October, 2007
Last week was full of inspiring and grace-filled moments, beginning with a Saturday pilgrimage to Orvieto, where in a nearby town in the 14th Century the Host bleed onto the corporal, and where I was able to celebrate mass in the chapel of this corporal. From concelebrating an Italian Mass with Cardinal Keeler at Santa Maria dei Angeli e dei Martiri (St. Mary of the Angels and Martyrs) to an English Mass with Archbishop O’Brien, the new Archbishop of Baltimore, in the crypt at the Basilica of St. Peter merely yards away from the resting place of Peter, our first pope. Then the following Sunday, to attend the angelus at noon in the Square of St. Peter’s, presided by His Holiness, Pope Benedict, and to receive his blessing. No two days in Rome never look the same.
After two weeks in Rome, I feel compelled to give thanks to God for all the opportunities I have been blessed with throughout my formation for the priesthood. And yet, while the blessed events surrounding the Holy Father John Paul II’s funeral and Pope Benedict’s election, the beatification of Mother Theresa of Calcutta, and many others, were truly graced times for myself and the whole Church, the seminary’s day to day support and encouragement in my growth towards holiness outweighs these opportunities. The opportunity to daily spend an hour in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, a miraculous encounter that occurs throughout the world in the greatest Basilicas to the simplest chapels, anchors my Christian growth.
This morning, rising at a quarter past 5, I endured the unexpected shock of cold water in the shower, a rare occurrence caused by problems with the hot water heaters. A deacon in the college met me and we prayed the rosary while walking 30 minutes to the Domus Mariae Sanctae Gaudalupe, where American sisters studying in Rome live. After celebrating mass and eating breakfast at the convent, I walked to a bus stop that would take me to the other side of the Gianicolo hill, where my university, the Tersianum is located. At 8:30, my four hours at the Teresianum began, two hours each in Italian of “Liturgy and the Spiritual Life” and “Contemporary History of Spirituality. By 12:30, I walk about 25 minutes (luckily now downhill) to the NAC (North American College) for Pranzo, the afternoon and primary meal in Italy. The afternoon brought on some research for my thesis, a hour and half of basketball with brothers in the seminary, and evening prayer and dinner. After the 7pm dinner, I prayed a holy hour and prepared myself for bed, ready to wake for another day shortly after 5am.
While the regimen may seem difficult, there is more time between activities than at first appearance. There are many opportunities to talk with friends, while walking or enjoying a moment in the lounge. Finding a rhythm to life though, brings about a freedom when opportunities arise like sharing a meal with visitors to Rome.
