Happy Easter!

Easter Mass

HAPPY EASTER!

After experiencing the crowds outside of security and hustling our way into the square, we stood for mass, praying for no rain.  The sun came out and Mass was beautiful!  Pope Francis even processed right by us on his pope mobile after Mass.  We left once it was done and weaved our way back to Bernardi for an Easter Brunch. 

Pope driving by

Afterwards, we celebrated by strolling around Rome, buying gifts for family members and eating the long-awaited Gelato.  We grabbed our last dinner together at an authentic Italian underground place called, “Il Ciociaro.”  We had a delicious meal and wonderful conversation.  My parents walked me back to Bernardi to say goodbye.  It was harder to leave them than I

thought.  Both Bernardians (who were traveling on spring break) and my family was “leaving” me at the same time so I felt like I was losing two families at once!  But I didn’t have much time to feel sad, because I needed to get prepared for my next adventure in the morning: Medjugorje.  

Assisi with my Parents

I went to Assisi for the day with my parents.  It was rainyjust like last time, but still pretty.  This time though, there were a lot more people, probably because more people are having a devotion to St. Francis of Assisi after Pope Francis chose his name after him.  We saw the same places I mentioned in my last blog, minus the church of San Damiano.  I loved going back down into the tomb of St. Francis of Assisi.  We grabbed a classic McDonalds

dinner and ate back at the apartment.  

Stations at the Coliseum with the Pope

Stations at the Coliseum

I stopped by Bernardi today to pick up some stuff, and ended up staying to watch The Passion with some of the Bernardians for the afternoon.  I met up with my parents and we stopped in various churches (since during holy week, all the churches in Rome have their altars open for prayer) on the way to the Coliseum where we were going to be able to do stations of the cross

Pope Francis

with Pope Francis.  We were greeted by crowds and didn’t quite know what to expect.  I, of course, was used to the tight spaces and pushing, but my parents found it a little difficult.  We stayed for all of the stations and the message the Pope gave us.  By the time it was over it was after 10pm and we still had to wak all the way back to Bernardi on the other side of town to print off our train tickets and then all the way back to St. Peters to our hotel.  After standing for hours and fasting, we were exhausted.  I was moving by sheer will power, but we eventually made it back to our hotel after midnight.  I crashed hard on my soft bed for the night.

Holy Thursday

Piazza Navona at Night

Today we toured the Vatican Museum (my parents and I).  We took our time going through the rooms before settling for a while back in the Sistine Chapel.  It was wonderful to be able to experience it for a second time.  Afterwards we grabbed some lunch at a pizzaria and rested at the apartment.  We took the 45 minute walk to the Angelicum so I could show them where I take classes and the beautiful walking route I take.  Unfortunately, the Ange was closed so we wandered back and met up with the rest of the group for Holy Thursday Mass at the Gesu.  Afterwards, we grabbed dinner at a place I’ve wanted to try called, “Da Francescas” by the Piazza Navona.  Unfortunately, we weren’t that impressed by the food and the service, but I’m glad we gave it a try.  Then we headed back to our rooms for the night.  

Two worlds collide

I nearly toppled my parents over running into them in St. Peter’s square.  I couldn’t walk fast enough across the square when I saw them in the distance so I sprinted over and gave them the biggest, longest hug I could possibly manage.  My parents had entered into the world that I had fallen in love with, the place I had described to them the past 2 months.  They were here!  We didn’t have a lot of time to catch up because we had a Savi Tour scheduled at 1pm.  This time the tour was so much better.  Our guide was a Seminarian from the NAC, and instead of focusing merely on the Architecture of St. Peter’s Basilica like my last tour guide did, he explained to us how it was really more of a pilgrimage to see the bones of St. Peter, and the foundation of the Church.  My parents loved it and I was so thrilled to be able to experience the proof of the whole history of the Church right in front of me, with the bones of St. Peter where Jesus said, “I tell you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church (Matt. 16:18).” After the tour we walked back to Bernardi, stopping at my favorite bakery place to give them a tast of the “Bomba” delights.  They joined us for community dinner and met some of my friends.  I was supposed to stay with them in their apartment by St. Peter’s but to be honest, I was hesitant to leave my Bernardi family.  I know it may sound crazy, but we’ve really become a family and I hadn’t seen them for a week while I was in Greece and I knew I was going to miss them!  So I invited my roommate Anna to come with me to the apartment for the night.  The sentimental feeling didn’t last very long once I saw how nice their apartment was and how comfy the beds were!  I immediately settled back into a groove with my parents alongside me.  

