Tag Archives: seminarians

Rome Experience – Day VI

Let me be brief.

After a morning of great lectures by Dr. Liz Lev and Fr. Anthony Robbie we enjoyed lunch and headed out to two great places.

First, a tour of the catacombs of Priscilla where one finds some or the oldest examples of Christian art in all the world, including the oldest known depiction of Our Lady. How beautiful to experience and what depth of formation given to these men regarding the history of Christian iconography.

Next, walk to the Basilica of St. Agnes through a wonderful Roman neighborhood. Never have I seen so many children in one place in Italy. It was such a heartening experience in a nation with one of the lowest birth-rates in the world. One more reason to love St. Agnes, her neighborhood is alive and her parish is hoppin’.

All I will say about visiting the Basilica of St. Agnes outside the Walls is that it was good to be near her. She has taken good care of my priesthood, of my soul and always helps me out. After a brief tour of the basilica and mental prayer together upstairs I had only about 5 minutes with St. Agnes in the crypt. All I needed for a good day.

We came back to say vespers, eat dinner and have a nice get-together, ending with a blessing from newly ordained priest.

After a nice chat with my Dad and a conversation with Mrs. Stabo it was off to write and to bed.

Love you all from Rome!

Rome Experience – Day III

Sweet Sacrament, Thee we adore, o let us love You more and more!

What a day in Christian Rome.

We woke up, prayed, ate breakfast and walked down to St. Peter’s for Mass. Every Sunday there is a celebration of Mass at the Altar of the Chair. The Mass is entirely sung, celebrated in Latin with an excellent choir. The old monsignor was all fired up at the homily, “the faith, the true faith will lead you to heaven, the faith, the true faith will bring peace to the world, the faith, the true faith, shared with your friends and families and you will walk into the glory of God.”

There are few other things like an organ fugue as you process out of the the basilica to infuse the spirit with the shades of glory to go and live for God and in service to the world.

Walking out of the basilica was a bit on the nuts as some tens of thousands were packed into the square for the Angelus and talk by the Pope. How beautiful it was to see so many in the Piazza San Pietro. True, many there to see a celebrity, but that celebrity also preaches Christian truth.

Lunch was pleasant, with a short time of rest afterwards. At 4:00 I trekked off with some of the seminarians to San Andrea della Valle, the church dedicated to St. Andrew the Apostle about 15 minutes from the Vatican. It is the second largest dome in Rome and a beautiful church. The Pope was having Adoration from 5 – 6 pm and asked all the parishes of the world to do the same. Since I didn’t think entry into St. Peter’s would be possible without a ticket I thought the church dedicated to Peter’s brother would be a nice choice, what do you think.

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So, a lovely Holy Hour was had. Our group certainly made the Adoro Te Devote a bit more vigorous and the pastor was very good to us. During the Holy Hour I was very moved while reading a letter from a Spiritual Directee of mine – thanks to all those who are so good to me.

After the Benediction we walked back to CIAM. The Chiesa Nuova was right on the way and visiting the tomb of St. Philip Neri is always a good idea. When we entered, a surprise!

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Adoration was still going on, in fact we walked in just at the start of Vespers. True, we could not visit St. Philip Neri but to see the Lord’s clergy and many young faithful and to hear the singing of the psalms is a greater treat!

How I love Christian Rome! True, my heart aches for all the people I love and miss back home, but I do love this city and the spiritual joys it has to offer. Here there were no popes, no cardinals, no bishops, no rows of nuns in habits nor the ecclesiastically famous. But here was Jesus, His priests, His faithful, in a beautiful house dedicated to His Name, through the work and legacy of one of His saints. Such things are easily found in this great city and it has always filled my heart. I I do love the Pope and the cardinals and all the ecclesiastically famous, but I love the other as well. To breathe this air and see these colors is a leaven for the heart and mind and soul.

We had many important guests at dinner and so much fun. It was good to see Gabi Lopez and Joe Baker, two seminarians from Madison and great fun to have Fr. Jim Socias with us. After dinner a Skype chat with someone very dear to my heart and then to type.

I love you all like Jesus and miss all those back home – Jesus, ADORO TE DEVOTE.

Rome Experience – Day II

So it begins.

The seminarians of the Rome Experience arrived today but not before a bit of adventure.

The morning was greeted with a gray sky and a chill in the air. So I prayed, drank some strong coffee and was ready for the day. You know, coffee has and will always taste better in Rome. Perhaps it’s the roast, perhaps the beans, perhaps the water, perhaps the brew but most likely the place. Everything, the good and the bad, can be found in Rome, the city where the living God chose to plant the heart of His bride the Church to beat until the end of time. Thus, for centuries, all the best of the divine has intersected with the best and worst of humanity. So, it makes sense that all things human would taste better in Rome (except beer and hamburgers.)

So out the door. The mission, buy month-long bus tickets. In short, there were closed stores, kiosks that did not sell the monthly ticket, stores that didn’t sell the tickets even though the sign said they did and finally the places that did sell, but only to find out that they only accepted cash payment. Of course, my happy debit card has a €500 limit for withdrawals per day and so the €1225 was not going to be covered.

Then it started to rain, I mean really rain. So, with a little defeat in my heart I walked back to CIAM soaking wet. The house greeted me warmly and I hung clothes out to dry and changed before Fr. Socias arrived and we chatted all things Church and apostolate. In short it was very enjoyable

Which as good since the seminarians arrived about three hours earlier than I thought! Thanks to the good sisters we put some food in them and got them oriented. After that a short walk down to St. Peter’s I let the seminarians run off to gelato and whatever little ecclesiastical adventure they might have in in hours. All were back for dinner, a short get-together and off to a Roman sleep.

Here’s my view as I do my night prayers before bed. As I said, O felix Roma!

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