborate, colorful procession with acolytes in white surpluses bearing candles, and bishops dressed in green and wearing white miters. On the altar, the pope shed his signature white for green vestments - since Sunday fell in what the Catholic Church calls "ordinary time," the periods between the Christmas and Easter seasons.

In the ticketed lawn of the Parkway, toward the very front, stood Glenda Riera, of Lansdowne and a Trinidad native.

"I'll tell you something: America needed this," she said. "We need love, compassion, caring. We tend to get so selfish. and today, to see a vast expanse of people together being kind, saying, excuse me, looking out for one another - he did that."

Riera isn't Catholic - she's Baptist.

"But today," she said, gesturing to the people around her, "we're all God's people."

Katie Engle, 28, of Boston, came to Philadelphia on her own to see the pope. A graduate of Boston College, she said the spirit of the Jesuits shows in Francis.

"He's renewed my sense of belonging in the church," she said. "He makes me feel we're headed in the right direction. Now friends want to come back, even if they are gay or divorced, his message of love and acceptance and simple caring rather than adhering to strict rules like in the past."

In his homily, Francis appeared to argue for a more inclusive church. He said that some had questioned Jesus' embrace of "many man and women who were not part of God's chosen people."

Underscoring the international flavor of the event, the first scriptural text was read in Spanish; the second, in Vietnamese; and the Gospel, in English.

In all, an event planner said, 250,000 Communion hosts were prepared for the Mass, although it was not known how many given out.

Before the liturgy began at 4 p.m., the orchestra played an eclectic mix that included selections from Beethoven, Brahms, and Dvorak. The Mass music, however, featured traditional Catholic hymns such as "Gift of Finest Wheat," "Taste and See," and "Ave Maria."

Philadelphia Orchestra music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin, who led the musicians and an accompanying choir, said he was struck by the stillness of the event.

"We were there right at the center of this, the orchestra, in a way," he said. "And it felt so silent, so quiet, so peaceful, that you would almost forget there were so many people."

For the conductor, the experience was a high - not only professionally, but as a Catholic, personally.

As a child, Nézet-Séguin said, he spent his weekends at his Montreal church, where he would offer to serve extra Masses as an altar boy. He said he thought seriously about entering the priesthood and even dreamed of one day being pope.

After the assembled sang the "Sanctus," those standing on the street who had the room knelt on asphalt.

During Communion, carrying yellow-and-white umbrellas for visibility, hundreds of priests distributed the hosts to the masses. Some were from the Philippines, Africa, and South America, said John Rogge of Exton, of the Knights of Columbus, which escorted the priests.

Somehow, the Communion ceremony took just 15 minutes.

As Francis' motorcade pulled off toward the Schuylkill Expressway, the Rev. Tom Sullivan moved amid a sea of priests and bishops dispersing from the front of the Art Museum.

"It was fantastic," said Sullivan, a Haverford High School graduate who is a member of the Fathers of Mercy in Kentucky. "It just felt great to be surrounded by all my fellow clergy and reminded of our Catholicity."

Plus, there was a bonus, he said, tapping on the Eagles cap atop his head, about two hours after the team secured its first victory. "It worked!"

Gayle Weber, who came from Covington, La., with two friends, said the Mass was the perfect ending for the pope's U.S. tour.

"He reminded everyone again, live your faith always. Be generous with your love, in heart and in your faith, and protect it."

Weber said that she and her friends even had acted on the pope's message with a small gesture of their own.

As they went for frozen yogurt before the Mass, they decided to buy gift cards for law enforcement officers who were standing near them.

"We said y'all out here keeping us safe," Weber said. "It was our small way of saying, 'Thank you.' "

twood@phillynews.com 610-313-8210 @woodt15