England

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

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...

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

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...

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

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!