Datum Romae

Holy Week

2011-04-18T10:47:00.001-07:00

I hope this finds you well as this, the holiest week of the year, begins.

The past few months have been good. The second semester brought some good new classes which have been very fruitful. Also, I have been playing again for the soccer team here at the College. We started practicing back in February but our games did not begin until mid-March. We have been doing pretty well, coming away 1-1-1 with 2 of the games going to penalty kicks. Fortunately we made it to the playoffs and we will begin those after we return from Easter break in May. We are hoping to finally win the Clericus Cup tournament after losing in the finals the past two years. Go Martyrs!

For holy week I am staying here in the city and one of my friends from Kenrick, Zach Edgar from Springfield, Ill, is going to come over and we are going to go to the liturgies with the Holy Father. It should be an truly graced time to pray through the central mysteries of our Catholic faith here with so many people from around the world. Already going to Palm Sunday this past weekend was beautiful! I am sure the rest will be the same.

On May 1st there is going to be another huge celebration here in the city- the beatification of John Paul II. There have been reports that there will be from 500,000- 3 million pilgrims here for the festivities! I am so thankful to be able to be there as the Church thanks God for the life and virtues of our beloved father and inspiration- JPII!

Once classes are back in May we only have about 4 weeks left before exams begin- and those will be finished up by June 14th, and I will be on a flight back to Saint Louis on the morning of the 16th! I can't wait! But before that Jacob will be coming for for about 10 days, and we will certainly have a good time catching up and it will be great visit all the sites together.

Know that you all will be in my prayers in a special way during these next few days throughout the entire season of Easter! I can't wait to see you in June! God bless you. Here is a homily I wrote for a practice a few weeks ago. It is for Good Friday. May the love of the Crucified Lord Jesus overwhelm you!

It is a Friday afternoon a little before three o’clock. We find ourselves on a small hill outside the walls, to the west, of the city of Jerusalem. There are three men all crucified. In the middle we behold a figure- a human being whose body is so beaten and bloodied that it is hard to imagine how he is still alive. We hear him gasping out his final words… consummatum est. It is finished. And with that he bows his head- and dies. Three hours this man- Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Mary, the carpenter, the preacher, the promised Messiah, the King of the Jews, the Son of God- has hung upon this cross. Flanked on either side by common criminals. Victim to favored form of Roman execution- perhaps one of the most brutal means of public execution ever devised by fallen man- crucifixion. It is here- on Calvary- that the Church gathers on Good Friday. And here at the foot of the cross- my mind and my heart wonder, and can’t help but ask-- what was it that filled the mind of Jesus during those three long hours, what was he thinking about?- there raised up from the earth on the altar of the cross? Perhaps we can imagine what would our reaction would be… anger, regret, distain, a desire that the end would come soon. All likely answers if this were only a human person we were considering. But instead the man we behold is not just a man, but indeed the only begotten Son of God, the second person of the Trinity. And even now- despite the most profound pain, and suffering this world has ever known, he- in the depths of his soul, and in the highest part of his human spirit is completely united to his father- contemplating that beauty and sharing in that joy to which we are all called. Jesus on the cross- God and man, on the way and at the destination, suffering servant and King of glory. Indeed a mystery, and a paradox of suffering and joy which stretches the limits of our conceptions, and brings us to our knees in adoration of the mystery. The mystery which tells us that this man was not thinking the thoughts of a mere man during his last hours but rather he was thinking the thoughts of God. Jesus -as he hung upon the cross- was in conversation with his father. He was taking about Mary. Jesus’ mother who stood by his side until the last. He was thinking about Peter, his dear friend who in his most desperate hour had abandoned and denied him. He was thinking about Pilate, and the Sanhedrin who had condemned him to death, he was thinking about the people in crowds in Galilee- those whom he had healed and loved. He is thinking about Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the prophets who went before him, and who foretold his coming. But he is not just thinking about the past. He is also thinking about the future. He was thinking about you and me. He was thinking about every human person who would ever exist- and not just in a vague general way, but in all the details- the good and the bad- of our lives. He was thinking of the gifts and talents he had given us and how we would glorify his name through them, and he was also thinking of our failures, our sins, all the ways in which we reject Him,- our infidelity, our lack of zeal, our lack of love towards him and our neighbors. He- as the Incarnate son of God- knew it all. As he suffered on the cross- he thought of us. And from his most sacred heart- he offered it all to the father. He took it- all our sins, all our joys, all of us- into himself, and in the most perfect act ever made on this earth he lovingly, obediently, offered his life for you and for me. Consummatum est. It is finished and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. For us, for our sins, and for our forgiveness. His act of love conquers our sins. His sacrifice purifies us, and makes us whole again. It brings us life- life in Him.

Holy Land Pilgrimage

2011-02-12T09:02:00.000-08:00

Ciao! Well I have just finished my third semester of classes at the Gregorian. Only 3 more in the first cycle (a bachelors in Sacred Theology) and that means also only 4 months till I return to Saint Louis for the summer! Cardinal's baseball, Budwiser and Bar-B-Que here I come!

As I wrote back in December I was going on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land with a group from the seminary. I included then my iternary so you can check that out below. It was an incredible 2 weeks- the most amazing experiences I think I have had thus far in my Roman sojourn (which I suppose is pretty bold, but I'm holding to it!).

Below I put up a bunch of photos- I didn't have today to comment on them- by next week I will get comments added. For now just enjoy the photos. You a larger section of the pictures on www.flickr.com (under people: cseiler1)

First they will be from Galilee- including the Sea, the Mount of Beatitudes, Capernam, Peter's Primacy, the Waterfall where the Apostles were called, Nazareth, and Mount Tabor (where the transfiguration took place). Then we will transition to Jerusalem and see the Holy Sepluchre (including the empty tomb(!) and Calvary), the Mount of Olives, the way of the Cross, the Upper Room, the Temple Mount, and Peter in Gallicantu (where Jesus was held prisoner the night before he was crucified and where Peter denied him). So here we go!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-18T13:05:00.000-08:00

"Dearly beloved, today our Savior is born; let us rejoice. Sadness should have no plae on the birthday of life. The fear of death has been swallowed up; life brings us joy with the promise of eternal happiness!"

Merry Christmas! (A bit early, I know) I hope that this holy season of Advent and the

coming season of Christmas finds you filled with the joy and happiness that Saint Leo the Great speaks of in the quote at the beginning!

All is most well here in Rome. Sorry I have not posted in a LONG time, but you have all been often in my prayers and on my mind in these busy months of school and seminary formation. God has been so good over the last months with the high light being a visit from my Mom and Aunt Kay back in Novemeber right before Thanksgiving! It was so good to see her again! Not only that but the same weekend, the old Archibishop of Saint Louis and a real spiritual father and inspiration to me, Raymond Burke, was made a Cardinal of the Roman Church by Pope Benedict! It was so good to be able to share in the celebrations of that weekend- and with my mom at my side! Praise God.

Tomorrow, December 19th, I, along with about 30 other seminarians and a few priest leave from Rome for Israel. We are spending Christmas in the Holy Land. As one of my friends said: "Jesus knows you haven't been home in 18 months, and you can't go to your home for Christmas, so he has invited you to his house, his home town, his neighborhood- he wants to share his life with you." It will be and amazing journey of faith to visit the places (see below for a complete list) where Our Savior, the Word made Flesh, took flesh, was born, grew up, preached the Kingdom, called his disciples, founded the Church, suffered, died, and rose again on the Third day! I am not sure what the Lord has in store for these next 12 days but I am sure they will be ones that I will not ever forget. Know that as I go you will be remembered in my prayers all the way through, along with all of your intentions.

May the Good Lord pour out an ocean of graces on all of us this Christmas season as we welcome, our God into the world, our God who is so powerful and so full of love that he became small enough to fit into a manger. I hope that you and all your loved ones know the peace, joy, hope, and love that only Mary's Son can bring!

I leave you again with Saint Leo the Great, his words from a Christmas morning homily some 1500 years ago:

"In the fullness of time, chosen in the unfathomable depths of God's wisdom, the
Son of God took for himself our common humanity in order to reconcile it with
its creator. He came to overthrow the devil, the orgin of death, in that very
nature by which he had overthrown mankind.
And so at the birth of our Lord the angels sing in joy: Glory to God in the highest, and they proclaim peace to his people on earth as they see the heavenly Jerusalem being built from all the nations of the world. When the angels on high are so exultant at this marvelous work of God's goodness, what joy should it not bring to the lowly hearts of men?
Christian, remember your dignity! Now that you share in God's own
nature, do not return by sin to your former base condition. Bear in mind who is
your head and of whose body you are a member. Do not forget that you have been
rescued from the power of darkness, and bright ino the light of God's kingdom.
Through the sacrament of baptism you have become a temple of the Holy Spirit. Do
not drive away so great a guest by evil conduct and become again a slave to the
devil, for your liberty was bought by the blood of Christ."

