French Holiday

So France - It's funny because I feel like, of all the countries I've been to in Europe, the French make an effort to make sure they stay "un-Americanized." But I think France felt more like the US than anywhere I've been yet.

I stayed with my friend Matthieu Courlet du Vregille (after weeks of practice, I still can't say his last name), and our friend Nia also came along. Matthieu's family lives in a tiny town in the French countryside, 2 hours south of Paris, called L'ile Bouchard. Life there is so simple and beautiful. His family is incredible. He is the oldest of 6 kids, ranging from 23 to 10. Along with his parents, they are all amazing people, so generous and loving. It was the first time I had been in a house, with a family and home cooked food, in 4 months, and I didn't realize how much I needed that.

We kept super busy throughout our 10 day break. Every day was basically centered around family meals. All the kids came home from school during lunch, and Matt's mom cooked a huge meal. Dinner usually began around 7 or 8, and could last up to 3 hours! It was such a huge event every day, which was really cool. Duck liver, rabbit, and fish eggs were all on the menu, along with more wines than I can count. It sounds nasty, but it was some of the best food I've ever had.

L'ile Bouchard is located in the "castle" region of France, so we got a chance to go around and see a bunch of the medieval castles. I. Love. Castles. I think they're the coolest things in the world. So I was in paradise. There are little towns scattered everywhere, and almost every single one has a castle perched above it!

We visited the castle where St. Joan of Arc went to announce to the King of France that God had sent her to save France. Super cool. It was situated above a little town nestled into a river, that looked like it was taken straight out of a movie.

Matthieu is really good friends with a family who actually lives in a castle, so we got to go visit them. The old grandmother greeted us as we came through the massive arched-gates, and she brought us in to her own massive living room (they have several) for tea. We got a tour of the place, which was just insane. The guest house was several times larger than my own house, containing a winery and a ballroom. Hard to believe people live like this. They were the nicest family, and it was great getting to know them.

We also visited the town where St. Martin of Tours lived, preached, and died in the year 397. We climbed a huge hill overlooking the town, which lies at the point where the two biggest rivers in France meet.

We were also able to visit Matt's college in Nantes, in the west of France. It's one of the bigger cities in France, and it was cool to see the contrast between this and the countryside.

But the coolest part for me lay not in one of these sweet castles or the bigger cities, but in L'ile Bouchard itself. In the tiny parish church there, Mary, the Mother of God, appeared in 1947 to 4 young girls. This was approved by the Vatican in 2001. 

The primary visionary, Jacquline, is still alive, and Matthieu is good friends with her, so we got to have tea with her! She told us all about her experience, 63 years ago.  During one of the visions (there were 10 in total, over a one week period), she was cured of a rare eye disease. During the last vision, the 2,000 people assembled in the church all witnessed a miraculous light which illuminated the place where the Virgin was allegedly appearing. There's alot more to the story, and if you're interesting in finding out more, check it out! 

http://www.ilebouchard.com/archives/fiot/brochure-fiot.htm#fiot-eng

(click on the part by the American flag for English)

I was so interested, so I hammered Jacquline with questions. How often do you get to question a visionary?! She was happy to answer everything, and it gave me chills when she explained the color of Mary's eyes and the love contained within them. I met her a few other times throughout the week, and all had plenty more questions at hand. 

The parish church has a little shrine where Mary appeared, and we were able to pray there each day. The beauty of it all was its simplicity. It's not a crazy place with thousands of people flocking around, but a quiet and pretty unknown site which is so peaceful.

I was really sad to leave France. On the last night, we had a huge dinner, with some music and dancing afterwards, and Matt's family even got us presents. As excited as I was to get back to Rome, I could have stayed here awhile...

We traveled by overnight train back home. It was the first time the 20 of us at the school have been separated at all since we've arrived here. We literally spend 24 hours with each other, so it was so weird to be apart. So I think we were all ready to get back. The reunion was really exciting, and we all swapped pictures and stories of our adventures.

Two short days after we returned, my parents came to visit! Such a blessing. After a 21 hour drive through a crazy blizzard, from Pittsburgh to Atlanta (long story), they caught their flight and made it to Rome. So good to see them again! It was amazing to be able to show them my life here -- where we live, what we do at the school, and especially all my friends here at the school. 

Over the 5 days that they were here, we were able to get around to see a ton of the city. Actually, I probably saw as much in this short time as I've seen since arriving here! I saw the Coliseum for the first time, with them. Pathetic, I know. I had seen it the previous times I came to Rome, but not in the past 4 months since coming. There's just so much to see, it's impossible to get it all in! 

