Two former Lawrence County men, members of the same Maryland Catholic Church choir, sang Thursday for Pope Benedict XVI.

Michael Reeher, 45, who grew up on New Castle’s East Side, said, “All I seem to say over and over is what an awesome ride this experience has been — from the first moment I heard about auditions for a special papal choir to the final emotionally charged note of the Mass. Wow!”

Orlando “Orly” Marinaccio, 78, an Ellwood City native, pronounced the experience, “Just perfect.

“All the work that went into it, the Mass, the pope’s itinerary, the choir, was a magnificent job of planning.”

Reeher said the crowd of 46,000 in Washington, D.C.’s Nationals Park, “erupted with flags and cheers when the popemobile first pulled in. The brass fanfare gave you chills.”

Then, as the pope rode around the stadium, “flags and cheers went up section by section like a wave.”

Marinaccio now has serenaded his second pontiff. He also was in the choir when Pope John Paul II visited the United States almost 30 years ago and reflected on the differences.

“Then, more people were able to see the pope.”

The 1979 event took place on the National Mall, the green stretch nearly two miles long from the Lincoln Memorial to the Capitol.

“There was no picketing then, no security problems,” Marinaccio said. “You could see security everywhere for this pope. They even had snipers with rifles on top of the stadium roof.”

Reeher noted the members of all four choirs, numbering 570, had to be in their seats by 7:30 a.m. after emptying their pockets and passing through metal detectors.

Marinaccio didn’t have to audition for the earlier choir. Directors from various parishes chose the singers. However, applications had to be sent this time and 700 responded. The initial screening limited applicants to those singing in a church choir.

Reeher said the resulting 500 were whittled to 250 after each sang “All Creatures of Our God and King” a cappella and repeated it a half step higher each time. Then, the pianist played the first four measures of a song they’d never seen before for the applicant to sing to test sight-reading ability.

“The music we sang was very sophisticated,” Marinaccio said. “It was more difficult; 12 were written or arranged for this occasion.”

The choir learned 138 pages of 30 to 40 mostly unfamiliar songs in seven 2.5-hour-long practices plus a dress rehearsal. Choir members had assigned seats, were not allowed to talk and, if late or absent, were replaced by alternates. Restroom breaks were discouraged.