O Come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant,
O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem;
Come and behold him, born the king of Angels!

Merry Christmas!

Itenerary for Holy Land Pilgrimage and place where YOU will be prayed for:

Sunday, December 19th 2010: Arrive in Irsael and go Sea of Galilee where we will stay for the first week.

Monday, December 20th 2010: Sea of Galilee, St. Peter’s Primacy, Capernaum (House of St. Peter, Synagogue of Jesus where he preached the Bread of Life sermon (John 6), House of Centurion), Eremos Hill, Cave of Jesus (the "Desert place" where he would go to pray cf. Mk 1:35, Lk 5:16), Mt. of Beatitudes (where Jesus preache the Sermon on the Mount (cf. Mt 5-7) known as the Magna Carta of the Gospel)

Tuesday, December 21nd 2010: Still in Galilee around the same places as before

Wednesday, December 22rd 2010: Nazareth, Cave of Annunciation, St. Joseph’s workshop, Synagogue of Jesus (where he would have gone as a child with his parents every sabbath to learn the scriptures), Mary’s Well, Cana in Galilee – Site of Wedding Feast or Mt Tabor

Thursday, December 23th 2010: Back at the Sea of Galilee

Friday, December 24th 2010: Again at the Sea of Galilee

Saturday, December 25th 2010, the Navitivity of Jesus Christ, Savior of the World: Move from Galilee to Jerusalem, stop at Jordan River Baptism Site, Qumran, the Dead Sea

Sunday, December 26th 2010: The Garden of Gethsemane, the Site of the Ascension, Palm Sunday Path of Jesus on Mt of Olives, Visit Dominus Flavit – Where Christ wept over Jerusalem, Grotto of Gethsemane, Tomb of Mary- from which she was Assumed in to Heaven, Church of St Stephen’s Martyrdom, Last Supper Route of Jesus through Kidron Valley, Pool of Siloam, Holy Sepulcher

Monday, December 27th 2010: 6:30am Mass at Calvary – Altar of the Crucifixion, Way of the Cross – Via Dolorosa to Church of the Holy, Sepulcher at Calvary, Mt Zion – Dormition Abbey, Last Supper Room, St Peter in Gallicantu Church – Holy Steps, Church of the Holy Sepulcher

Tuesday, December 28th 2010: Cenacle Church of Last Supper and Pentecost, prison cell of Jesus on Via Dolorosa

Wednesday, December 29th 2010: Tomb of Christ, the Western Wall of the Temple, St Anne’s Church (The house Mary grew up in), Pool of Bethesda

Thursday, December 30th 2010: Ein Karem (the place of the Visitation and of the birth of John the Baptist, Bethlehem

Friday December 31: Return to Rome

First Homily

2010-09-23T01:56:00.000-07:00

Here is the text of my first homily ever! Just thought it would be cool to share...

Two days ago in England Pope Benedict XVI raised to the honor of blessed John Henry Newman, a 19th century English convert to the Catholic faith whose personal motto was a beautiful latin phrase: Cor ad Cor Loquitur which in English translates into “Heart speaking to Heart”. This motto of the Church’s newest blessed gets to the core of this passage from the 10th chapter of Luke Gospel- the better part which Mary chose- the life of prayer, the interior life, the life of friendship with Jesus Christ.

“Heart Speaking to Heart”, Cor ad Cor Loquitur- is really one of the best definitions of prayer I have ever come across. First of all we have the heart. The heart is the core of a person’s being. When we put our hearts into something- our work, a sports team, a friendship, a project around the house, whatever it may be- it means we put our entire personal being- body, soul, intellect, emotions, and will- at the service of this task. And it is the same with prayer. We are called to make a total gift of ourselves, we are invited to have our prayer effect ever corner and aspect of our persons. It is not just something we do on Sundays, but it really becomes habit, a virtue, that pervades our whole lives. So that is first part of this definition of prayer- it is our hearts, our whole selves that are involved.

Next we have that word “speaking.” More often than not our first prayers were the spoken words of the Our Father, Hail Mary, or Glory Be, which our parents or families taught us. And they are the foundation, we never grow out of them! But the invitation to prayer, the better part of Mary, is not just about the recitation of empty formulas. It is about a relationship. It is about speaking to a friend, indeed, Jesus told us explicitly at the Last Supper- “I have called you friends!” (Jn 15:15) He wants to speak with us- not like a defendant before a judge, or a servant before a queen, but one friend to another- all our joys, sorrows, successes and failures. This is the heart of prayer! It is entering into that dialogue with God who loves us and wants to be a part of our lives- not to condemn, but again as Jesus said, “That you may have life, and have it more abundantly!” (Jn 10:10)

And that brings us to the final part of our phrase- again, Cor ad Cor Loquitur, “Heart Speaking to Heart.” It is about giving our whole hearts to this relationship with the God who is love. It is our hearts speaking to his Heart. The love of God which, in Jesus Christ, took on a human form and it is his Sacred Heart, that meek and humble heart, that heart which was pierced with a spear on Calvary for our redemption, it is this heart which passionately yearns to enter into friendship with us! Heart speaking to Heart. God’s heart calling to ours, asking us, inviting us, to be his friends, to enter into relationship with him. In our lives we are so often like Martha, anxious of many things- work, school, a sick relative, bills to pay, so many things- but today the Word of God is reminding us, that it is our life of prayer, our relationship of speaking heart to heart each and every day with God, which, in the end, is the one thing necessary.

La France et Andorre

2010-09-22T07:18:00.000-07:00

In late July and early August I spent 3 weeks in Toulouse, France. I studied at a language school there and was able to pick up a good amount of french- the main reason for it was school but it was also just something I had always wanted to do! I lived with the Dominican Friars in town at their priory which was a great blessing. They were supremely hospitable and it was great to be living with them in city where Saint Dominique started his order of poor preachers, and also where the great theologian and Dominican, my hero, Saint Thomas Aquinas is buried! God is so good.

I made, with my friend Peter from New York, a few day trips while there. One day to Lourdes to visit Our Lady's shrine. We rented a car and drove (It was quite an adventure) to Andorra, a tiny country between France and Spain nestled in the Pyrennes. And finally to Albi- the town from which the name Albigensian came- to denote the 13th century heretics who believed in the absolute evil nature of the body along with a good ol' fashioned dualism. But maybe best of all I was able to find a golf course where I rented clubs and played 9 holes! Below are a variety of pictures from the weeks. Enjoy! Que Dieu vous Benisse! May God Bless you!

Polska and Tertio

2010-08-16T01:24:00.001-07:00

So as we find ourselves already in mid-August the summer has certainly flown by- I hope it has been a grace filled couple of months!

This the update on what I have been up to this summer. I spent 3 weeks in Krakow, Poland taking part in the Tertio Milennio Seminar on the Free Society (quite a mouthful!). It is a seminar dedicated to the study of the Social Doctrine of the Church, especially as embodied in the writings of Leo XIII and John Paul II. I will add more info a bit later but for now enjoy the photos from Krakow and from the various excusions we made: hiking in the Tetras Mountains, the Sanctuary of Divine Mercy, the heart of Polish Catholicism- the Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa, and the Nazi death camps of Auschwitz and Birkenau. It was a powerful couple of weeks!

Anyway, God bless you!

Corpus Christi!

2010-07-29T11:28:00.000-07:00

Well I apologize every time I post on this because it has been so long. So again, I'm Sorry! But enough of the excuses. Here goes.

Back in June, the 6th to be exact, about 30 of the seminarians at the NAC woke at 6AM to get on the bus for Orvieto- the birth place of the Feast of Corpus Christi. I was among the sleep deprived pilgrims that day and with my coffee in hand I got on the bus and we were off.

A bit of history to set the stage: In 1263 a priest in Bolsena Italy (about 15 km from Orvieto and about ~2 hours north of Rome) had lost his faith. He no longer believed in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. Yet, one day he was celebrating mass and as he elevated the host- out of habit rather than devotion- an incredible thing occured. The host- the simple wafer of bread- was bleeding! And a few of the drops of blood fell onto the corporal (the square white cloth the priest puts out on the alter and upon which rest the chalice and host during mass). It was a miracle! With his doubt destroyed by this supernal occurence- the priest informed the congregation of the favor God had shown him. The faithful- full of devotion- decided that this news must be spread. But to whom? Well of course to the Pope! Fortunately the Pope Urban IV was living at the time in Orvieto. So they processed with the priest and corporal through the Umbrian hills from Bolsena to Orvieto to present the Holy Father with this new relic. When the Pope heard the story and saw the evidence he was just as convicted as well of the truly miraculous nature of the event and decided that it was a sign that the Lord Jesus was trying to tell the Church something. He was trying to enflame our love and devotion for Him, truly present, body, blood, soul and divinity, under the appearances of bread and wine! So the Pope decided to make a new feast for the universal church- the feast of the Body and Blood of Christ- Corpus Christi in latin! And so it was. And so it is. On the 2 sunday after Pentacost we celebrate the feast of Corpus Christi everywhere in the world! All because of the great events of Orvieto and Bolsena in 1263. But enough with the history.