We even got to go to the Pittsburgh Steeler's bar (yes, there's even one in Rome...) to watch part of one of the playoff games. It was like a little piece of America outside the states.

I'm so thankful that they came to visit, even if it was too short.

A lot has happened in the few weeks since they left, so I'll update on that another time, when I'm not about to fall asleep on my keyboard.

Until then, God bless!

Eric

Christmas Time in Roma

Back to Rome tomorrow! It's been an incredible, half relaxing half crazzyyy break. And better than I could have hoped for.

Let's rewind a few weeks. The week before Christmas we traveled to a convent for our first silent retreat. When I say "traveled" I really mean walked about 15 minutes from our school. But it felt like we traveled 100 miles. In this short amount of time, we reached a secluded hill with a sheep pasture. The only hint of civilization was the massive dome of St. Peter's basilica which loomed in the horizon. Crazy how, in a city as big as Rome, you can find peace and quiet so easily!

I had always desired to go on a silent retreat. I can tend to talk a lot, especially when I pray, and I thought it would be good to quiet down and listen for once. It definitely was amazing experience.

One thing that really struck me, which I was not expecting, was eating in silence. It seems a bit strange, sitting a table with a bunch of other people and not being able to talk. But I absolutely loved it! It realized that, in being silent, I was able to notice tons of things I would never have even considered if I was chatting with friends. I was able to appreciate the taste of the food like I never had before. And I couldn't stop thinking about people who have no food, and the gift that it is that we are able to eat every day. It was really a neat experience, very simple, but one that I can't really explain.

Half way through the retreat, for various reasons, I was really feeling down. I was praying in the chapel, asking the Lord to give me joy and help me to really enter in to the retreat with my whole self. A minute or so later I left the chapel with another girl, and as we walked outside she suddenly stopped and held out her hand. I watched as a single snowflake fell and landed in her palm. Within seconds, many more followed. This is Rome - according to locals, it has snowed once in the past 20 years...We were so filled with joy that we started running around and dancing in the now heavy downfall of snow. During our silent lunch, everyone just stared out at the swirling snowflakes with huge smiles, in awe of the beauty that God had gifted us with. God had answered my prayer - I was so full of joy I couldn't even contain it. Again, something so simple. It may seem odd, but I think it's because of the silence; it really helps you to experience the beauty of simplicity, and joy in the small things.

Near the end of the retreat, we all prayed for each person individually, for specific intentions. After we pray for someone, often times people will open their Bible randomly and read whatever verses their eyes land on. After everyone prayed for me, 5 people randomly opened their Bibles, and they ALL had the exact same verse. I'm no mathematician, but I do know that the chances of that happening are way more than one in a million. More like one in a billion. Aka: God exists. And He speaks to us when we're open to hearing Him.

Ever since this retreat, I think I've gained a deeper peace and a love of simplicity, as well as a greater desire for prayer and reading Scripture. We'll have a few more silent retreats throughout the year, as well as one day of silence at the school each month. So pumped.

Preparing for Christmas came next. I knew that it was going to be really weird being away from home on Christmas, but we've grown so close at the school that it felt like I was with family. I couldn't have asked for a better Christmas celebration.

Reflecting back after the fact, I realized that I think this is the first year that I actually celebrated the true feast of Christmas. For Christmas, the Church has 5 separate masses, starting on Saturday afternoon and going through to Sunday morning, including midnight mass, and a 6am dawn mass. We were able to go to all 5 of these. The most memorable for me was the midnight mass at St. Peter's. It's called "midnight mass" but it actually started at 10pm, since the Pope is a bit old to stay up until 2am. After a huge dinner, we went in to St. Peter's Square and sang Christmas carols in front of the newly-unveiled Nativity. The mass began shortly after. We had no tickets to get inside, so we planned on watching the mass on the huge screens set up in the Square. However, we prayed that a miracle would somehow take place and we'd be able to get in. Two students from our school got picked to do the readings for the mass, so we were super excited to see them.

About 20 minutes into the mass, we watched our friend Adela get up in front of thousands of people to read the Word of God. However, at the same time, we noticed tons of people sprinting across the Square. We looked back and saw that they were letting people inside without tickets. So we ran over and got trapped in a huge mob that eventually squeezed through security and made it in. The guards took us around the Basilica and through a back door. We came out very near the altar, and there found our seats. Our prayers were answered! Even if we would have had tickets, there's no way we would have been as close to the Pope as we ended up being. Crazy. The mass ended around midnight - Christmas is here! Thank You God, for coming among us!