too beautiful to leave

We packed our things and headed toward the airport, with John, the owner of our hotel and his little sidekick as our escorts.  The last site I saw of our hotel was Fruit Loop Alex waving enthusiastically at us while we drove away.  I was so sad to leave.  We took a bumpy flight back to Athens and checked into the same hotel.  Emily and I went into the Acropolis Museum and toured around.  We stopped for lunch and had an amazing cup of cppucino freddo.  Since we already saw the important stuff in Athens, we spent the afternoon resting and relaxing.  We grabbed our last dinner in Athens at Plaka Tavern, partly because the restaurant owner said if we ate there he would give us free wine and dessert.  I wouldn’t pass that up!  We were able to talk about the favorite parts of the trip and how relatively smooth it had been.  It was a great ending to a wonderful Spring Break trip!

Riding Donkeys on Palm Sunday

St John the Baptist Cathedral

 Another warm sunny day waiting at the bus stop to go to Fira for mass.  We got the bus times wrong and ended up getting to Fira an hour after we had planned.  On a mission, we walked to try to find the church in a stressful power walk through the confusing streets.  Finally, we found St. John the Baptist Cathedral (which happens to be the only Catholic church on the island) and entered into the small but highly decorated chapel. We sat in the back row not sure what to expect out of a Greek Mass.  When the priest began mass, he shouted something in Greek all the way to the back of the church and everyone turned toward us. A lady behind us whispered, “he wants to know where you’re from.”  “Uh,”  I stuttured, “American?”  “Ah!”  He smiled and

Donkeys!

jabbered excitedly in Greek.  Well, we felt welcomed right away.  He had someone in translate for us in the homily to explain that because Catholics were the minority on the island, and many of them come from mixed Orthodox families, they go by the orthodox schedule (for school and work) and so, being behind the liturgical schedule, they were not celebrating palm Sunday mass today under permission by the Pope.  After mass he stayed true to the friendly Greek mannerism and hugged us and kissed our

Fira- My dream view!

cheeks.  Afterwards, we tried to find the old port where we heard we could ride Donkeys.  Spotting a Donkey in the street we decided to follow him.  He led us to a string of donkeys led by a man who motioned for us to follow him.  So here we were, walking down these thin stairs following some donkeys, trying to dodge poop, and having no idea where we were going in this hilarious parade.  Finally they stopped and we got on and began our descent down the cliff to the old port.  Riding Donkeys on Palm Sunday was not the most graceful thing, and so I can better understand how humble Jesus must have been riding in on these stubborn creatures.  I was so afraid they were going to

Oia 

throw me over a cliff or trip down the steep steps, but all the while I was still laughing hysterically.  The old port was beautiful.  There were Greek men in circles arguing over fish (I assume), and little shops where we picked up some traditional blue-stone gifts.  The cable car wasn’t working so we decided to walk back up the mountain.  Bad idea.  Over 1000 stairs up the side of a cliff in the hot sun with donkeys coming down definitely gave us an excersize we didn’t anticipate.  Finally at the top we awarded ourselves with Gelato and went back to the bus to go to Oia, the tip of the island where you can see one of the most beautiful sunsets in the world.  We discovered there was no way to see the sunset and get back to Perissa with the bus schedule, so we had to problem solve and borrow a phone from a guy in a snack shop to call the hotel and work out a taxi.  Before taking the bus we grabbed lunch at a restaurant “Niki” overlooking the cliff where we had just walked up and rode donkeys.  I had the best Greek Salad I’ve ever tasted.  Once we got to Oia we walked around and shopped.  One of the places we went into was really cute and it ended up being the lady’s living room.  She lived downstairs.  She saw us eyeing a beautiful silk and sequined scarf and tried to get us to buy it.  But being way over our price limit we explained to here we were poor students.  Instead of being a typical Italian shop owner and losing all interest in us for not giving them money, she simply said, “that’s ok, you have your whole life to buy things like this.  For now, try it on, and feel beautiful.”  She then grabbed Emily and showed her all the different ways she could wear it and had us take pictures of her.  She made us feel so beautiful by just wanting us to enjoy it, without feeling the necessity to buy.  It was wonderful.  We still had some time before the sunset so we stopped at a restaurant to try what we’ve been waiting to eat since we got here: Baklevah.  The restaurant was all out so we had to settle for spicey feta cheese with honey crust.  We ran out to the spot we had picked out for the sunset and had the most incredible 20 minutes of our trip so far.  I couldn’t

Oia at Sunset

believe my eyes at the shear beauty in front of me!  I blinked and it wouldn’t go away!  I named this as “My happy place” I would go to whenever I am feeling sad.  It’s easy to think that God exists when you see a site like this.  Afterwards, we took the bus and taxi back to our hotel and commemorated our fabulous day by buying a pan full of baklevah and eating it in our hotel room J while going over the pictures from our day. 

