Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral

This morning's Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral is getting underway. If you would like to view it online, go here. According to NCR's John Allen, this marks the first time a Pope has celebrated Mass inside the cathedral. Mass is scheduled to get underway at 9:00 am, but the cathedral has been filled for quite some time as preparations are underway. I hope to have a link to the text of the homily soon.

Later: Pope Benedict just made his entrance into St. Patrick's Cathedral and was met by rousing applause from the over 3000 clergy and religious in attendance. I would have been like the many Sisters I saw - climbing over one another to touch him or to capture his picture with their cell phones! They looked so joyful to be in his presence.

Favorite comment of the morning from one of my Twitter friends:

"How do you get over a 1000 people to be quiet at the drop of a hat. Kneel in front of the Blessed Sacrament. "

Sadly, I have to drag myself away from the television to go get ready for CNN. I am scheduled to appear briefly at 11:30 am EST and would appreciate your prayers. I am looking forward to blogging about the Mass and this afternoon's youth rally later in the day.