We met up with some others that we knew and hung out in the Square for an hour or so. We headed back to the school, where Christmas cookies and hot chocolate awaited us, and we partied it up until 3 in the morning. After 3 hours of sleep, we had 6am mass. Christmas day was pretty free, and we hung out and slept a bit. In the evening, we set up our home for a huge dinner, and some of the students cooked the most amazing food. We did a secret santa, had a crazy insane talent show, and polished it all off with a dance party which lasted til 2. We were all filled with so much joy, we didn't want to go to bed. It was such a beautiful way to celebrate the birth of Christ.

The next day, we had to pack up and move out of our rooms (since we live in a hotel, they use the rooms for guests when we leave), and we left Rome early on the morning of the 27th. I woke up that morning, and the first thought in my mind was, "there's going to be a beautiful sunrise this morning." No idea why. To be honest, I hadn't seen a good sunrise or sunset since coming to Rome. But when I went upstairs for breakfast, the sky was on fire with crazy pinks, reds, and oranges, with a deep blue background. It was one of the most beautiful sunrises I had ever seen. A little gift for our departure from the eternal city...

It took us many hours, 2 trains and a bus, to get to Paray Le'Monial, France, but we eventually made it around midnight. We came for another retreat, this time with the community that runs our school, called the Emmanuel Community. Paray Le'Monial is the place where Jesus appeared to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque to reveal His Sacred Heart. Images of Jesus with His Heart exposed can now be found in almost every Catholic church in the world. It was really cool to pray in the chapel where these apparitions occured. Throughout the week, we were able to meet people from all over the world who had come for the retreat. I was exhausted for most of it though, and regretfully ended up sleeping through almost every talk.

We brought in the New Year with a time of prayer, followed by a huge party into the  wee hours of the night.

Our break began on New Years day. At the end of the retreat, the 20 of us had to separate for the first time in 3 months. We literally spend every single moment of our lives together, and it was strange to know that we would be apart. We said our goodbyes, and I headed off with Matthieu, one of my friends from France, as well as Nia, the other girl from the States. 

We've spent our 10 day break with Matthieu's family in the small town of L'ile Bouchard. Since this, again, is getting excessively long, I'll write about our French adventures another time.

Until then, take care and God bless!

Eric

Mission to London!

Another insanely long gap between my last post. Sorry about that! Contrary to most years in which I get a break around Christmas, life got even more crazy than ever. But I'm now on break in France with one of my friends from the school. Life is good, and I finally have time for a bit of an update.

So much as happened in the past month! We went on mission in London for 10 days, we had an intense 3 day silent retreat, we celebrated Christmas, traveled to France for another retreat, and then separated from each other for the first time in 3 months for our first break.

The mission in London was amazing. We had been preparing for about 2 months beforehand, so it was great to finally be able to put all our planning in to action. All 20 of us from the school, along with about 15 others from the Emmanuel Community across Europe, and even as far as California, came to join us for the mission.

We stayed with host families in the area. I stayed with a lovely Irish couple, who were convinced that I was totally under-fed and insisted that I eat at least two times my body weight at every meal. They may have thought I was preparing for a rugby match rather than a mission trip. Not sure.

The people of England tend to be very introverted, and do not particularly like to share their feelings. Religion tends to be a private matter that is not shared with others. So we were a bit worried about how people would react to the message we came to proclaim. In fact, we were all slightly shocked at how receptive people were! Each day, we would brave the cold and snow (it was the first time they had this much snow in 17 years!) to go out to the main area of town to invite people to our different events at the parish. As always, a few people just brushed past or even got angry, but the vast majority of people listened to what we had to say and seemed interested. Many people thanked us for what we were doing, and expressed great enthusiasm at our witness. Some great conversations ensued, and we were able to pray for alot of people.

The thing I was dreading most - going door to door - actually turned out to be rather fun! I had a certain conception in my mind of how it would be, and I'm not gonna lie, I was terrified. But people were super nice and accepting, and even if they weren't interested they at least listened to what we had to say and nicely declined. Well, most of the time...

One group from our team was invited in to a man's house. He had just found out that day that he was diagnosed with cancer, and he was given medicine to take, but he couldn't read it so he didn't know how much to take. He was basically in despair, and they were able to help him with his medicine, and pray with him and let him know of the love of God. He was brought to tears. 

