Habemus Papam! Pray or Speculate?

Since then, "express biographies" have multiplied, with journalists writing books in three days to discuss the newly elected Pope while hoping for great editorial success. In reality, people are engaging in conjecture, surmising, and speculation.

For our part, we prefer to await the actions of the Sovereign Pontiff. This is not in a sterile wait-and-see attitude, but rather in prayerful expectation, as the liturgy invites us to do:

“O Lord, with suppliant humility we entreat Thee, that in Thy boundless mercy Thou wouldst grant the most holy Roman Church a pontiff, who, by his zeal for us, may be pleasing to Thee, and by his good government may ever be honored by Thy people for the glory of Thy name”  (Collect of the Mass for the Election of a Pope).

Yes, let us pray to Our Lord that "we may rejoice in a pontiff pleasing to Thy majesty, and presiding over the government of holy mother Church" (Secret).

Let us urge God to "grant us a pontiff who shall instruct Thy people by his virtues and fill the souls of the faithful with spiritual fragrance” (Postcommunion).

This is the wisdom of the traditional liturgy, which stands far above conjecture, supposition, and other sorts of speculation.

And when the acts of the new Pope come, it is this wisdom that will guide our judgment with complete certainty. We will look for a pontiff "who shall instruct Thy people by his virtues and fill the souls of the faithful with spiritual fragrance."

It is in this higher light that we will be able to know supernaturally whether God has granted us a pope who "by his zeal for us, may be pleasing to Thee,  and by his good government may ever be honored by Thy people for the glory of Thy name."