Sunday and Monday in Rome

Sunday morning we began the day with Mass with the seminarians at the North American College.  These young men from all over the United States, Canada, and Australia are really good guys.  Yet, the sung parts of the Mass were in Latin, which is new for me.

In the afternoon we walked around the  Piazza Navona and entered about five churches.  I will not remember the names of them all, but a few things I remember.  At the church of St. Agnes we saw her relic which is her head.  She was a 13 year old girl at the time of her martyrdom.  The son of the perfect of Rome wanted to sleep with her but she refused.  This was 303-304 A.D.  Therefore, she was striped naked and put on display, but her hair grew long and covered her body.  When a man tried to touch her, he died.  They thought she was demonic, so she touched him and he came back to life.  She was thrown into fire, but the spirit of God stopped the flames.  Finally her throat was pierced with a sword and she was martyred.  She is the patroness of young women and gardeners.

Next Church that impressed me was the French church, St. Luigi.  This is a bunch of tombs, but does have art work by Michelangelo.  Yet, what impressed me is this church is that they are active in helping children suffering from AIDS in Buruni, Africa.

The last church where we stopped was the church of Gesu, (Jesus).  It is a Jesuit church.  We entered only by chance.  Yet, here I prayed for all our missioners in front of the arm of St. Francis Xavier, the great missioner to India.  He is also one of Glenmary's patrons. In the same church, I prayed in front of the tomb of St. Ignatius of Loyola, another Glenmary patron.  Thank you Jesus for allowing me to be here.

This morning we had a guided tour of the inside of St. Peter's Basilica, also known as the Vatican.  The guide was wonderful.  She brought so much meaning and spirituality to the place.  Here I could not begin to explain all we learned.  The two architects of the Vatican, Michelangelo and Bernini, were devote Christians.  They work remains an inspiration to all who enter these sacred walls.

Peace everyone.