WASHINGTON – Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Rep. Mike Michaud, D-Maine, were among the 46,000 to crowd the new Nationals Park on Thursday for a Mass with Pope Benedict XVI.

Collins called the Mass one of the most memorable experiences of her life and found the pope’s homily to be exactly the right message for American Catholics.

“It was heartening and hopeful,” Collins said in an interview Thursday afternoon. “He recognized the contributions of the American church and its diversity.”

Also in his homily, the pope “expressed a profound regret” for the sexual abuse problems, Collins said.

At the Mass, Collins had a cross necklace blessed. She had gotten the necklace from Rome when she attended Pope John Paul II’s funeral in 2005.

“It was a tremendous honor to hear his message of hope and renewal,” said Michaud, who called the Mass a once-in-a-lifetime experience and a high point in his life as a lifelong Catholic. “The pope’s message was a clear call to Americans of all faiths and walks of life to push for a more just and more peaceful society.”

Michaud, like Collins, attended the White House greeting of the pope Wednesday and called that event a “great honor” as well.

Collins, along with her guest, Sister Mary Norberta, president of St. Joseph Hospital in Bangor, dined at the Italian Embassy on Wednesday night for a birthday reception for the pope, who turned 81 on Wednesday. Another dinner occurred at the White House. The pope had a quiet evening in the Vatican’s house, close to the Italian Embassy, and did not attend either of his birthday celebrations despite rumors that he might.

Though the guest of honor was not present, opera singer Denyce Graves led the gathering of about 300 at the embassy in wishing him happy birthday.

“It was a lovely evening nonetheless,” Collins said. “And perhaps he heard us singing from across the street.”