A taste of the island on ATVs

Ready to Go!

We woke up to gorgeous weather: 60's and clear blue sky.  We hustled down to our ATVs awaiting us.  For me it was completely natural to be on a four-wheeler, having driven one nearly my whole life at my cabin.  After a quick lesson from Fruit Loop Alex, we rumbled off down the road to complete the items on the map Katerina had given us.  As we drove towards the Red beach, we stopped at picturesque sites and soaked in the beautiful sun. It felt so freeing to speed down the road with the clear blue ocean surrounding you, going up and down hills and stopping and going as you please.  I was in my happy place :).  We stopped at an excavation site, where there is a continuous process going on to uncover a city that's covered in volcanic ash.  It was very cool to walk through the rooms they've uncovered.  Next we

excavation site

parked our ATV's next to the sign saying "red beach that way."  We expected the beach to be right there, but we were surprised to see you had to hike a little ways over large red rocks to get to the beach.  It was beautiful and there were even random doors attached to the side of the rocks.  Once again, we played like little kids in the water and layed out in the sun. Afterwards, we walked back to the restaruant called "Dolphins", which is conveniently located right

The red beach

on the edge of the water.  We ordered a plate of fresh fish as we watched a man from the restaruant fish on the dock outside for the next customer's meal.  The fish was served, well, looking like a fish: the head, the eyes, everything.  I looked away and destroyed the fish on my plate so it looked like less of a fish, and instead more like a plate of meat and hundreds of bones. But Leone, a girl from Germany who was also joining us, looked at me incredulously. I made sure the next fish I ate was sliced properly and ate the rest of my meal with proper etiquette until the octopus in the tank next to us began to make eyes at Kelly who was eating the tentacles before her.  It was a riot! Next we drove our ATV's out to a lighthouse which has an amazing view of the island.  Then we made our way back to Pyrgos and stopped in at "Santa Wines", a place known for watching the sunset, for some wine tasting.  We paid only 2 Euro to try 2 glasses of wine: I had a traditional Santorini white wine and a

Eating fish at Dolphins cafe 

strong and sweet dessert wine.  We split up with Kelly and Leone who had to leave and drove through the city to find the monestary. We ended up driving past it and driving all the way up to the highest point of the hill.  At the top was a military ground and was blocked off, so we headed part way down to a house under construction where we sat and waited for the sun to set before us. After the beautiful sun had gone below the horizon, we quickly hoped on our bikes to try to make it back before we froze.  On the way down we stopped at the monestary.  Driving ATV's in the dark on the road is a little less

Sunset on the hill

relaxing and a little more scary. But, we made it back safely and ate bakery pizza before we crashed from the long but best day ever!

Welcome to Santorini!

Katerina & John's Hotel

We checked out of our hotel, took the metro to the airport, and took our scenic 30 minute plane ride to the island of Santorini.  We were greeted by a tiny airport and a single bus service which connects to all the different towns on the island. The bus also doubled as a school bus and we picked up children as we made our way to the bottom of the Island, Perissa, where our hotel was.  We got dropped off in the middle of a dirt road with a few houses on one side, the ocean on the other, and no street signs.  We were hot, and tired, and couldn't find our hotel.  So I sucked up my discomfort and walked up to a greek man painting a house.  He didn't speak any English put picked up the name "Katerina" as our hotel owner.  I told him we didn't have a phone so he walks over to his car, opens up the trunk, clears out his painting gear, and motions for us to climb inside.  Hmmm.  I was taught never to get in the car of strangers, but what other option did we have?  pick us up. Woops!  Apparantly we didn't get the email.  After hotel