Another group who was going door to door was invited into the apartment of a couple who had a 9 year old daughter. The mother hadn't been to church in a long time, but had been considering going back. Her and her daughter wanted to come to the event we were having that night, but they had no car and no way of getting there. We were able to arrange someone to go pick them up, and they both came. Both mother and daughter loved the evening, and the mother was especially deeply effected. She went to confession for the first time in 30 years.

Each day we broke up in to groups and went in to 4 different schools to speak to kids ranging from 5-17. I went into an all girls middle school one day to put on a retreat for 4 different classes. We would start off with some sort of game to get them laughing and having fun, and then give a few witness talks about how God had worked in our life, do a skit, and end with a time of prayer. The girls accepted it all amazingly, and by the end they were all feverishly writing prayer intentions to give to us. 

I was also able to go into an all boys school a few of the days. This school consisted primarily of trouble youth, many of whom are in gangs. I went in a little nervous, but quickly realized that these boys were thirsting for the truth. It again surprised me how well they received us, how attentive they were. They had tons of awesome questions for us, and we had time to just talk and hang out with them after. 

During one of these sessions with they boys, the teacher came up to us at the end. She had been impressed with one of the skits we put on. She was the drama teacher at the school, and she said she had been praying for over a year that God would show her how she could bring His message to these boys. She prayed that He would send her a group of people who would do just that. And according to her, we were the answer to her prayers. That exact day, in fact, turned out to be her birthday.

It was difficult to get people to come to the events we held each night at the church, because even the people that did want to come were so busy that it was hard to squeeze something else in. It was a bit frustrating at the beginning of the week when only a few people would show up. But as the week went on, and we were able to talk to more and more people, the numbers began to increase. Not that the numbers really matter. If we were able to touch even one soul while in England, all the time and work would have been worth it. But obviously we wanted to reach as many people as possible! By the end of the week about 40 people came to a "mercy night" that we held on Friday, and on Saturday there were probably around 60 young people that came to an event called "Night Fever," a night of music, testimonies, adoration, etc.

By the end of the week we were completely spent. It had been an exhausting, but totally fulfilling week. It was beautiful to hear the testimonies of people who had been sending emails to the parish priest all week. One lady had only seen us singing on the street and had been so touched that she emailed the parish priest and told him that she wanted to become Catholic! Crazy. God truly does use us in the smallest ways every day. We probably never realize it 99% of the time, but things like this help us to trust that the smallest witness or act of kindness can touch someone at their core.

On the last day, we had a bit of free time, and were able to travel in to the heart of London to do some sightseeing.  Such a beautiful city. It was a real blessing to be there, and so nice to be back in an English speaking country for a little while!

We traveled back to Rome, back home to the warmth, the crazy drivers, and the daily pasta-fix. We came back united as a group in a new way, for we had all experienced something totally new together, and something which had stretched and challenged us. London was a beautiful experience. We'll have the opportunity to go on 2 more missions like this later in the year.

Ok that was way longer than I intended it to be. I'll try to write more about my other experiences over the past month soon, before things get crazy again.

God bless you all! I hope that you had a blessed Christmas and New Year! Know that I'm keeping you all in prayer.

Peace,

Eric

2 months of Grace

Well, it's been a ridiculously long time since I've updated this. Sorry about that. Things have been super ridiculously crazily insanely busy. To say the least. But that's a good thing. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed, but then I realize that there's not a single thing I would take out of our schedule each day, so I have nothing to complain about. It's a good problem to have.

In the past several weeks, many many amazing things have happened. I'll never be able to remember them all, so I'm just going to try to give a really brief overview of some of the highlights.

We started doing "compassion service" each Wednesday morning. The 20 of us are broken in to 4 groups. My group serves the homeless around Termini Station, the main train/metro station in Rome. So we go there with supplies of coffee, tea, and bread, and just offer these to any of the people we see living on the streets. It's not much to offer, but really what we are there for is just to spend time with them and show them that someone cares for them, that they are valued. At first it was a bit intimidating, going up to someone who may or may not be homeless, and who may or may not speak any English, and trying to show them kindness and compassion. But I've really grown to love this service over the past several weeks. My service partner Natalia and I came across a man from India one morning. He spoke no English (except "very good") and he spoke even less Italian than we did. Through various means he was able to communicate to us his need for medicine, for he was sick and also very badly bruised all over his body. When we told him we could not supply him with anything, he broke down in tears and cried. He could hardly walk, and had not eaten anything for more than 2 days. There was nothing, absolutely nothing, that we could do for him. Except sit with him. We couldn't even really talk. So we sat there, just being with him, for most of the morning until we had to leave. How humbling it was to offer him nothing more than our presence. I can't even express how much he appreciated it. I think he was shocked that anyone would care enough to do anything more than glance his way. This encounter taught me so much about the beauty of the human person. We desire one thing above all else - to be known, to be loved. All else is secondary. Even if we need food or medicine, these things can never fulfill us in the way as one who truly shows that they love us.