We arrived in the town and got ready for the 9 AM mass at the Cathedral of Orvieto in which the famed Corporal of the Mircale has been housed since the 13th century. It was indeed a beautiful mass with a full choir and even more beautifully a full congregation singing the praises of and adoring Jesus in the Eucharist. After the mass we got ready for the procession. As we were getting ready I was able to go up- not more than 2 feet away from the corporal and look closely to see- are there really blood spots? Yes. Indeed, even after nearly 750 years there are. But anyway we were now all ready and the procession began. A two hour march through the hilltopped city of of Orvieto taking the King of All Creation out of the Church into his kingdom with his beloved Children there to greet him. It was spectacular. It was beautiful. It was so Catholic. The entire city was wired with speakers so that the choir in the Church could lead us in song, and many of the Words of Life- the Gospels, especially John 6- were proclaimed. I was able to be the thurifer or the"incense guy" if you would, in the procession and so was fortunate to be close to both the Coporal and the Blessed Sacrament all the way through. Truly amazing- to see old italian women, young tourists, and everyone in between lining the streets to greet the Lord or just to see the beauty of Catholic liturgy was so cool. I felt so blest to be able to be a part of it. I look forward to bringing some part of this devotion back to Saint Louis and having our very own parochial processions for the feast!

However, one mass and one procession are not enough. For after a nice pranzo in orvieto we boarded the bus to head to Bolsena to do it all again! And it was again- amazing. The really cool thing about Bolsena is that the towns people cover (as you can see in the photos) the streets with flowers so that Our King and Savior has a proper "red carpet" to walk on!

After the second procession and a quick dinner we boarded the bus one final time to make the trek back to Rome. As I got into bed that night around midnight I was exhausted, but grateful. For the gift of the chance to be a part of it all. But more than even that for the gift of the Eucharist which gives meaning to it all. And not just to the procession in Orvieto, but to the whole life of the Church, in Rome, in Africa, and indeed in Saint Louis, at Holy Spirit Parish.

Okay one more awesome story. So Divine Providence just so happened to arrange things that at the time the miracle happened in 1263 there was also living in Orvieto a humble Domincan friar by the name of Thomas Aquinas. And fortunate for us the pope asked him to write the hymns for this new feast day- and oh did he write them. They are now some of the most famous and beloved lyrics in all of the world- words that almost all catholics know- even in latin! "Tantum ergo sacramentum!" Indeed those words which are the final verses of the longer hymn "Pange Lingua" are sung everyday across the world as adores kneel before the blessed sacrament. may Each time you sing them now have a little deeper meaning as you have heard the whole story behind them! May you know ever more the Lord Jesus, who hides his glory under the form of Bread and Wine, and may you be drawn always nearer to him until that day when every veil is stripped away and we, please God, will see him face to face. Amen.

End of the School Year

2010-06-09T06:27:00.000-07:00

I hope this finds you all well as the hot summer weather settles in to stay. It has been a busy past 2 months with classes finishing up. We had our last day of class on the 20th of May. The semester went quite well and I am learning a great deal. My favorite class this semester was Trinity in which we delved into the mystery that is the One and Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I will save you the details, but it was/is awesome! With classes to an end we moved into exam period which goes until the end of June. I have had one exam thus far which went well and have 4 to go with my last one on the 23rd of June. I am looking forward to when vacation will officially begin!

Other than working to wrap up the school year these last months included the Clericus Cup. The Cup is a soccer tournament put on in the city that features priests and seminarians from the various colleges. The purpose is really to help people to see that men who are dedicating themselves to the Lord and His Church and still go out there and play hard- while living out their Christian values. I played midfield for the North American Martyrs and was able to be with the team as we made it all the way to the Championship game. Unfortunately we ended up losing 1-0 to the seminary Redemptoris Mater run by the Neo-Catechumenal Way, a charismatic movement in the Church. The final was quite a spectacle with a ton of fans out to watch including about 10 guys from the college who dressed up in superhero costumes! Hopefully next year we can get back to the championship and bring home the cup!

We also had our last travel weekend of the year a few weeks ago and myself and 3 other guys headed up to Leuven Belgium- the home of Stella Artois- where there is another american seminary that we can stay at for free. It was a great trip and with the car we rented we were able to go to Aachen Germany to see the seat of Charlemagne's empire, and also to Cologne, Germany with its massive gothic Cathedral, the burial place of Saint Albert the Great- the teacher of my hero Saint Thomas Aquinas, and most of all a Dunkin' Doughnuts! (I had my first doughnuts in 10 months! it was wonderful!) It was a great time and a joy to spend a few days away with some of my closest friends from school.

Last weekend for the feast of Corpus Christi was also a real blessing... but you will have to wait another day or two for a post on that.... some beautiful pictures included!

On Friday is the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the closing of the Year from Priest's which will conclude with a mass in Saint Peter's square with Pope Benedict. I will be at that and will hopefully have some pictures to share.

Know of my constant prayers for everyone at home. Keep an eye out for another post soon about Orvieto and the end of the Year for Priests! God bless! Live Jesus!

Easter with the Cure of Ars

2010-04-25T10:14:00.000-07:00

Resurexit Sicut Dixit! He is Risen as He Said!

I hope this finds you all well in these joyful days of Easter. All is most well here are the school year moves ever closer to an end and as the warmer days of spring take hold.

Easter here in Rome was wonderful. Every other year here at the College we have all of the Triduum in house and it just happened that it was the case this year. So while I was not able to attend the great liturgies of the Church's holiest week with the Holy Father, we had really beautiful and prayerful liturgies at the NAC.

On Easter Sunday morning a group of 40 of us left for Ars, France to spend a week in the town where the Holy Cure of Ars and Patron Saint of All priests, Saint John Marie Vianney, poured out his life for the sake of the salvation of the soul of his parishoners. I was able to spend a lot of time praying in the Church in which he said mass, heard confessions for 16 hours a day, and prayed at times all night long for the conversion of his parishoners. It was really cool to read his biography while sitting in one of the little side chapels and then looking and seeing the confessional just mentioned or the pulpit from which he daily preached the good news of Jesus the Crucified and Risen Lord.

Of all the sites around the little village of Ars- the church, his rectory with his bedroom preserved as it was in his day, and the beautiful country side- the place that in many ways was most captivating for me was the little garden around a statue of the Cure on the hill opposite the village. The statue depicts a scene from John Vianney's life when he had just been appointed the pastor of the parish in Ars. He was walking from Lyons (about 40 km away!) and was a bit lost trying to find his new parish. On the way he ran into some young shepherd boys one of whom was named Anthony. The Cure asked him to lead him to Ars and after having arrived to the crest of this hill- from which the town is first seen- the humble priest told the boy "Tu m'as montre le chemin d'Ars, Je te montrerai le chemin du Ciel!" You have shown me the way to Ars, I will show you the way to heaven!" The statue which is seen in two of the pictures where, is one of the most inspiring images I have ever seen because in the hand of the Cure raised pointing toward the heavens there is encapulsated the entire mission of every priest- to lead souls to Jesus and through him to his Father in Heaven!

It was a truely blest week of prayer, renewal, fraternity, enjoying the beauty of the countryside, and eating delicious french food!

In addition to spending time in Ars we made a day long pilgrimage to the nearby village of Paray-le-Monial where our Blessed Lord revealed His Sacred Heart to a young religious sister, now know as Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque in the late 1600s. We were able to have mass in the chapel there where the apparitions took place, and it was really awesome to meditate on the Sacred Heart of Jesus since, as John Vianney said, "The priesthood is the love of the heart of Jesus." Throughout the time spent in prayer for my own vocation, and for all the priests and seminarians at home in Saint Louis, at the PNAC, and throughout the world, I really came to be reenergized and renewed in my desire to give my life in service to Jesus as a priest of his one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church!

I thought this shop was cool since it had mom's name on the door! (Reine = Queen in French! Love you mom!)

As Easter Draws Near

2010-04-01T03:24:00.000-07:00

Hello All! I hope that this finds you all most well as lent ends and we prepare to celebrate the three holiest days of the year- the Triduum.

Things have been going very well over here since the last time I posted something. School is going well and I mananged to survive my first go around with exams! After exams I was so blest to have mom and dad come and visit for about 10 days. It was so good to see them and be able to show them a little more what life is like over here. We had a blast and walked a ton! Seeing lots of Churches, visiting Florence and Siena, and eating well! It was really a wonderful few days- just not long enough. It was just as hard to say good bye the second time around! But we trust in God's providence that He has us where we are meant to be, and try to live in that trust.

