“I’m blessed,” one worshipper gushed after seeing Pope Francis Thursday — echoing a sentiment that reverberated across the city as thousands thronged the streets to catch a glimpse of the pontiff on his first visit to the Big Apple.

“I was speechless. I got goosebumps,” said Illuminada Gubatan, who got tickets to hear the pope lead a prayer at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. “Yesterday was my birthday. This is the best present.”

Like many others, Gubatan was struck by Francis’ down-to-earth approach and the way he connects with common people.

“He’s humble,” Gubatan said. “He’s one of us . . . I’m blessed.”

Francis arrived at JFK Airport Thursday evening, where fans were eagerly waiting his airplane.

“It’s an honor to be here,” Eric Stoetzer, 84, said at the airport, calling Francis the best pope he’s ever seen.

Connie Angiolillo, 93, a resident of the Ozanam Hall Senior Center in Queens, sat in a wheelchair and savored the opportunity to see the pope in person.

“Next time I see him it will be in heaven,” she said. “I’m 93! He’s love. He’s Christ on earth.”

Seeing the pontiff at St. Patrick’s was a once-in-a-lifetime honor for those of the faith, said Carina Scecchitano, who came down from Poughkeepsie.

“I feel very blessed to be here,” said Scecchitano, 26. “He is the Holy Father. For Catholics that believe in the faith and know that the Holy Father is representative of Christ on earth, it’s just very exciting to be in his presence.”

On side streets all along the pope’s Fifth Avenue route to St. Patrick’s, the devoted scooped up T-shirts and buttons bearing his image as mementos of being so near to him.

Sister Joan Magnetti, who teaches at a Sacred Heart school in Bridgeport, Conn., said she was “enthralled” to be in the presence of pope at St. Patrick’s.

She called him “one person who can make such an incredible difference in the whole world.”

“I think he’s just come at the right time. He’s on the right agenda,” Magnetti said. “The world agenda, about climate change, about equal opportunity for everybody, his statement on acceptance on homosexuality. He brings a breath of fresh air.”

Sister Mary, of the Monastery of the Precious Blood in Brooklyn, was overjoyed by the pope’s message to women of the church.

“He is showing love, tenderness and joy,” she said. “He said thank you for the hard work women are doing. He’s trying to build up the women.

“We were in St. Patrick’s Cathedral — he turned and looked at us and smiled at us. We screamed, ‘Viva el Papa!’ He was so happy.”

Francis received rave reviews from some in the city’s homeless community.

A vagrant on Fifth Avenue at 41st Street said he was going to Central Park Friday to try to meet the pontiff.

“My wife and daughter died in a five-car pileup on the George Washington Bridge five years ago,” he said. “I have never been happier since then than I am to see the pope tomorrow.”