We've now met dozens of homeless men and women that live in this area, and we are able to show the love of Christ to them each week. There is one man in particular, Andrea, whose eyes light up every Wednesday morning when he sees us approaching. Maybe we're the only thing he has to look forward to in the week. It's all so simple, but it just goes to show that God doesn't need us to save the world. He only needs us to show love in small ways, and He'll take care of the rest.

Each Friday we go out in to the streets of Rome to do what we call "street evangelization." We take out the World Youth Day cross (the cross given to the young people of the world by Pope John Paul II, which has traveled all around the world, carried by millions of young people), and break in to 2 groups. One group sings, while the other simply goes around and starts talking to the people passing by. We want to get to know who they are, why they're in Rome, etc. We get to tell them about our school, and why we decided to give up a year of our lives to come and grow closer to God and learn about our faith. The people we meet are always extremely interesting, and usually really open to what we have to say. We have mass directly afterwards, so we always invite people to come with us. 

One evening we did this at the Spanish Steps, one of the main squares in Rome. We had a prayer service going on in the church there, and we went out into the square on a Friday night, and invited people in. Many people were really touched by the offer, and tons came in. I'll never forget one incident - One of the girls in our school started talking to a group of teenage boys who were drinking whiskey out of the bottle. They were from Germany, as was she, and they asked her to drink with them. So she did. This led to a conversation, and she invited them in. They didn't really want to come, but she convinced them. They weren't sure if they should go into a church with a bottle of whiskey in hand, but she convinced them it was no problem. I was able to witness a group of young boys who, from the outside, looked like complete punks, walking down the isle towards the altar. They all knelt down before Jesus, and within a few minutes some of them were crying. It was so powerful. 

Here at the school, we're each put in to a "household." There are 2 mens and 2 womens households, each with about 5 people in them. We meet once a week to discuss different things, and share what we saw as significant experiences throughout the week. A few weeks ago, we had the opportunity to take the weekend and travel with our household. My household decided to go to Gaeta, a little town on the coast, south of Rome. We went there without having any accommodations, for we couldn't find anywhere that would take 5 people. So we trusted that God would provide us with a somewhere to stay. 

We arrived in Gaeta, and immediately began going to different churches asking if we could stay the night. Most of them were closed, and the ones that were open said it was not possible. We had lunch, and continued on with no success. We stopped at a convent, and they directed us to a monastery, way at the top of a mountain, so we began the assent. On the way up, we discovered an old Roman outpost, and had tons of fun playing on the ruins. After a long hike, along some of the most insanely beautiful cliffs, plunging in to the Mediterranean below, we arrived at the monastery. They said no. Great. We realized that mass was beginning in a few minutes, so we decided to stay, and we all prayed, for by now we were convinced we would spend the night homeless. At the end of mass, an old couple in front of us turned around and asked where we were from and why were were in Gaeta. Within about 30 seconds they were asking us if we wanted to come stay with them in the private villa on the beach.......God is good! They took us there, cooked us up one of the best and biggest meals I've ever had, and we stayed up late sharing stories about our lives. 

In the morning, they took us all over the city, brought us to the beach, let us eat grapes from their vineyard and make orange juice from their orange trees, prepared another huge lunch, etc. We sat out on their terrace overlooking the sea, just basking in the glorious beauty and in the providential care of our God. He's so faithful, and always provides when we trust in Him!!

This past week, the Pope installed 22 new cardinals, and opened the Apostolic Palaces in the Vatican (which are never open to the public) for people to enter and greet the new cardinals. It was so beautiful, and we were able to meet Cardinal Burke from Wisconsin, as well as Cardinal Regali from Philadelphia. 

So much happens each day that I could go on forever. Classes are intense, but really really amazing. We're able to learn about God in the classroom, experience Him in prayer, and live out His call through service. It's really a whole life focused on Him, and it's changing me in ways I didn't even think I needed to be changed in. It's hard to describe my experiences here, but God has been so good and has taught me alot. If I've changed this much in 2 months, I can't even imagine what's in store for the rest of the year! Please keep me in your prayers, and know that I'm praying for you. God bless!