Since then the second semester has been going well with a new round of classes to take in. There are some particularly good ones like Trinity and Patrology (the study of the fathers of the Church). It is going well and flying by! Also, I have been playing in the Clericus Cup for the North American Martyrs! The cup is an annual soccer tournament held between the various seminarians and religious houses in Rome. We have been playing really well- only losing one game in shootouts- and are looking forward to finishing out the regular season after easter break is over, with our eyes on the championship in May. It has been a lot of fun getting out there and competing against guys from around the world- especially when we win!

With lent and soccer time has been flying by and we are already in Holy Week. We have two weeks off and we will have all the liturgies of the Triduum here at the College. They should be really quite beautiful and prayerful. After Easter I will be going to Ars, France for a week long retreat with about 30 other guys from the NAC. It will be a real blessing to be in Ars during this year of the Priest and to have the chance to visit the tomb and the sites of Saint John Vianney- the patron saint of priests! Keep us in your prayers- you will be in mine.

Have a blessed Triduum and a joyous Easter! May the peace, joy, and love of the Crucified and Risen Christ penetrate into the very depths of your souls! God bless. Ciao!

England

2010-02-03T01:24:00.000-08:00

Ciao tutti! Things are going most well over here in Rome as we are about halfway through exam period. I have three down and just two more to go. The best news is that mom and dad will be arriving tomorrow! But before they get here I figured I should update and fulfil my hilterto un-kept promise to post on England about a month ago!

So here is the deal: I am going to post just a short snipit about the trip and just put up lots of pictures (per the request of my brothers!)

England: After Christmas I headed with 2 friends from school, John and Peter, up to London for 9 days. We stayed with a priest of the Diocese of Westminister and a Vincientian from Milwakee who was in town. We were able to see a lot of London but also made side trips to Canturbury and the dreamland of Oxford! The last few days of the trip we went to a little village- Steepleton-Ashton, in the westlands near Salisbury. It was a delight to be in the country side and we were able to see various Medieval Cathedrals (sadly no longer Catholic after Henry and Elizabeth's bloody revolution in the 1500s), Stonehenge, and the Roman ruins in Bath. The best part of all however was the little cabin with a fireplace to sit by during the cold january evenings while we talked for hours about the Church, England, and so many other things. It was an incredible trip that an anglophile like myself will never forget! Enjoy the photos!

Pictures above are of: the Radcliff camera at the Bodelian Library of Oxford from the Tower of the University Church; the Magdalen College Tower across Christ Church Meadow; the interior of Saint Mary the Virgin University Church where John Henry Newman was vicar before his conversion to the true and catholic faith; above the dreaming spires of Oxford's All Souls College; in front of the Eagle and Child which was the pub where Tolkien, Lewis, and the rest of the Inklings would meet every Tuesday morning and read their projects aloud over bangers, mash, and beer; the river through the heart of Bath with the Georgian homes along the hill behind; the Roman baths from which Bath got its name; the cottage in Steepleton-Ashton; the Wells Cathedral where we heard the Magdalen College Cambridge Choir sing Evensong (heavenly!); at Stonehenge.

The pictures below are of: the cathedral of Salibury from the cloister; Stonehenge at sunset; the the guys sitting by the fire at Steepleton-Ashton; the sitting room of Catholic Chaplin house "The Old Palace" where my hero Msgr. Ronald Knox lived in Oxford; The spot where Saint Thomas Becket was murdered in the Canturbury Cathedral; the Oxford Oratory which is where the poet Gerard Manley Hopkinis was pastor in the 19th century; Magdalen College Tower (the College C.S. Lewis was a member of at Oxford); the houses of Parliment; me in front of "Big Ben"; the flying buttresses of Westminister of Abbey; the Cathedral of Canturbury; a statue of Ven. John Henry Cardinal Newman outside of the Brompton Oratory in the heart of London; the soaring towers of the facade of Westminister Abbey; me in front of a little river running through Canturbury; me infront of the Salisbury Cathedral; the rectory and church of Our Lady of Dolours Parish Hendon where we stayed in London; the site of the Tyburn Tree where 105 Catholic priests and laymen and women we killed under King Henry VIII and Elizabeth I; the Dining Hall of Christ Church College Oxford where Harry Potter was filmed; me in the "Tom Quad" of Christ Church College; the corner in the Eagle and the Child where the Inklings would gather on Tuesdays.

Christmastide

2010-01-06T03:47:00.001-08:00

Buon Natale e felice anno nuovo a tutti! I hope that this finds you all enjoying these last days of the Christmas season and the first days of 2010. You have all been in my prayers as we celebrated the birth of our savior and the coming of a new year.

Things have been quite busy, as usual, over here. Leading up to Christmas school and life in the seminary were quite full with lots of things to get finished up before break arrived. However, nothing too exciting too place in the intervening time so I will just pick up with the start of Christmas break. On the 16th of December a good friend of mine, Zach Edgar, from the seminary in Saint Louis came over to visit and he stayed here at the seminary until the 27th. Once I finished school on the 18th we got busy seeing all that we could in the short time he had here. We visisted tons of Churches, took tours under Saint Peter's, visited the Vatican Museums, saw the Sistine chapel, took a day trip an hour north of Rome to the village of Orvieto, and celebrated Christmas Eve with the Holy Father! It was a whirlwind, but it was wonderful to have a friendly face from home around during the holidays.

In particular Christmas in Rome was awesome. We had a big Christmas dinner here at the college at 5:30 and then afterwards we donned our cassocks and surplices and headed down to wait outside the basilica to get in. We were fortunate and had people's choir tickets which meant we had reserved seats directly behind the main altar. We got in the Basilica around 8 and then waited until 10:00 (Yep, even "Midnight" mass at the vatican is at 10 PM!) when the procession started! That was when it got really interesting because the choir sang the first part of the enterence chant when all of a sudden we here a shriek and a cry from the congregation and then everything went quite for about a minute... then the organ started up again and Mass went on. We had not clue, due to being blocked by the altar, that in fact the Holy Father had been attacked my a crazed woman from the crowd! Thanks goodness he was not injured (unfortunately the cardinal next to him also was taken out and broke his femur!), and Mass went on a usual. It was an absolutely beautiful Mass, with the wonderful choir, the thick smoke of incense and all the dignity of a Papal liturgy- and it truly was a joyous way to celebrate the Birth of the Eternal Word, Jesus our Savior! The pealing of the bells as the angelic "Gloria in excelcis Deo!" began could only bring you chills! The Holy Father also had beautiful words to share as he reflected on this great mystery of our redemption and what is calls us to as sons and daughters of God- just a short snitbit-

"Origen, taking up one of John the Baptist’s sayings, saw the essence of paganism expressed in the symbol of stones: paganism is a lack of feeling, it means a heart of stone that is incapable of loving and perceiving God’s love. Origen says of the pagans: “Lacking feeling and reason, they are transformed into stones and wood” (in Lk 22:9). Christ, though, wishes to give us a heart of flesh. When we see him, the God who became a child, our hearts are opened. In the Liturgy of the holy night, God comes to us as man, so that we might become truly human. Let us listen once again to Origen: “Indeed, what use would it be to you that Christ once came in the flesh if he did not enter your soul? Let us pray that he may come to us each day, that we may be able to say: I live, yet it is no longer I that live, but Christ lives in me (Gal 2:20)” (in Lk 22:3).

Yes indeed, that is what we should pray for on this Holy Night. Lord Jesus Christ, born in Bethlehem, come to us! Enter within me, within my soul. Transform me. Renew me. Change me, change us all from stone and wood into living people, in whom your love is made present and the world is transformed. Amen."(full homily here)

And truly, that is and was my prayer for all of you this Christmas, that more and more the living God, singly revealed in Jesus Christ born of Mary in Bethlehem, might come and dwell in your hearts and share with you his life, which alone is and will be our eternal life.

After Mass we headed up to the college and there was some hot chocolate and panatone (a traditional italian Christmas pastry) waiting for us and we sang some Carols before heading to early Christmas morning. However, we did not just sleep in all morning, because we wanted to get to Mass on Christmas morning at 10 AM at the Church of Saint Mary Major. It is particularly special to be able to go to the Holy Sacrifice at that Basilica on Christmas morning because in the crypt of the Church there is a relic of the manger of Bethlehem which has been venerated here for hundreds of years dating back to the 600s. After the Mass at Mary Major we grabbed a taxi across the city to Saint Peter's square to be with the Holy Father for his bi-yearly Urbi et Orbe (To the City and the World) Blessing in which he gives a short talk, offers his Christmas wishes in some 50 or so languages (it was pretty cool to hear the Holy Father speaking Swahili!), and then gives his Apostolic Blessing which is a plenary indulgence for all who recieve it (it even is valid if you listen to it over the air waves or on TV!) It was also the first time I was able to see the unveiled life size presepio or manger scene in the square which had been under construction for about a month! It is pretty impressive! (See picture) After the blessing we went back to the college and had a festive Christmas day lunch, followed by a nice long nap! It was also nice because I was able to open the few presents from Mom and Dad that were sent over with Zach! All in all it was truly an incredible Christmas, and one which I will certainly never forget! I hope that all of your Christmas' a home were most blessed and that you continue to live out the joy of this Holy Season for the few weeks more which it lasts!

