All her Christmases had come at once. Or so it seemed for Gracialla Kamar. A big woman, she sat in Manger Square in Bethlehem, within yards of the Pope - waiting.
An Armenian Catholic, she was one of just 12 people from Jerusalem chosen to receive Communion from Pope John Paul's hands. Yes, there were 18 others from the Bethlehem area but she felt "very privileged".
And that elderly couple who brought up a lamb to the Pope during the Offertory procession, she also knew them. Just there in front, to the left. They looked like shepherds, tanned weather-beaten, old-before-time faces. They got a great cheer and laugh when they appeared before the Pope with the lamb's black head bobbing meekly as they struggled to carry it in the basket.
They were from outside Bethlehem, Gracialla said. She appeared to be the sort of woman who knew everything about everyone. She knew their son too. He is a priest with the Latin Patriarchate (Roman Catholic) Church. A lovely fellow.
And there she was a short time later second of the blessed 30 to receive from Pope John Paul.
Gracialla was not perturbed when the call to prayer from the mosque of Omar blasted the Mass into silence at 11.45 a.m. just as the Pope finished his Homily. Most of the clergy present suddenly seemed to find the paving on Manger Square or the platforms they sat on very, very fascinating. Pope John Paul didn't pass a bit of heed. And it went on. And on. Very loud and somewhat clear.
When it finished, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Micel Sabah, commented: "We are all together on this earth, Muslims and Christian" for which he was applauded, before continuing with the Mass.
It was actually a call to prepare for prayer. The call to prayer proper is at midday. It didn't happen yesterday. Instead, Angelus bells tolled loud as the elderly shepherd parents of the Latin Patriarchate priest offered the Pope a lamb in a basket.
Among the Irish present were two Sisters of Charity, Sister Bernadette Duffy and Sister Mairead Hilliard. Both are on sabbatical studying Bible research at St Peter in Gallicanta, Jerusalem. It's supposed to be on the spot where Peter denied Jesus.
Sister Bernadette, who is from Dublin, suggested there were so many spots associated with the same events in Christ's life it was hard to know whether you were coming or going in the Holy Land. However, she said this wasn't important; Jesus being more a state of mind, or heart, than place.
Her colleague, Sister Mairead, from near Slane, Co Meath, had fractured her foot three weeks ago on the Mount of Temptations, where Jesus is said to have been tempted by the devil. "I fell for temptation," she said. Her sense of humour has not been affected. And thanks to her injury both got the "best seats in the house".
So too did two Limerick priests working in Nigeria, Father Michael Fitzgerald, a Carmelite from Broadford, who has been in Lagos for 12 years, and Father Michael Madigan, a Kiltegan priest from Askeaton, who has been in Enugu for six years.
The Pope's presence "made a very powerful statement", said Father Fitzgerald, and he hoped it would be a catalyst to encourage inter-faith dialogue, an important matter now in Africa where Islam and Christianity are concerned.
Father Madigan thought that the Pope's ill health in itself sent a powerful message. There was something about such "a broken and frail man" being there, "something in his vulnerability . . . which speaks volumes to people".
But the happiest Irish person of all there yesterday was probably Ms Elizabeth Gartlan, from Carrickmacross. She had spent Tuesday night crocheting a piece of Carrickmacross lace with a millennium candle theme, had it framed, and wanted desperately to give it to the Pope. She succeeded. After the Mass she approached one of the priests who had been assisting and he promised to pass it on.
Reuters adds:
After the Pope's visit to Dehaishe refugee camp beside Bethlehem, fighting broke out between rival Palestinian factions.
Reporters said local police and reinforcements drafted in from the Gaza Strip for the visit had also fought each other.
Witnesses said one trigger of the unrest was a policeman's beating of a camp resident. Running battles broke out on the main road to Bethlehem. Refugees also marched to a police station near the camp and stoned police.