Assisi and Back

Our whole team is finally here! Our last brother from Egypt just arrived today after much Visa trouble. Go figure...

So here's the final rundown: 4 Americans, 1 Aussie, 2 Brits, 3 French, 1 Scottish, 1 from the Netherlands, 2 German, 1 Columbian, 1 Nicaraguan, 1 Brazilian, 1 from Portugal, and 1 Lithuanian. 19 people. 12 nationalities. Total insanity. Completely awesome.

It's been awhile since I've updated anything, so I'll try to do a brief overview of the last few weeks.

We officially began on the school on Oct 1, the feast of St. Therese of Lisieux, who is one of our patron saints. She died at the age of 24 as a cloistered nun, and she is one of the patronesses for missionaries.

We left Rome early for Assisi, and after the 2 hour train ride, the beautiful city-on-a-hill came into view. We hiked on up, and then made our way to the monastery in which we were staying. It was right near the basilica of St. Francis, and offered fantastic views. We had time to go around and tour the city, and we stayed out until late at night. The town is so beautiful.

The next day we were able to visit San Damiano, the convent where St. Clare lived with her sisters, and where she founded the Order of the Poor Clares. Afterward, we all gathered into one of the olive groves, and each of us shared how God had brought us to the ESM. At one point a realized something really amazing - this group is literally a microcosm of the Church. There are 20 people from all over the world. We are extremely different in more ways than I can count. And yet, we all come together for one goal: to grow closer to the love of God, and to spread that love to others. This common root is able to bind us closer together than if we had all grown up with the same experiences. It's so cool to witness and be a part of something so special.

Later on, a Franciscan brother spoke to us about the life of St. Clare. He was so wise and joyful. He made an excellent point - to the world, St. Clare's life was a complete waste. She lived in the same building, without leaving, for 40 years, in complete poverty. She was sick for 30 of those years, and paralyzed for a good number of them. And yet at death she was still able to die with an ecstatic joy. Something else was at work here!

October 4th was the feast of St. Francis! I've had a huge devotion to him for many years, especially since attending Franciscan University. To be able to celebrate mass at his tomb, on his feast day, was such a gift from God. You can feel the presence of Francis so powerfully there. It's truly remarkable. We also got to pray in front of the San Damiano cross, which spoke to Francis, causing his conversion, and subsequently, the founding of the Franciscans. We then played some intense 4-square. Epic. Earlier in the day we had broken up in to 4 groups, and each group had to make up a different "life of St. Francis." One group acted it out, one group made up a song, the other group did a dance, and my group mimed. We performed them at night, and it was absolutely hilarious.  What a blessed group of crazy people! That night, we took a walk up to the castle at the top of the hill, while praying the rosary. The whole city lay before us, the illuminated churches towering above the twinkling lights of the rest of the town. Can I move here?

On Tuesday, we hiked up to a hermitage in the hills. There was some pretty intense fog, and the mountain was steep. Not for the faint of heart. We eventually made it to the top, and were able to tour through the hermitage, and have mass in one of the chapels. While we were up there, the sun finally broke through the clouds. On the way back down, the sunrays shot through the gaps in the clouds, which made for some extremely beautiful views of the valley below. 

Our last day in Assisi, we got to go down to St. Mary of the Angels, a huge basilica in the valley below the city. Inside is housed the Portiuncula chapel, which was Francis's church, and the place of his holy death. We had an exact replica of this chapel at Franciscan University, so it was so amazing to be able to be back inside. After mass, we played ultimate frisbee in the massive piazza outside the basilica. We caught the train home, and I was able to speak to a women in Italian for over 2 hours! Living proof the Rosetta Stone works :)

We've been back in Rome now for a few days. Our first day back we got to eat dinner with a few of our professors. One, Msgr. Sarno, grew up in Brooklyn, NY, but has lived in Rome for 29 years. He works for the Congregation for the Cause of Saints. They review the lives of holy persons, as well as the miracles that are put forth for the canonization. He was able to tell us alot about some of the saints-in-the-making. It was beyond interesting. He said that there is a miracle attributed to Mother Teresa that is looking extremely promising! So expect to see St. Teresa of Calcutta in the near future. We have the opportunity to go to the canonization of Bl. Mary Mackillop (Australia's first saint!) and Bl. Andre Bessett of Canada on Oct 17, so he told us about them as well. It was amazing. 