View from roof of burnt house in Pyrgos

"orientation" she drove us in a tiny car that she's been using as an 'animal shelter' to the market where we could pick up our breakfasts.  We still had some evening time left so we took a bus to Pyrgos, towards the center of the island to try to find a view to watch the sunset.  But the driver told us that the last bus left in an hour so instead, we explored the town by winding our way through picturesque white cement houses.  We happened upon some cafe's still closed for the winter season, and an abandoned house that had been burned down.  We climbed on the roof and gazed at the beautiful island before us.  There was a cafe by the bus stop called "Secrets" so we walked in to grab some coffee.  The waitress, of course, was named "Katerina."  She had waist-long dark black hair and was extremely friendly.  She made us the traditional Greek "Frappe's" and even showed us how to make one ourselves.  Before we left for the bus, she begged us to stay and fed us free cake and invited us to a party the following night.  Everyone in Greece has been so unbelievably friendly so far!  Arriving back in Perissa we walked the 5 minutes from our hotel to the black sand beach to watch the sun go down.  We were so excited to finally see ocean after many weeks in the city that despite the chilly wind, we splashed in the water like little children.  When it got dark we went back to the hotel where we met a girl named Kelly, who was actually from Wayzata, MN!  She was a student on Spring break but she was here by herself.  So we invited her to join us for our ATV tour in the morning.  She pointed out a nearby bakery where we picked up "cheese pies" for dinner.  We ate them in our room and took our salty showers, excited to explore the island the next day.  We climbed in and sat tensely as he drove us about 10 minutes away from where we thought our hotel was.  He dropped us off at "Katerina and John's hotel", refusing payment and drove away.  (The fact that he knew what hotel to drop us off at was incredible considering that practically everyone on the island is named Katerina).  We were greeted by a young man named Alex who dressed like a 90's Fruit Loop: Bright red pants, an orange vest, pink longsleeve and green shoes--and a big smile. He showed us to our very basic room: 3 beds, a bathroom where the shower was a box on the floor, with no curtain and a handheld showerhead, and salty water.  But hey, 7 Euros a night!  We slept until a knock at our door startled us awake and we were greeted by a middle-aged woman with long brown hair.  She began chattering quickly wondering why we weren't at the airport where her husband was there to pick us up.  Woops!  Apparantly we didn't get the email and wasted a couple of hours riding the bus.  After "hotel orientation" she drove us in her tiny white car that doubled as an 'animal shelter' to the market where we could pick up our breakfasts.  There was still some time in the evening so we took a bus to Pyrgos, a central town on the island with the plan of catching the sunset there.  But the bus driver told us the last bus left in an hour so instead, we weaved our way up the small paths between the beautiful white cement houses, passing by cafe's still closed for the winter and happening upon a burnt down house where the roof presented an amazing view of the island.  There was a cafe next to the bus stop called "Secrets", so we stopped in to grab a cup of coffee.  The bartender, of course, was named "Katerina."  She had waist-long dark hair and was super friendly.  She served us the traditional Greek "iced Frappe's" and even showed us how to make our own.  Upon leaving, she begged us to stay for 5 more minutes and fed us cake and even invited us to a party the

Black Sand Beach

following night.  Everyone in Greece has been so incredibly friendly so far!  We hopped the bus back and took the 5 minute walk from our hotel to the black sand beach.  We were so eager to see the ocean after weeks in the city, that despite the chilly wind we played like little children in the water as the sun set.  Heading back when it was dark we met another student staying at the hotel named Kelly.  She was also from Wayzata, MN and was on her Spring Break by herself so we invited her to join our ATV tour in the morning.  She pointed out a nearby bakery where we picked up our "cheese pie" dinners.  We ate them in our room and took our salty showers, excited to explore the island the next day.

Athens, Greece

Theater of Dyonisus

(3/21) Riding the escalator up from the underground metro into the Athens foggy sunlit sky, I knew we were no longer in Rome.  The cobblestone streets seemed cleaner, the air was fresher, and people strolled by at a casual pace.  Rolling my bag behind me we searched for our hotel for a little while.  Arriving at "Hotel Byron", just a few minutes from the metro station, we opened the door and entered into a dimly lit room.  I felt like I had just walked into the Mafia.  The room was silent and in the corner there were old men with dark wrinkled skin, smoking cigars and playing poker intensely.  The receptionist was a large dark-haired man with intimidating features and a thick accent.  Carefully grabbing our keys, we climbed the stairs and entered

