Deacon Straub assists pope with Mass in papal chapel

April 7, 2005

When Deacon Joseph Straub of Whittemore went on a trip to Rome with his brother, Father Pablo Straub, a missionary who serves in Mexico, the pair was thrilled to get some great seats at a general audience but they wanted more.

"We really hoped to be able to attend a private Mass in the papal chapel," he recalled.

They were told to try going to the bronze door. After conferring with the Swiss Guard who manned the door, they sent Father Straub in to speak with the superior of the Swiss Guard. That guard happened to be married to a Mexican woman. The missionary priest was familiar with the wife's hometown.

That guard gave the priest a phone number to inquire about getting into a papal Mass. They were told to be at the bronze door the next morning with their passports.

"We were escorted up two flights of stairs where we met Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz. When the pope was first appointed Bishop of Krakow, this man was his personal secretary. He has been with the pope for 40 years," noted Deacon Straub, a senior judge by professional career.

All of the priests were invited to vest for the Mass.

"All of the priests went in and I turned to the archbishop and asked, 'What about deacons?'," recalled Deacon Straub. He was allowed in and was vested for the service.

As they approached the papal chapel, the deacon said he saw a man in white kneeling before the altar. It was the pope in prayer before Mass.

"There were no pews in the chapel, but there were many four-legged stools set up in rows. There were four stools on each side of the center aisle. I was fifth in line, with my brother was fourth. Three priests and my brother took the four front stools on the left and then I started into the second row," noted the deacon.

The archbishop gestured, waving him forward. He gestured to a chair on the side of the sanctuary.

"Only then did I realize that I was to be the deacon of the Mass," said Deacon Straub. "I was really overwhelmed."

A seminarian from Michigan, studying in Rome, was the Mass server.

The Iowa deacon got to do all of the things a deacon would ordinarily do for Mass other than proclaim the Gospel as the entire service was in Latin.

"Several times over the last few days, people who have been close to the pope talk about the look in his eyes - how when he is looking at you he is focusing only on you. I had that same feeling," said the deacon. "At the offertory of the Mass, after I had prepared the chalice and handed it to him. The pope looked at me and I was impressed with the strength of the man. Even then, everyone knew that he was having health problems but I was confident that he would be with us for quite some time."

After Mass, they had the chance to speak with the pope. The Holy Father was visiting with Father Straub, who told the pope that his brother and his wife had 14 children.

"My brother likes to tell the story to this day that, 'At that moment the pope lost all interest in me, all he wanted to know was about the big family.' He gave me a rosary to give to my wife," said Deacon Straub. The pope also offered a blessing, which he said was to be extended to the deacon's wife and family.

This was not the first time the deacon had seen the pope. The Straubs took all 14 of their children to Des Moines for that historic event.