On Friday we had some free time. Nia and I really wanted gelato, so after shopping for some of our school books, we got some, even though we were running extremely late. We realized that there was no way we were going to get back on time, so we started sprinting through the streets of Rome, eating our now quickly melting gelatos. My shoes were tearing my feet up, so I whipped them off and ran barefoot. Everyone was staring at us. What can I say? We're Americans...

Saturday (Happy birthday Paul!) was pretty free. We began by playing soccer and volleyball. In the evening, I met up with Fr. Ed Lohse, a friend from back home whom I've known for 4 years, and was just transferred to Rome. We walked around the city and went out to eat. It was so good to see a familiar face, and I am really blessed to have him here.

Yesterday, Sunday Oct 11, I got up and went for a run to St. Peter's and back. I then met up with 2 friends from America who are in the seminary in Rome called the North American College. It is so incredible. We had a huge brunch, and then went out for coffee in a little cafe that overlooks the whole city. So so good to see them. This was followed by mass and vespers in St. Peter's.

That's pretty much what I've been up to! We officially started classes today, so things are going to get alot more intense. God has been so good already, and I definitely feel at home. I could not have asked for a better group of people to be living with for the next year. It's not going to be easy, but I know it will be fruitful.

One last thought - Everyone here is so generous! I can't even believe it. They literally think of others before themselves. It has really struck me just in the little things. For instance, even the first day, when we would be served food, people would grab my plate and serve me before themselves, or pour me water before they gave it to themselves. It really made me think about how I live my life. I'm not sure if it's just an American thing to focus more on ourselves, or if it's just me, but it definitely opened my eyes to the way we're supposed to live, in putting others first.

I probably won't be able to keep updating this blog as often as I would like, but I'll try my best. You'll be in my prayers!

Seeking the Heart of Christ, in the heart of the Church,

Eric

Rome already feels like home!!

The first time I came to Rome 4 years, I knew that I was going to live here one day. It's weird, because I'm not a city person whatsoever, but I feel at home here, and I did from the moment the plane touched down. And I didn't expect to feel so close to my fellow ESM'ers this soon. We're like a little family already. We joke around with each other constantly and aren't afraid to act completely crazy. Especially Nia and I. For those of you who don't know, Nia Hunt went to the same university as I did, and now we're both at the ESM. I sometimes feel like we're truly living up to the "crazy American" stereotype. We're definitely the loudest ones here, and laugh outrageously all the time. It's so interesting to see so many cultures coming together and interacting. It's like an allegory for the universal Church - people from all over coming together for the common goal of serving Christ.

On Tuesday, we all went to St. Peter's together for the first time. As Nia put it so well, when you walk in there, everything just makes sense. It was crazy to be back. What an incredibly beautiful, holy place. We were able to go down to the tombs of the Pope's as well, and praying in front of the tomb of JPII, as well as that of St. Peter. Whoa...

Nia and I took a beautiful walk down to St. Peter's at night. I had never seen it lit up before. Amazing. We hung out in the square and talked for a long time, and then picked up some gelato at Old Bridge, arguably the best place in the city. So good! I'm addicted.

On Wednesdy, we hung out at the San Lorenzo, which is the youth center that JPII houses, and where the World Youth Day cross resides. The people who work there are amazing, and we'll be doing alot of work there throughout the year, so it was great to get to finally meet them.

Afterward, a few of us hit the city. We went into a random church, and it turns out that St. Philip Neri is buried there! We continued on and went to Piazza Navona, one of the most famous squares in Rome. It is filled with shops, restaurants, churches, and fountains. There are always street performers and artists entertaining the masses.

We've been playing alot of cards at the ESM, and it gets crazzzzyyyy! We played this game called Logretto, and people were screaming and running around everywhere. We definitely feel comfortable around each other!

Tomorrow we leave for Assisi! Right now we're having our opening mass. Gotta go! I'll pray for you all!!! :)

Seeking the Heart of Christ, in the heart of the Church,

Eric

Bongiorno from Roma!!!

I made it! And what a crazy adventure it was...but definitely blessed!

So my parents and I left on the morning of Saturday the 25th. I was flying out of JFK in New York, so they drove me up there. My aunt works for Delta and was able to get me a cheap flight, the only catch being that I was on standby. So we drove up there, through the crazy NYC traffic, and made it to the airport. After checking my baggage and all that fun stuff, it was time to go through security. So I said goodbye to my parents for what I thought would be the last time. The Lord had other plans!

