Holy Mass at the Confessio

Today we celebrated Holy Mass near the tomb of St. Peter and right next to the tomb of Pope John Paul II in the crypt of St. Peter's Basilica (actually the first floor of the first basilica built by the Emperor Constantine who legalized Christianity in the Roman Empire). I didn't take any photos...much too unseemly in such a sacred place, I felt. But to celebrate Holy Mass so near the Prince of the Apostles (the Rock on whom Jesus built our church) and his 264th successor was quite something indeed!! No doubt the experience will always be one of the highlights of my priesthood!

Chair of Peter

These are two photos of the Chair of Peter reliquary from our tour of St. Peter's Basilica today. We had a truly EXCELLENT guide, Liz Lev, who teaches Roman art & architecture to the seminarians here at the NAC. What this woman knows about Roman history...amazing! Anyway, the reliquary contains the wooden chair used by St. Peter before his martyrdom in 64 A.D. I didn't take many other photos since most people have seen photos of the outside of St. Peter's and inside the basilica was crammed with people...not much walking space as the chairs were all set up for an ordination of Italian bishops coming up this weekend.

Seminary Life

Just in case you were wondering what life can be like in the seminary, here are a couple of photos of my room at the NAC. And the most important part...the food is wonderful! Nothing fancy but basic Italian, for sure. Lots of pasta, veggies, and fresh fruit...oh yeah, and wine with every meal (except "colazione"...breakfast)

More NAC Photos

The first photo above is the inner courtyard at the NAC. The 48 orange trees were planted to represent each of the 48 states in the Union (when they were planted there was no Hawaii or Alaska yet and, unfortunately, there is no room for two more trees!). The "Crown of Thorns" fountain in the middle of the courtyard was donated by Cardinal Cushing.

The second photo is the sculptural relief outside the Immaculate Conception chapel here at the NAC. It was donated to the college by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in memory of Cardinal Dougherty.

The third photo is the view of the dome of St. Peter's from another balcony here at the NAC.

Today we go to St. Peter's Basilica for a tour. Part of our group has already left to climb to the top of the cupola. Since I don't care to die in Rome, I'm waiting for the "on ground" portion of the tour! Tomorrow we return to St. Peter's Basilica (a 20 minute walk from the NAC) for Holy Mass in the crypt; then we pose for our group picture at the obelisk.

Photos from the NAC Balcony

Here are a couple of the photos I promised...from the view off the balcony at the NAC. In the first picture you can see the dome of St. Peter's peeking through the trees just above the roof line. In the second photo you can see the Castel Sant'Angelo (also known as Hadrian's Mausoleum).

Arrivi!!

Well, I've arrived safe & sound! No problems with airlines, flight schedules or baggage. Everything arrived in Rome just as it was supposed to. It's a bit eerie being back in a seminary setting...thought those days were behind me! But I think I'm relaxing already...or maybe that's just jet-lag at this point! We've just been told that enrollment here at the North American College this fall term is at 225 seminarians...the largest enrollment here since 1946! Praise God!! Maybe all those prayers for vocations are actually paying off?! Haven't had the chance to take any pictures yet but will be posting some soon. It's wonderful to go out on the balcony and look out upon the Castel Sant' Angelo and to see Michelangelo's great dome atop St. Peter's Basilica peeking through the trees just over the roof lines! I think I'm really going to enjoy this sabbatical!

The Catholic Plan

This has nothing to do with my sabbatical or Italy, but this short video bears watching as some awfully interesting things have been occurring since January.