Polska and Tertio

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!

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

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

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

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!