The day after Christmas we went to see the church of Saint Lawrence outside the Walls to visit the tomb of Saint Stephen, the first martyr of the Church, whose feast day it was! Very cool indeed! Then we came home and both Zach and I packed up since he headed back to the States on the 27th while I boarded a plane for a bit of a holiday/pilgrimage to the land of Martyrs, Kings, and fine ales- England! Stay tuned because I will have news and photos from that trip up in the next few days! But in the mean time, God bless, and Merry Christmas!

Its been too long...

2009-12-05T08:42:00.000-08:00

Happy Second Sunday of Advent!

I hope that this finds all of you very well in this season of expectation for the coming of our Savior into the world! It has certainly been way too long since I have put an update on here so I will try and give a quick overview of all the craziness of the past few months. It is amazing how life flies by!

We I posted last in early October I was on the eve of beginning school and over the past few months I have been plugging away in my classes at the Gregorian University. I have class every morning for 3 or 4 hours in courses on Revelation and its Transmission in the Church, Christology, Synoptic Gospels, Greek, and Ancient Church History. They have all been going well and I feel very blest because those two months of italian classes when I first arrived have been paying off! I have had very little trouble understanding the large majority of the lectures in italian. Thanks for all your prayers!

In addition to the daily grind of classes and studying there have been some other notable things which have filled my days.

I have been able to explore more of the city of Rome and the surrounding areas. It continues to be another class all to itself- the history, art, and culture. There was a Saint Louis priest on sebatical here and he was a great guide to the city. He took us one Saturday out to a city north of Rome itself where there were some ancient etruscan ruins from the 10th-2nd centuries BC. It was a beautiful little city right on the sea, and the ruins were pretty cool as well- they looked like Hobbiton from the Lord of the Rings!

I was also able to Mass one Saturday over in the rooms of Saint Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits, with one of the Jesuit spiritual directors here at the college. It was such an awesome experience to be there in the rooms where he lived, worked, and died. Ever since I chose him as my confirmation saint I have always prayed a great deal to him, and it was amazing to be there- knowing that his intercession was a big part that brought me to the seminary in the first place!

There have been two other great chances to travel in the past few months. I was blest to be able to go to Germany and also to San Giovanni Rotondo in Southern Italy. In Germany I went through Munich to a small Bavarian town called Altotting. It is known as the heart of German Catholicism because of the shrine to Our Mother Mary in the center of the town. Bavarians have been traveling there and praying before the statue of our Lady of Altotting for nearly a millenia! It was cool to enter into the procession of pilgrims through the centuries as my friend Brandon and I went to pray there- Mary's powerful prayers were definately able to be felt! While we were there we had the chance to rent some bikes and ride out in the country side a bit along the River Inn. It was so beautiful and nice to see the rolling hills covered in fall colors! It looked a lot like the hills outside of Saint Louis down by Washington! We rode for about 12 km down the river to a small town called Marktl on the Inn which is where Pope Benedict was born and we saw the Church were he was baptized into the family and life of God! It really made me feel so much more connected to our holy Father to be able to see the place which formed him as a young man, and during his years as a seminarian and priest. While there we also enjoyed some delicious German beers, strudles and pretzels! It was a nice change from pasta! haha.

About a month later in mid november I went on another pilgrimage to San Giovanni Rotondo which is where Saint Padre Pio lived. He is one of the most loved saints in all of italy- and the italians flock there in the thousands to pray at his tomb. It was a peaceful trip and we spent a lot of time int he city of San Giovanni itself seeing the sites associated with Saint Pio's life. We were also able to go about 45 minutes away to a sanctuary dedicated to Saint Michael the Archangel which has been around since the 5th century when he appeared there. It was really neat to learn all the history about the place- next to Rome and Jerusalem it was the biggest site for pilgrims in the 8-10th centuries! It was also just a beautiful place to take in the gorgeous land that Italy is while munching on some salami, bread, and cheese on the hill top!

These trips to Holy sites both near to Rome and a little farther away are some of the greatest gifts that I have recieved since getting over here. There are so many graces and blessings which have been recieved by Christians at these places throughout the ages. It is a great gift to be able to take my intentions and all of yours to these places and to ask for God's blessing on our lives and families. Know that where ever I go you are in my prayers and on my mind the whole time!

Through school I have also started to make some friends from different places around the world. In particular the English, Irish, and French seminarians in school with us are all really nice guys. I have had the chance to go over to both the English and French colleges to visit with them, and learn about what life and the Church is like in their countries. It is so amazing to experience in this way the Universality of the Catholic Church- the UN has nothing on us!

One particularly moving experience in relation to them occurred this past Tuesday, December 1, when I was able to attend a prayer service at the English college on what they call Martyr's Day. It is so called because it is the day on which the first of 36 of their alumni gave his life for the faith under the reign of Queen Elizabeth I in England. During the Reformation the Catholic church was violently supressed in England and so these heroic young Englishmen would come to Rome to be formed as priests, knowing that when they returned to England they would almost certainly be called to give their very lives for the sake of the True Faith. We began with a reading from an account of one of the Martyrs imprisionment and tortue under the Queen's secret police, and then we were able to venerate the relics of Saint Ralph Sherman- the priest who's Birth into eternal life we were celebrating. After that we sang the Te Deum- the song of praise to the Holy Trinity, which the Saint Ralph, and his companions began to sing on their way to the Tyburn where they were to be hung, drawn, and quartered. It later became tradition for the seminarians in Rome to sing gather in the chapel to sing this song before the famous Martyr's image, when ever they heard of one of their brother's loving sacrifice of his life and his victory over death back in England. I have always had a great devotion to the English Martyrs- their example of true heroism and love for God and neighbor- so it was an evening I will never forget.

In addition to all these amazing events we also were able to celebrate in great jubilation a good ol' American Thanksgiving! We got to skip school on Thanksgiving an each hallway makes a typical American breakfast of eggs, bacon, and whatever else- it was so good! Then we have Mass at noon- Archbishop Burke celebrated it for us- and gave God thanks in the most perfect way possible in this life. After that we sat down for a delicious meal of turkey, potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and of course pumpkin pie! While it was definately tough being away from home and my family during these days it was a comfort to be able to still celebrate properly! The following weekend is new man weekend and we put on an hour long show of skits, and other entertainment which give our first impressions of life here in Rome. It seemed like everyone really got some good laughs as we depicted the joys and trials of italian and seminary life. Then on Sunday we have what is called the Spagetti Bowl which is a flag football game between the Old men and New men. It has been about a decade since the New men won, and while we weren't able to break the streak we were able to come within three points- closer than it has been quite a few years! It was really a fun couple of days which made being away from home during the holiday much easier to handle.

Well- I think I have hit most of the high lights from the past few months... there are always more stories but I don't want to bore you for too long! We have a few weeks left of class before a nice 3 week long Christmas break and I am looking to spending time here with a friend from Saint Louis coming to visit, and to be able to celebrate Christmas with the Pope at Saint Peter's. It should be quite an experience so keep posted for another post about all those happenings. I promise not to wait another two months to post something!

Be assured of my prayers for all of you during these blessed days of Advent and Christmas. May the light and love of the Holy Infant be in your hearts and with your families! O Come, O Come, Emmanuel! Live Jesus!- CS

Milano, Greccio, Deaconate, and More

2009-10-11T07:43:00.000-07:00

Ciao Cari Fratelli e Sorrelli!

I hope that this finds each of you very well as the fall weather begins to take hold back home, and as the Cardinals, very sadly, bring their season to an end. All is still quite well here at the seminary in Rome. Time is still flying by and tomorrow I will actually begin classes at the Gregorian University- finally! So it will be a test to see how much italian I have actually learned as I have to take notes for myself and my classmates in our first class- which is on the Three Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke that is). So please say some prayers to the Holy Spirit that we may have the gifts of wisdom, knowledge and understanding as we begin our studies in Sacred Theology.

In the last few weeks there have been several awesome experiences. After finishing italian classes Charles, the other seminarian from Saint Louis in my class, and I headed up to Milan for a day to visit our old italian teacher from home. Her name is Gloria and she gave us lessons all last school year at her house near the seminary. She has quite a bit of family in these little towns outside of Milano and she was visiting for a month. This was really our only chance to get away so we booked some dirt cheap plane tickets and flew out of Rome at 7:30 AM on Saturday the 26th. We spent the morning and a good part of the afternoon with her meeting her family, seeing the towns where her family is from, eating at her uncles restuarant, and visiting the beautiful Lago Maggiore which is a beautiful lake situated at the foot of the Alps. It was a wonderful day, but after traveling and speaking all day in italian I was pretty exhausted by the time we finally got back to the seminary around 10:30 that night. It was well worth it though!