View of Athens from Acropolis

into our surprisingly cozy room.  After a few minutes we decided to check out the Acropolis, which was only a few blocks from our hotel.  We happened upon a Theater which is called the "Theater of Dyonisus."  We were so surprised that there was nobody else around!  We wandered to the entrance of the Acropolis to buy tickets, only to find out they were free for students!  But the guy told us it was about to close in 15 minutes so we had to go straight to the top of the hill to the Pantheon.  We bounded up the uncrowded hill and stopped to take pictures at scenic spots.  Although hazy and windy, the top of the hill showed an incredible view of the city of Athens, but much of the ruins were under

Rock where St. Paul Preached

Pantheon at night

renovation. We took our time coming down as it closed and wandered off to find the temple of the Olympian Zeus.  Instead of finding it, our tired bodies sunk down into a park bench to regather and recover from our morning travels.  We noticed a statue behind our bench and decided to check it out.  The "little park" we were sitting in began to open up into a very large area...we were in the National Gardens!  Paths surrounded by palm trees and wooden niches led us to a beautiful bridge over a pond, flower gardens, and even a bird zoo!  We relished the quiet beauty in the middle of the city before heading back to our hotel as the sun began to set.  After a quick nap, we explored the nightlife of Athens by sitting outside of an Authentic Grecco Restaraunt and eating the classic Gyros.  Afterwards, we sauntered back to the

Gyros!

Acropolis to see the Pantheon ruins at night.  The road leading to the Pantheon becomes a romantic place to stroll in the evening time when the street lights becoming a spotlight for trumpet players serenading passerbys with Frank Sinatra tunes under the moonlight.   We walked out to a huge rock that lays beneath the Pantheon and overlooks a skyline of city lights.  Unfortunately, it was still a little foggy so the lights weren't spectacular, but it was still gorgeous.  The rock becomes the College Hangout at night and flocks of teens littered the grounds. A fun fact about the rock was that it used to be a spot where the Apostle Paul preached to the

The National Gardens

crowds.  After saying goodnight to the city of Athens we went back to the hotel to sleep before another flight the next morning.

Habemus Papam! A moment in History

(3/13) This morning I awoke with the plan that when our whole group was together in the square tonight, there would be a pope.  I made up my mind that it would be perfect timing:  It was an evening when we didn’t have class, it was right before going out of town for the weekend, and it was the couple of hours we would all be in the square that night.  Of course I knew the Holy Spirit was in charge of these things, but I also had this unwavering confident hope that God knew how much I wanted to be there, and so I trusted the inclination inside of me.  Still, after not feeling very well all afternoon, the thought crossed my mind that I didn’t want to go stand out in the square in the rain.  But quickly I recovered and labeled that as a passing thought trying to get me not to go precisely because something amazing was about to happen. 

            I left my aches behind me and trotted through the rain to get to St. Peters.  When we arrived at about 5:30pm, there were already 100s of umbrellas crowding around in various clumps along the square. .  We met up with the Chaplaincy and Fr. Carolla and Fr. Justin in the back left hand of the square.  I met an enthusiastic couple from Texas who ended up joining us in prayer.  We opened our briveries and began to pray evening prayer together and then the rosary.  We faced the screen as we prayed and tried to ignore the various media photographers taking our pictures.  When it was over we moved our group up a little closer near the abalisk. As more people filled in the square the excitement and anticipation began to rise and there were more frequent glances being tossed at the screen.  A seagull found a happy place sitting on top of the smoke chimney, perhaps even eavesdropping on the voting Cardinals.  A couple of the Seminarians had snuck a flag pole through security, and placed a huge American flag on it as well as a smaller papal flag and passed the time waving it around. While we were standing around a few of us were getting interviewed by various news stations.  Me and a few others were interviewed by EWTN.  They asked us easy questions like where we were from, why we were in Rome, what was our favorite thing about Rome, were we excited, etc.  I talked to the camera guy for a minute after and found out that he used to work with Jeff Cavins and he had been out in Rome filming the last election, as well as the mass for priests last year.  A reporter from another news station also asked us how we were feeling right then.  In unison we all enthusiastically shouted, “CATHOLIC!”  Not quite the response he was expecting, he wandered off. 

