Shrewsbury couple up front with Pope Francis

By William T. Clew
The Catholic Free Press

For Ann and Frank Masiello of Shrewsbury, members of St. Mary of the Hills Parish, Boylston, it was the trip of a lifetime that grew out of a devastating loss.
Their son, Daniel, 39, died Aug. 11, 2014. Last year they decided try to arrange a trip to the Vatican to see whether they could attend a general audience with Pope Francis.
Mrs. Masiello said she has health issues that make it difficult to travel.  But, “mind over matter,” she said. “I’m going.”
On the advice of Mr. Masiello’s cousin, Father Nicholas Desimone, pastor of St. Mary Parish, Uxbridge, they emailed a letter in September to the prefecture of the papal household, previously known as the pontifical household, asking for tickets to a general audience and blessing in St. Peter’s Square.
They were told the pope’s 2018 schedule had not yet been set and they should write again. The prefecture’s answer contained a message of condolence for the loss of their son, and a rosary.
“It showed they read the letter,” Mrs. Masiello said.    
The couple also wrote to Bishop McManus and to Msgr. Francis D. Kelly of the Worcester Diocese, serving in the college of canons in the Vatican. The bishop called them, she said, and told them he would write a letter to accompany theirs to the papal household.
On Jan. 23 the Masiellos wrote again, requesting tickets. This time their letter was accompanied by the letter from Bishop McManus. On Feb. 2, a reply came, granting their request.     
They left for Italy May 6 and arrived the next day. On May 9 they were in the Vatican, tickets to the general audience in hand. Mr. Masiello said the tickets were numbered 41 and 42, but the Masiellos had no idea where they were located.
When the pope celebrates Mass and holds a general audience outdoors, the altar is set up on the raised entryway into St. Peter’s Basilica. Rows of seats, enclosed behind railings, are set up to the right and left of the canopied altar. But most of the audience is farther away, out in St. Peter’s Square, which can hold as many as 80,000, according to a Vatican website.
The Masiellos were led to their seats in one of those sections near the altar. Their seats were in the front row, with nothing between them and the altar but a low railing.
After Mass, and before Pope Francis got into the popemobile to ride through the crowd in the square, he approached those in the first row. He moved along slowly, speaking to people and shaking hands.
Mrs. Masiello had made small medallions in remembrance of her son. On one side is his name  and the date, “Dan 2018.” On the reverse side is the word “Love.” She brought them with her to the Vatican.
When Pope Francis reached Mr. Masiello and shook his hand, Mr. Masiello said, in English, “Would you please bless my wife? She has a medical condition.” The pope did so.
Then Mrs. Masiello, holding the medallions in her left hand, said, “My son, Dan, has passed away. Would you please bless these medals?”
The pope did so, covering her hand with his. She offered one of the medallions to him.
“For me?” he said, and put the medallion in his pocket. She then embraced him.
She said a feeling of peace washed over her and she knew than Dan was being watched over.
“If you have faith and hope, and truly believe, good things happen to ordinary people,” she said.
The Masiellos later bought photographs of their meeting with Pope Francis, taken by a Vatican photographer, and Mr. Masiello put them into his cell phone.
Mrs. Masiello has a long-standing devotion to St. Therese, the Little Flower, and has a statue of her at home. She prays to the saint and asks for help. For the trip she asked that the saint keep rain from falling between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., especially during the general audience with the pope.
“Sometimes it rained at night,” she said, “but it never rained between 10 and four during the whole trip.”
After their audience, the Masiellos traveled around Italy for several days with a tour group. They visited Rome, Florence, Assisi, Sienna, Venice and other cities. And in every church, museum and shrine they visited they left one of Dan’s medallions, Mr. Masiello said.
Their Italian tour came to an end, but there is a bit of a follow-up. Back in Worcester, Mr. Masiello was talking to an acquaintance who had hit a pothole and feared his tire might have been damaged.
Mr. Masiello said that he also had hit a pothole on Route 20, bent the rim of his wheel and damaged the tire.
His friend suggested that he call a state official in Boston to find out whether he could get any reimbursement for the damage.
“But you probably have a better chance of seeing the pope than hearing from Boston,” he said.
So Mr. Masiello pulled out his phone and showed his friend that the seeing-the-pope had already been taken care of. He never did call Boston.