The next day my entire class, all 56 of us, left on silent retreat for the next 7 days. We bussed it out to a little town in the Appinines an hour and a half east of Roma that is called Greccio. The week was absolutely heavenly. The retreat house was nesseled up in the hills and there were miles of hiking trails into the mountains around that afforded some breath taking views of the Rieti Valley below. Watching the sun both rise and set over those hills, as our retreat master said- "The Monstrance of God the Father" was a great way to draw nearer to the Lord those days in addition to the many hours spent before Our Incarnate Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. It was a beautiful opportunity to slow down after the craziness of these past two and a half months and to just be grateful for the incredible gifts and blessings (like you all!) that Holy Trinity has and continues to shower down upon my life. They were seven spectacular days of wasting time with the Father, Son, and Spirit. Greccio is a very graced place and after spending a week there it was easy to see why Saint Francis of Assisi was inspired to celebrate Christmas there in 1228 when he invented the Christmas Nativity Scene! (There is a picture of the cave where they celebrated mass that Christmas Eve some 800 years ago)

Coming back from retreat on Saturday the 3rd we began Deaconate week in anticipation for the Ordination of 30 men from the college to the Order of Transitional Deacon. It was a great week with tons of visitors from the states around- including many from Saint Louis since Archbishop Carlson was ordining them, and also there was a man from Saint Louis getting ordained. We had nothing really planned during the week except for choir practice and so when the Saint Louis guests began to arrive on Monday and Tuesday I was able to spend a lot of time with them and have my first practice as a host over here. It was a blast! Going around and seeing different sites, and eating some good gelato was a treat, and it was wonderful to see faces from home! (Wink, Wink! I can't wait to see you all over here) Thursday came and the ordination, in Saint Peter's was absolutely gorgeous. It was and is always beautiful for me to see other men finally reach that anticipated day of ordination when they lay their lives down in love and service. I can't wait for that day when I will, Deo volente, be able to do the same. The next day, Friday, we were able to celebrate with our old Archbishop Raymond Burke a mass of thanksgiving for Jason in the Church of Saint Louis King of France here.

Most of the visitors left on Saturday and we had yesterday and today to rest up after a crazy week and to get ready for school and an early wake up (5:00 AM yikes!) on Monday. However, it was not all just sitting around because this morning the Holy Father, BXVI, canonized 5 new saints for the Church- now Saints Damien of Molokai (who worked with lepers in hawaii), Jeanne (foundress of the Little Sisters of the Poor), Fracesco Coll (who was a Spanish dominican), Raphael Baron (who died in 1938 at 27 after a short life of holiness as a Trappist in Spain) and Zygmunt Felinski (who was a Polish bishop in the 19th century who endured great persecution). It was a beautiful Mass, and I was able be part of the peoples' choir, so I sat directly behind the main altar and so had a great view of the ceremony. Other than just being so close to the Holy Father and sharing in the beauty and solemnity of the Papal liturgy, it was so moving to realize that the Roman Church is still producing holy men and women who can live lives of radical and heroic virtue even in our modern, secular society. It really brought into focus the whole goal of the Catholic faith, of our Baptisms, and of my vocation to the priesthood- nothing else matters but becoming holy, becoming Saints! The Church is still alive, and through the sacramental life of the Church the Holy Spirit is still transforming and strengthening us to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth. Know that I prayed for all of you- my family and friends- at the Mass this morning that, norished by the Bread of Angels every Sunday and constant daily prayer, we may someday also gain the crown of victory over death in heaven with all of the Angels and Saints to the Glory of the Blessed Trinity!

I love you all greatly, and think about and pray for you constantly. Thank you for all your prayers and support. Have a blessed Sunday. He is Risen! Pax et Bonum. Ci vediamo presto.

Allora...

2009-09-19T01:32:00.000-07:00

Allora…
It has been far too long since I have updated this blog- nearly a month! Yikes!- and much has been happening in the mean time, which is why I have been slacking! I hope that this finds all of you well and enjoying that true joy and peace that comes from Jesus our Savior and our Hope. I am going to give a brief run down of what has been going on with some photos sprinkled throughout. So here goes!

After the Palio I had two weeks left in Siena and they flew by. School was great there, and I really feel very blest to have studied there. I had a great individual tutor every afternoon and she was just a delight! (She is in the picture to the right with those of all of us who studied in Siena... she cooked us lasgana one friday for Prazno!) She was a very faithful and fervent Catholic and we were able to spend our two and a half hours each day talking about the beauty of Catholicism, philosophy, liturgy, and literature- all in Italian. It was great, and it was sad having to leave the school because I really had enjoyed my time and the friendship that I had formed there. The weekend before leaving we headed to Florence on Saturday and spent the day there it was so cool- the Uffizi Gallery, the Convent of San Marco where Beato Angelico’s frescos are, Ponte Vecchio, Santa Maria dei Fiori and the Basilica of San Miniato which has a spectacular view down on the city. I have always wanted to get to Florence and it was pretty surreal (like a lot of things over the past two months!) to finally be there walking across the famed Arno and munching on some gelato in the shadow of the famous duomo! God is good.

We left Siena on the 26th of August and headed back to Roma. In the first couple days back in Rome were packed with incredible happenings. We got to pray at the Tomb of Saint Monica (Saint Augustine’s mom) on her feast day, and it is a tradition that we pray for our moms and grandmas there at her tomb. (I am thinking about you both! I love you) The next day we got up early to head over to Saint Peter’s at 7AM to have mass at the Tomb of the Prince of the Apostles. Words cannot explain how powerful it was to hear Matthew 16 proclaimed when I was but a few feet from the very Rock upon which Jesus built, and continues to build his holy Church- our mother and teacher. If that were not enough we had the chance on Sunday to go out to Castel Gandalfo- about an hour from Rome- to see Peter’s Successor, Our Holy Father and Christ’s Vicar on Earth- Pope Benedict XVI give his Angelus message at 12:00. After which we got a guided tour of the Papal Gardens by his secretary, Archbishop Harvey, who went to the PNAC and is from Milwaukee. We were able to sing the Salve Regina in at the Grotto there where Benedict prays his daily rosary and where JPII used to often visit (we also saw the swimming pool that JPII had built and which he used daily when he was able! Haha)

Monday, after a few days of fun, we headed back to Italian class! We have a teachers that come and teach us for four hours in the morning. My lessons have been going well, and on Monday we have an Italian exam at the Gregorian where I will be studying which we have to pass to be able to study there (pray for us!). In the afternoons we have had various conferences orientating us to life at the seminary here, and getting us acclimated. It has been a good time and has been great getting to learn about this place and I am very excited and grateful to be studying a living in a place so dedicated to forming good holy priests for the glory of God and the salvation of souls. After the afternoon conferences I have made a few trips around Rome to see various Churches and sites. I even got to have a tour of the Swiss Guard Barracks in the Vatican! They had some sweet stuff! haha. It was particularly graced to go to the tombs and shrine of saint on their feast days for example going to the Church of the Holy Cross where Saint Helena brought the relics of the True Cross on the feast of the Triumph of the Cross, or to the tomb of Saint Robert Bellermine in the Church of Saint Ignatius (my confirmation patron!) on his memorial. The communion of the saints if more real here than I have ever known before- and be assured I bring you all in my prayers to all of these places, asking the Holy Spirit to pour out his abundance of divine life into your souls!

The other pretty awesome thing we have had the chance to do was going to Assisi the second weekend in Rome. It was a great weekend of quite to make a mini retreat and to take in the sights and scenes from the lives of Saint Francis and Saint Clare. It was particularly cool one of the days when we hiked up this mini-mountain to a hermitage where Francis prayed immediately after his conversion and we had Mass up in the hills. It was a beautiful day since that weekend the 90-100 degree weather finally broke and God sent us a sunny day in the high low 80’s which felt so good! We also had a tour of the Basilica of Saint Francis by a Franciscan from the States and it was awesome to go inside of the monastery and also to be able to pray at the tomb of this Saint whose name is known throughout the world! (Despite the fact that he is known and perceived more as a hippie than the true servant of God and ascetic that he was!)

Whew! There it is- this crazy and unbelievable life which for some reason I have been offered here! We have a week left of Italian to go (thanks be to God!) and then we head onto retreat for a week before returning for a week leading up the Ordination of this year’s deacon class and then school starts on October 12th (the longest summer ever!) I really can’t wait! I have already chomping on the bit to get started with theological studies and have taken advantage of our great library here at school to pick up a few good reads! If you have any questions or just want to say hi please do- it would be great to hear how you are doing! In any event be assured of my prayers and please, in your charity, remember me in yours. Have a good Saturday! God bless. Live Jesus.