            We waited and waited, and finally at 7:05pm white smoke started billowing out of the chimney.  I caught a glimpse of it on the screen the same time the crowd gasped and people started chattering, “It’s white!  Oh my gosh!  Wait, no it’s black!  No it’s definitely white!”  Immediately I pulled out my camera to try to film it, but I saw Nic grab Katie and run forward and voices behind me saying, “go go go!  Move forward!  This is it!”  I had my umbrella in one hand and my camera in the other as I was pushed forward in a blind sprint towards the Vatican.  I held the umbrella up as high as I could to try to avoid hitting people and their umbrellas, but I just kept getting hit and shoved and I pressed on forward.  Nic was leading the way and there was a brief moment when he stopped to let a couple of little kids through so as to not trample them. Finally, we slowed to a stop towards front/middle and the chaotic screams broke through the air!  It was an explosion of sound and smiles and jumping up and down in the cold falling rain.  People were shouting, “We have a Pope!  Habemus Papam!” Or even, “We got ‘em baby!” The white smoke continued to pour out of the chimney in a steady billow as we struggled to catch our breath through our pounding hearts and excited screams.  Our American flag swooped over our heads to show how proud we were to be here representing America.  We definitely were the craziest among the crowd and continued to hug each other and scream and jump up and down.  After we were done screaming we met a couple of guys by us who were from Pennsylvania and were studying business in Rome.  He talked with our group as a ABC New York news lady with a camera stationed herself in front of us. Along with interviewing us, she wanted to film our reactions as the new Pope walked out. We asked her if she was Catholic and she said “it’s complicated.”  One of our girls smiled and said, “What a perfect place to be then.”  While another said, “Oh don’t worry, you will be by the end of the night.” 

            We waited and some cheers were chanted and songs were sung.  There were so many different people around us gathered from all different backgrounds including other students who were here studying, clueless and not so clueless media reporters, both kids and elderly, and even a guy who proclaimed himself as a “Jewish Athiest.”  Whatever their backgrounds, I was sure that each of them (including me) was called to that square for a reason.  Even if they don’t realize it at this point, the Lord was planting a seed inside of them by showing them the unmistakable joy and unity that is present in their home inside the universal church.  Just as I told the news reporter that we were all there for a reason and we have a responsibility to be witnesses to the truth; to tell our loved ones about this experience back home. 

            Finally at 8:20pm, 3 figures came out and announced, “Habemus Papam! (We have a Pope!)”  It was now official. We screamed and screamed!  We waited longer and they came and rolled out a red carpet and hung a curtain over the banner.  People were saying the pope was from Italy, than I heard Brazil, and then I heard Argentina.  Finally, the curtains opened and the pope in white emerged.  I looked on the screen and the first thing I noticed was his dark-tinted glasses and his calm expression.  Although I didn’t know how to interpret this at first, I realize later that as a humble man, his experience must have been one of being a shepard looking out at his sheep (all screaming wildly), and really accepting us as the people he was now called to serve. I didn’t know how I was feeling until he started to speak.  He stood tall (a contrast to the last two popes who I saw near the end of their papacy when they were weaker) and confident.  His voice was clear and he made big welcoming gestures with his hands.  His first words were talking about how the cardinals had to go to the ends of the earth to find a new pope, and here he is!  People started laughing in glee. Matthew next to me said, “We have a funny pope! Yes!”  He then asked us to pray for Pope Benedict… here is the original text of the speech:

            Brothers and sisters, good evening! You know that it was the duty of the Conclave to give Rome a Bishop. It seems that my brother Cardinals have gone to the ends of the earth to get one... but here we are... I thank you for your welcome. The diocesan community of Rome now has its Bishop. Thank you! And first of all, I would like to offer a prayer for our Bishop Emeritus, Benedict XVI. Let us pray together for him, that the Lord may bless him and that Our Lady may keep him. (Our Father... Hail Mary... Glory Be... ) And now, we take up this journey: Bishop and People. This journey of the Church of Rome which presides in charity over all the Churches. A journey of fraternity, of love, of trust among us. Let us always pray for one another. Let us pray for the whole world, that there may be a great spirit of fraternity. It is my hope for you that this journey of the Church, which we start today, and in which my Cardinal Vicar, here present, will assist me, will be fruitful for the evangelization of this most beautiful city. And now I would like to give the blessing, but first — first I ask a favor of you: before the Bishop blesses his people, I ask you to pray to the Lord that he will bless me: the prayer of the people asking the blessing for their Bishop. Let us make, in silence, this prayer: your prayer over me. Now I will give the Blessing to you and to the whole world, to all men and women of good will. (Blessing). Brothers and sisters, I leave you now. Thank you for your welcome. Pray for me and until we meet again. We will see each other soon. Tomorrow I wish to go and pray to Our Lady, that she may watch over all of Rome. Good night and sleep well!