I went to my gate, and all of the employees had been telling me I had an excellent, almost guaranteed in fact, chance of getting on the plane. So I wasn't worried at all. I saw my name on the standby list, and I was near the very bottom. More and more people were making it on to the plane, but I still thought nothing of it. Eventually, only one other girl and I were on the standby list, and there was one spot left. A minute later, they called my name to come and check in. I went up to the desk, and the guy was like "Yay, you got the last seat!...Oh wait, nevermind I made a mistake, you're not on." So that was kind of a bummer. I called my parents, who had waited at the airport, knowing this was a possibility. So I ended up seeing them about an hour later, rather than many months. We got a hotel, went out for an excellent NY pizza, and just hung out and went to bed.

After mass on Sunday morning, we decided to try our luck at traveling into the city. As always, the traffic was out of control. It took us about an hour to get to the ferry for the Statue of Liberty. When we got there, we decided we probably didn't have enough time to go over, so we decided to walk around the area instead. There was a nice little park with a fort from the Revolutionary War, so we visited here first. Then we trekked into the heart of the city. After turning down Broadway, we saw signs for Ground Zero, so we decided to go there. I had been there once before, about 3 years ago, but I had forgotten the indescribable feeling of entering that space. Crazy. There was a beautiful memorial to the firefighters, which I missed last time.

After walking around this past sight of destruction and future sight of a beautiful memorial, we found a really cool area right down by the river. There were restaurants and shops, and a tree-lined walkway that skirted the water. So we decided to just grab burgers and eat down here. After hanging out for a bit, we realized that the walkway would lead us back to exactly where we started, by the ferry. So we followed this all the way back, until the Statue of Liberty was directly across from us.

By now it was almost 2, so we hopped back in the car and headed to the airport. This time, all I needed to do was go through security, so I had tons of time. I hung out with my parents for a few hours, and then we had to say goodbye for real this time. Not fun at all. But as my mother texted me, seconds before I took off, "You are not flying alone. Your holy Mother and her Son are with you!" A infinitely comforting reminder.

Needless to say, I made my flight!!! The man that I sat beside, Carlo, was from Rome, but spoke English, and he was extremely interesting. We ended up talking for most of the flight, which definitely cut in to my sleep time, but it was worth it. I slept an hour or two, and when I woke up, the map on the screen informed me that the dark expanse below me was France! And soon after, as the sun broke the horizon, Italy was visible several miles below!!

After landing an hour early, I got my luggage and waited for someone from the ESM to pick me up. Eventually I ran in to Helen, one of the women who works there. She's from Australia, and is super awesome. Nia arrived shortly after. I can't describe how good it was to see her!! Seeing that Regina Angelorum sweatshirt in the middle of Italy made my heart smile.

We grabbed a taxi and literally FLEW to the ESM. If you didn't know, the Italians + driving = a dangerous combination. On the way we passed by the Hotel Gelsomino, where the wonderful Spring 09 Austria crew all stayed, just a year and a half ago. So many memories came flooding back in that instant. And shortly after that, the ESM came into view!! My home for the next year! It's beautiful.

Immediately after entering, I got to meet 2 of my fellow students, Daniel from Ohio and Natalia from Columbia. Crazyyy!! We had mass at noon, followed by lunch, during which I met Bernadette from Australia, Juan from Miami, and Adela from Nicaragua. The rest of the day was free, so we did what any normal Roman would do - went to St. Peter's, and then got gelato!!!

It's weird - I've been here before, but it feels different this time. I think when coming as a tourist, I had the mentality of "try to cram seeing 20496 things into the shortest time possible," whereas now it has a feeling of permanence to it all. I don't have to see everything now, because it will still be there tomorrow.

We went to the San Lorenzo, a youth center started by JPII, where we will be doing a lot of work. The chapel there houses the World Youth Day cross! We got to meet the staff and talk with them. They're from all over as well - England, Australia, Belgium...Rome is such a crazy place.

The rest of the evening consisted of filling out paperwork that will ensure that we can stay here for the year. Nia kept falling asleep and I'd have to poke her with my pen.

First day in Rome. I don't really know how I feel. I'm excited, anxious, blessed, awestruck, let's be honest, terrified. But I know that I was called to this place, and that God will use every single experience, small or large, to bring about His plan for my life. I just pray that I can stay out of His way.

I pray that you are all doing well. Please pray for me.

Seeking the Heart of Christ, in the heart of the Church,
Eric