P.S. A priest from Saint Louis, Fr. Larry Brennan, is here for sebatical. He studied here 30 years ago and has been showing us around! Here is a picture of he, Charlie (my diocesan brother here) and myself at the Spanish Steps from last weekend! Peace.

Il Palio di Maria Assunta

2009-09-02T11:57:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, the 14-16th of August, was a big weekend here in Siena, probably the most anticipated of the year. There is a 700 year old tradition here of a great celebration surrounding the Feast of the Assumption. The tradition goes back to the 13th century when the Sienese were in a war against their Florentine neighbors to the north. The people of Siena consecrated themselves to Our Lady of the Assumption and under her protect they were able to defeat the Florentines in one particularly famous that was won, the name of which I have forgotten. But anyway, in memory of this they have been annually celebrating in magnificently on the feast of the Assumption for some centuries now. The main events are not of particularly religious nature, and center around the oldest horse race in the world- the Palio.

The Palio is run on the 16th- this year Sunday- the day after the feast of the Assumption. There are several events that lead up to the race in which I was able to participate. The first is the selection of the horses, which took place the Thursday before t he race. Some trainers out in the countryside pick thirty horses which seem to be promising racers. Then they bring these thirty to the city and have them run a couple practice runs around the track- which actually the outer rim of the Piazza del Campo (the main square in Siena which in the week preceding is filled up with dirt and medieval looking grandstands!) After these trial runs they select 10 horses which will be the ones in the race. The ten horses are then randomly selected and assigned to a different contrada or neighborhood in the city. There 17 of these throughout Siena and they have been around since the 12th century. Each one is a different part of the city, and they are originally associated with different medieval guilds. Every year 10 contradas are chosen to race and the other seven sit out, and are guaranteed a spot in the following year’s race. Anyway- the horses are drawn in this elaborate ceremony where this young boy draws numbers out of what appears to be a medieval raffle wheel and then draws the name of one of the contradas- corresponding to that horse. It is a huge deal and the square was pretty full. Whenever a neighborhood got drawn all the men would come down and grab their horse and then start marching through the city back to their part of town (where there is a building call- no joke- the horse house, where the horse stays till race day!)- chanting these fight songs all the way!

After that there are various provos or trial runs that occur each night so that the horse and the jockeys can get used to the track, and also so that the locals can have an idea on who to bet on! I actually didn’t make it to any of these because at the same time as these happened there was also a Novena at the duomo preparing for the feast of the Assumption. We went to mass nearly all nine days of the novena (I missed a few when I was in Ravenna), with all the old church ladies from Siena- it was great! Haha. On the last night this priest who is the rector of the cathedral came up to us and asked us if we were seminarians- I guess we kind of stick out as the only people under 50 there… But after we told him who we were he invited us to serve the Solemn Mass on Saturday with the Archbishop of Siena! Pretty insane! Naturally we accepted! So on Saturday morning we got to the Cathedral at 9:15 before the 10AM mass and got all prepped for the mass with our servers albs and directions on what are roles would be during the mass! The bishop got there a few minutes before mass and we got to talk to him for a bit- a really nice and holy man! It was awesome! I was a vimp and held the bishop’s mitre during the Mass, and it was pretty surreal to think that in the midst of a church full of Italians there were six American serving the mass! It was amazing- God works wonders and it is so amazing that for the second week in a row I was graced to be able to serve Mass in one of the most famous churches in the World!

Anyway, Sunday was the big day of the race and we got up early to go to Sunday mass down in the Piazza del Campo with the bishop. (This is a special mass where he actually blesses all the jockeys before the race- it is crazy how much they get into this!)After that we hung out until about 2 pm when we went to one of the neighborhoods around the school (the monastery I live in is in the Bruco (which means caterpillar- they all have animal mascots!) neighborhood which wasn’t competing this time around unfortunately) and witness the blessing of the horse. This is a traditional ceremony where they bring the horse up to the altar of the local parish and the priest blesses the horse! And then yells, and I mean really yells, at it, “Va, e ritorna il vincatore!” which means “Go! And return the victor!” It was pretty awesome! But each contrada does this and then the whole contrada processes around the city following the horse that is preceded by some men dressed up in some intense medieval garb- I have attached some photos so you can see what I mean! They stop by all the famous places in the city including the Duomo where they are blessed by the bishop who stands in his palace’s window! They do this for about three hours! Eventually they get to the Piazzo del Campo which is the race track and then process around there for a while and then we just have to wait till the race which began at seven.

We got to the Piazza about two hours before race time and it was packed! They close all the entrances to the piazza but one and it took a good half an hour to get in- they fit on average about 40,000 people into this little piazza for the race! We just kind of chilled there- munchin’ on some bread and taking in the scene until it was time for the race about 7:00 when the Palio- a banner that is given to the winner- arrived on this cart being pulled by four huge oxen! Following this the race is supposed to start within a few minutes- and indeed the bareback horses and their riders all came onto the course- but when seven rolled around the race did not start! We had to wait for nearly an hour and half for the race to actually start because the horses all just line up on the starting line and they do not easily do this- especially when their jockeys have made deals and the different neighborhoods work together to gain advantages! As I was standing there I realized that Americans would never put up with something so disorganized- but it was quintessential Italy as I have come to know it! When the race finally started, it was an exhilarating minute and a half and when the dust settled- two riders were down, and the Civetta, or the Owl, contrada had won the race! The place went nuts with that neighborhood’s fans going crazy- they hadn’t won in thirty years!- and the rest of the mob trying to get out the place. We made it back safe a sound to our monastery, avoiding a few fights we passed on the way, and called it a day.

The infamous Palio of Siena was quite an event- unlike anything I have seen before- and once was enough!

More updates on life here will be forthcoming, all is very well but italian classes and orientation have sucked up my free time! But be assured of my prayers, keep me in yours.

Holy Mary Gloriously Assumed into Heaven, Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death!

Ravenna

2009-08-19T08:03:00.000-07:00

I got on a train from Siena at about three on Friday and then went to Florence. I had an hour stop here before my next train and so I headed out to see the famous duomo, Santa Maria della Fiore! It is absolutely gorgeous! I can’t wait to get to see it more this next weekend when I will for sure be heading there for a full day! But after that short stop I go on the train and two and half hours later- having gone through the beautiful Apennine mountains with some amazing views- I was in Ravenna. I met my friend Patrick at the train station and we headed to the parish that he lives in. There are actually two churches there- Saint Mary Major- which was built after the council in Ephesus in 431 (and was actually consecrated before the church by the same name is Rome!) which proclaimed Mary, officially for the first time, as the theotokos or God-Bearer, and then the church of San Vitale, which is from 550 or so and has some absolutely beautiful mosaics! So I got settled there in the rectory and met Don Rosino who is the pastor there- a very good priest, who was extremely welcoming.

That evening we headed out with Don Denis, a priest from Michigan (Saginaw in fact- where the new Archbishop of Saint Louis came from!) also living and studying there, and met up with some of their friends from their language school for a dinner. It was interesting meeting these people from
various places like Switzerland, Germany, Austria, France, and the Netherlands, and I think they were kind of overwhelmed by the fact that there were three young men who are desiring to be or are priests, because from the sounds of it they all have a pretty bad conception of the church and the priesthood. I ended up talking with this Calvinist guy from Switzerland for a while and it was so interesting- and sad- to hear how bad his experience with the church was, but also how little he really understood that religion was about and what the church is about. Europe is really in a sad state- most young people really dislike the church and think that it is a thing of the past that will soon be gone! They can use a lot of prayers so that hopefully they will come to see the beauty and love which Jesus and his Church are offering them! But after that Patrick and I, went and walked around San Vitale which was incredible and then spent some a few hours sitting and talking about the seminary, and the faith over some gelato (the gelato there was far inferior to the stuff in Siena!)

The next morning we went to mass at the parish and then headed out to see all the big churches there in Ravenna. There are several from the 5th and 6th century because the city was the center of the Byzantine empire for a time so the Emperor built a lot of big churches! They were all quite beautiful, but nothing as nice as San Vitale in my mind! We were church gazing for about 5 hours and after that- later in the afternoon we headed to the beach- the Adriatic Sea- which is only about a 15 minute bus ride from the center of town. I was lovely- the beach was packed, but we just chilled there and relaxed in the water for a few hours. It was very relaxing and nice to just be able to sit and think in peace- Despite the crazy Italians around! After dinner we got back to the rectory and the pastor was making us dinner! So we had a really nice Italian dinner, and it was so nice to just sit and talk- in Italian- with this priest and he told so many funny stories and legends about Ravenna and his life. It was a really cool evening. Fairly surreal to think about the fact at I was having dinner and talking in Italian to a random pastor in Italy! The Lord is truly blessing me with this incredible experience!