            I remember thinking that I wish I could understand what he was saying, (the whole speech was in Italian).  But I caught a few words of people around me translating some of it.  During the silence while we were praying for him, the once roaring crowd was completely silence.  You could tell everyone in the world was praying for him at that moment.  All I knew about him I learned quickly on the way back:  He was 76, he was a Jesuit he is the first to take on the name Francis (which is a bold move), he named himself not after St. Franics Xavier who is a Jesuit but after St. Francis of Assisi—which explains how he is a simple man and works a lot with the poor (he doesn’t own a car and just walks around with a bag (the little sisters of the lamb told us this when we ran into them in the square afterwards)).  He seemed to me to be very humble, very inviting, very simple, and very prepared for the role.  He was looking out on us as if he accepted us and was ready to put us, the sheep, up on his shephard shoulders.  I found myself in love with him already! This was going to be the pope, godwilling, who I would invest a great deal of my life in.  He may be the pope I would one day teach my kids about.  I was excited to read more about him and his works.  I just wanted to get to know him!  

            I remember the interviewer interviewed me and Emily because we were tearing up.  My heart just felt soo filled with joy and excitement I couldn’t even contain.  My eyes were welling up and I had no idea what words I would use to describe this moment.  But the holy spirit spoke through me and I was able to tell the reporter exactly how blessed I felt and how loved we were in the square.  I don’t remember all that I said, but I do remember telling the TommieMedia news reporter later that I believe that we each have a responsibility to be witnesses to it, to our experiences, and to the truth. Each of us there received tremendous grace to be able to see with such clarity the church as it stands today, in all it’s beauty and splendor. This is not some abstract spiritual moment, this is really a joyous reality that is happening here. I tried to express the truth of how I felt and I saw the lady’s attentive eyes grow watery.  After she had finished she said that this was truly an amazing experience and she was happy to have experienced it with us.  I could tell she was going to walk out of that square changed because she had sensed that this was not just ordinary excitement, but something truly deep and truly joyful and meaningful.  She even reached over and gave Emily and I Italian goodbye greetings: kisses on our cheeks.  I held her arm and said, “I hope you come back home to the church.”  She thanked me and disappeared into the crowd.  We stood a bit longer as people began to disperse and Fr. Justin told us a bit about our new pope.  I kept hugging Katie and Sarah, still not able to contain my glee.  Squeezing our way through the crowd everyone seemed to be filled with joy.  A bad analogy is it was like leaving the best sporting event of your life when your sports team won, cheering with your new friends who were once strangers outside the stadium, except this transcended all of that.  The street out was a sea of people and I couldn’t help but skip down the cobblestones.  The rain had stopped as soon as we had gathered at the front awaiting the pope and now it was just a beautiful lit up city.  Sarah and I walked arm and arm past our favorite bakery when a lady hopped up to us with her donut bag in hand and cheerfully asked, “do you ladies know where you’re going?”  We said yes.  She said, “Are you going to St. Peter’s?”  We told her we were coming from there.  And she said “Oh, is it over?  Are you sure he’s not going to come out again for the rest of the night?  Where is St. Peters exactly?”  We told her there may be people there and pointed her the right direction.  We said God bless you and she turned to us and grabbed us enthusiastically and said, “YOU TOO!”  We smiled but were surprised at how even though this felt like the biggest event of our lives, there were still people that didn’t know what was happening right in front of them. When we got back we had our community dinner set up for us. By that time we were starving!  We excitedly chatted and ate and talked all about what we had just experienced.  After dinner we had night prayer and we were too excited to fall asleep.  Our whole floor was skyping their friends and family about their experience and I was looking at the pictures and videos I took.  Crawling into bed after 1am I tried unsuccessfully to quiet my mind from the incredible blessing that carried my day and every day since then.   Viva la Papa Francesco!