Finally on Sunday we had mass at 10:30 at San Vitale and I got to serve! It was so cool to be able to serve mass at this church which is some 1500 years old and to think that so many saints have said mass at the altar! I was especially thinking of all of my family and friends at that mass and just knowing that in faith and love were all were right there next to me! After mass we Americans cooked a nice lunch and we just sat around and ate and talked for a few hours about the church in Europe and how best to reach out to those who dislike the church or just don’t even understand the first thing about it! It was awesome- and inspiring – to hear the thoughts and insights of those guys and it gives me so much hope for the church in the US to know that all over the country there are good men whom God is calling to lead his church as priests and pastors! After having seen one last church that afternoon, I left Ravenna about 5 on Sunday and despite almost missing my connection in Ravenna (I was running through the train station, I probably looked ridiculous!) it made it back safe a sound. European Trip 1: Mission Accomplished!

I hope that all is well back at home and that everyone is enjoying the last few weeks of summer before school starts up! This is truly the longest summer of my life seeing as I don’t start school until October! I will hopefully get another post up this week about all this weekends events around the feast of the Assumption and the Palio! It was awesome! Be assured of my prayers, please keep me in yours. VIVE JESUS! Caio!

Siena- Prima Settimana

2009-08-02T07:26:00.000-07:00

Ciao! I hope that this finds everyone well. I have made it through my first week living and studying in Siena. I arrived here last Sunday afternoon after a two hour bus ride from Rome. Siena is north of Rome, in the region of Tuscany. It is a small medieval city that still is enclosed by its original walls from around the 13th or 14th century! When my five classmates and I arrived here we headed to the Church of San Francesco where we would are staying and meet Padre Paulo who is one of the friars living here. We dropped our bags off in our rooms and then headed out to see some of the city.

Our first stop was the Dante Alighieri Language School which is where we are studying Italian for the next few weeks. It is about a 15 minute walk from San Francesco and we are studying there with students of various ages from all across the world. I was placed in an intermediate class with 7 other students- two from the States, along with some from France, England, Holland, Switzerland, and Costa Rica. We have lessons for six hours a day (pretty exhausting!) with three hours in the morning with my professor Enzo, and then three in the afternoon with my private tutor Manuela who is teaching us theological language and other important things like the mass and how to go to confession in Italian. I meet with her in private lessons for two hours each day and talk about all sorts of different topics. (she happened to study medieval philosophy in college and loves theology! So it has been fun learning how to talk about the Trinity and grace in Italian!) After five days of class I feel like my language is getting much stronger and it seems that at this rate I should be close to fluent by the end of the month. Please keep us all in your prayers for the gift of tongues!

After seeing the school that Sunday we headed off to see the rest of city- and wow is it beautiful! It is really the little Italian town I have always had in my mind- small stone buildings, with bright colored shutters, flowers, and lots of little café’s and bakeries. But even more than this- it is a city that is filled with the glories of Catholicism! There are beautiful churches around every corner, and lovely frescos and statues of the Blessed Mother and the saints, carved and painted into the side of the houses and buildings! It is such an experience to just walk the streets and to think that these streets have been walked by so many saints, like Saint Catherine and Saint Bernardine, and even ordinary men and women who have seen these same images and worshiped in these same churches for more than eight centuries! We have been going to mass most days either at the basilica of San Francesco which is connected to our residence or to the Casa di Santa Caterina which is a Dominican convent which has been built on the site of Saint Catherine of Siena’s lifelong home! It is truly amazing to celebrate mass in the churches where the saints prayed, and realizing that they are still present with us through the communion of the saints.

The two biggest attractions here in Siena are the Duomo, Santa Maria della Assunta, and the famous piazza del campo. The Duomo is one of the first gothic churches built and it is absolutely gorgeous (it is the church that I am standing in front of above). The cathedral is dedicated to Our Lady of the Assumption, who is the patron of the entire city. On the feast of the Assumption, August 15th, there is a huge festival here in the Siena that goes for a few days. On the 16th there is a famous race called the Palio which is run in the central piazza, the Campo. The Campo is a shell shaped piazza about the size of a baseball field and the main government building and clock tower of the town are there. On the 16th each of the neighborhoods or contradas in the city enter a horse in the Palio which is a race around the outside of the campo. (This was pictured in the opening scene of the most recent James Bond movie if you want to see it in action!) But it is a huge event and all the people get very into it- dressing up in medieval costumes and putting on performances for the days leading up to the race. I will make sure to post pictures and give an account of it when it happens in two weeks.

It has been a great week here in Siena and while the first couple of days of trying to find food for myself, and adjusting to lots of Italian class were difficult, it is a great city and it is going to be a great month! Know that you all are in my prayers and I miss you very much. I hope that you all had a good feast of Saint Ignatius of Loyola on Friday! Talk to you soon- I am planning at trip to Florence next weekend so stay posted for a report! May the peace and joy of the Spirit be with you. AMDG. -C

First Days on the Hill

2009-07-22T06:07:00.000-07:00

Whew! It has been a whirls wind past few days. I arrived on Monday in Rome about noontime, and it has been quite an exciting time since then. There have been so many incredible things to see and do, and some great men from around the US that I have been having a chance to meet.

We were picked up in a big group, about 50 of us, from the airport, and took a bus back to the North American College which is on top of the Janiculum hill about a half mile from the Vatican ( it is a pretty nice view from the breakfast table of Michelangleo's dome!) The first thing they did was feed us a nice italian lunch or pranzo which is the biggest meal of the day (the food is absolutely amazing everyday!) After that we had some time to just relax and unpack up in our rooms for the rest of the afternoon and evening with a small walk around the city that evening for those who weren't totally jet lagged.

Over the next few days we have been going on various excusions into the city, trying to get a feel for it, and seeing some of the history, especially Christian history, that this city is filled with. (I have included several pictures throughout the blog as a little appetizer) There have been so many incredible sites that we have visited that I cannot fit them all into this one blog so I will try and spread them out over several posts in the next few days and weeks, because it is all worth noting!

I am getting settled in here at the college, and as weird as it sounds, it is starting to feel a little like home. My boxes arrived on Thursday and I have finally got them all unpacked, with clothes put away, pictures hung, and most importantly books shelved! I head for Siena on Sunday to start a month of italian studies there. I will do my best to post on the different sites I have been able to see here in Rome, and on how studies and life in Siena is going.

Know that I bring you all with me to the altars of the saints, and that you have been heavily in my thoughts in prayers each day, especially in the Holy Sacrifice where time and space dissovle away and we are united in the heavenly worship. Please keep me and my classmates in your prayers as we begin language school. I will see you on Sunday at Mass!

May the peace and joy of the Holy Spirit be with you.
Saint Philip Neri, Pray for us!
-C

Christian Wisdom

2009-07-18T19:30:00.001-07:00

As the past week, my last state side, has flown by I have been occupied in saying arrivederci to so many friends- old and new. It has been fairly exhausting, but the excitement of this new beginning has helped to sweeten the sorrow.

In the midst of this long week of good-byes I was reminded of a story from the life of C.S. Lewis. He would often meet with his friend Sheldon Vanauken(Van), author of the marvelous A Severe Mercy, at this local Oxford pub on Thursdays. On the occasion of their last lunch before Van headed back to the U.S. for good, they departed from the pub and Lewis said, "Don't worry, we will see each other again." And then proceeded to walk across the busy street, leaving poor Van quite alone in his sadness. However, when Lewis reached the opposite side he turned and bellowed above the traffic, "And besides- Christians NEVER say goodbye!"

As I prepare to leave tomorrow afternoon from this place I know as home, and the people I love the most, I am comforted by this knowledge that indeed no matter how far we may be separated in physical distance the Holy Spirit, dwelling in our souls unites us in a bond far greater than any this world can offer. And this is a bond that distance and time, and indeed, even death cannot sever. So I say not goodbye, but only peace be with you.

In your charity please remember my classmates and I in your prayers for safe travels and greater trust in Jesus as we begin this new endevour for the Kingdom. Be assured of mine. -C

Greetings

2009-07-01T07:28:00.000-07:00

Greetings to all! I hope that this finds you well.

At the behest of my friends (and mother!) at home I have decided to create this blog so as to make it easier to keep anyone interested in my doings while living in the Eternal City updated. For now I have nothing because I don't leave for another few weeks, and I want to soak in all the love and company of friends and family that I can! But I look forward to sharing the crazy things that the Lord has in store for all of us over the next few years. God Bless. Vive Jesus!

N.B.- For all the non-latin scholars out there like myself the title of the blog means "Given in Rome." It is what the is at the bottom of all papal documents when they are promulgated from the Vatican. I figured that, while my writings are far less authoritative, it was fitting seeing that my blog will indeed be given shape while in Rome. Pardon my nerdiness. -C