The Greatest Work of All Time

We walked briskly to St. Peter's, buzzing with excitement that our morning class was going to be a tour of the Vatican Museums including the Sistine Chapel, just days before it would be closed for the meeting of the cardinals for the Conclave.  Dr. Lev took us through early christian art sculptures, the famous gardens with the big pinecone and "sphere within a sphere", and explained to us the meaning behind each one of the paintings we were about to see in the Sistine Chapel.  My knowledge of the Sistine chapel was this:  It was painted by MichelAngelo, and somewhere in the middle is a guy touching is finger with God.  Little did I know that Dr. Lev was going to blow my mind in speaking about the details of the judgement scene and the crucifix being placed in front of the cave of demons, the stories of moses and Jesus on the side walls, the story of creation stemming from God and the steady progression of the fall of humanity written on the ceiling, and so much more.  I eagerly soaked in all that I could, feeling my anticipation to see the chapel rising.  I came to the realization that I wanted to take the recordings of her explanations and use them when I could come back on my own or at a later point in time to walk through and discover the rich faith and history behind each of the works.  We were able to walk through rooms and see unbelievable paintings and the theological and philosophical intentions of the Artists behind them.  Michael Angelo, Raphael, and many more great works surrounded the packed rooms.  Finally, she let us go to see the Sistine Chapel.  However, we were forced to walk through the rooms of modern art which felt like a slap in the face compared to what we were about to see.  My first impression walking in was actually: "Whoah, there's a lot of people, and they're really loud, and they are not supposed to be taking pictures."  Once I could drown out the policemen shushing the crowd I looked up at the original work before me.  It was only a matter of time before I had to kneel before the judgement scene in prayer.  Looking up from my position I made out those in heaven rescuing the souls from purgatory, pulling them up by rosary beads and fighting off those in hell that tried to hold them back.  The crucifix was the only thing keeping the cave of demons in the background from wreaking havoc.  Above was a most unsettling view of our Lord: with arm raised and head turned away from us as if aloof, comes the time for judgement.  Mary was curled up near his side and hiding her face as if she couldn't watch.  This and other scenes seem to weigh down upon me the longer I stood there.  I could've easily walked around the room quickly, thinking it was a good piece of art and continued on with my day, but Dr. Lev's lecture made the paintings seem so real. They all conveyed a message to me, to us, although it is easy to miss.  I noticed some people were having powerful experiences as well as they fought back tears.  Others, were snapping away with their camera and chatting as if it were another tourist thing to see.  I didn't want to leave, but eventually we had to weave our way back through the museums to catch the bus in time for our next class.
   I put my walking on power speed trying to take in all that I could before I left.  It took forever to grab our bags, buy a bus ticket, and walk over to St. Peters looking for our stop.  Eventually, we just gave up, realizing we were going to be way to late for Italian to even go, and we hunkered down on the side of the road and ate our packed lunch.  2 by 2, others from our class joined us after their failed attempt at catching a bus.  After we ate we finally found the bus stop and stepped on to go to the Ang for our next class.  The ticket readers on the bus were broken so we got a free ride!  Very fittingly, Fr. Murray spoke about Michael Angelo's poems, paintings, and famous sculptures during our "God and the Poets" class that night.  After class my small group went out to eat at the Abbey Theater Irish Pub, where I got a much-needed American meal: bacon cheeseburger, fries, and a coke.  So satisfying!  Finishing up the evening with a consecration to Mary, I headed off to bed to dream of Frescoes gallore.

Damian and Cosmos

(3/7)  I went to station church this morning at 7am over by the Wedding Cake building called, "Church of Damian and Cosmos."  I have to admit I went partly because of the awesome name.  I was picturing a huge and powerful building.  Well, the church itself was more petite and ornate, but below the church there were stone remains of a temple ruins, including the remains of the two saints.  We walked back, had breakfast and I caught up on some writing. Today is the feast of St. Thomas Aquinas, so our classes at the Angelicum were cancelled, but we still had 2 of Rota's classes down in the basement of our Bernardi building.  It was kind of fun to have class in my sweatpants without having to walk anywhere.  Afterwards, the Rota family kindly took me, Sarah and Tim out for dinner to get to know each of us better.  We left at 6pm and realized that restaurants usually don't open until 7:30pm.  So we headed back and reconvened at 7:30.  We headed over to a small restaurant ride by Bernardi that looked very nice and neighborly.  Our dishes mimicked the higher prices: small and fancy dishes.  I had flavorful and tender duck breast with cauliflower/broccoli mixed and mandarine oranges, and I got to try some of Tim's squid.  It was so nice to be able to get to know their family better and hang out with Hannah (6) and Rosa (9) and talk about the coming baby due in April!  After a couple of hours of good conversation we walked back and exchanged Rome pictures with Tim's nice camera and crawled into bed around 1am.