Renewal of Vows

(Closing Mass -- Renewal of Vows)

What better way to end this part of my renewal than to be at a Eucharist with our Superior General, Fr. Jan and the community here in the General House? It was a wonderful celebration in which Fr. Jan received our renewal of vows (chastity, poverty, and obedience) as lived according to the intention expressed in our Constitutions. As he sent us forth from Mass he reminded us of Fr. Colin's letter to the first missionaries among whom was St. Peter Chanel. I'll share a small quote with you because while Colin wrote it to those first missionaries, it is spoken to all of us...

"Never count upon yourselves, either in prosperity or in adversity, but rely solely on Jesus and Mary: the more diffident you are in yourselves, and the more confident you are in God, the more light and grace will you draw upon yourselves."
(JC Colin, Letter to the first departing missionaries, 13 October 1836)

I pray that I can / we can more completely rely on Jesus and Mary.


(Final group picture / SM Renewal Spring 2009)


After the Eucharist we gathered for a drink and then shared a wonderful meal. It was a good way to end these six blessed weeks. Thanks to the Sisters and to the General House Community for wonderful hospitality!

(Frs. Hubert, Ron, Michael, and John in the community room.)

I have one more day here and am not sure whether I'll venture out or just get ready to leave early on Monday. But either way, I'll be back home soon.

Last of the Four Major Basilicas -- San Pietro

(Front of St. Peter's Basilica -- dome by Bramante.)

Fr. Joel and I left for St. Peter's at 8:00am after prayer and Mass. Our hope was to get to the Basilica before the hordes of tourists. We were successful! There was no line to enter and inside was still relatively quiet. Chairs were already set up for Sunday's feast of Pentecost so the much of the middle section was closed off. But you could still see the grandeur of the place. It is huge! But because of the perfect proportions, it doesn't seem huge. But it is.

(The tomb of St. Peter -- hard to see, but if you look closely,
you can see an upside down cross to the left of the photo.
Tradition holds that Peter was crucified upside down.)

After wandering around a bit, I visited the tomb of St. Peter (Confessio). Of course, I was not able to get as close as I would have liked. But that's the way it is in St. Peter's. After sitting down on the ground near the tomb to pray, a guard came up and said, "Prego, prego no, no, no!" I guessed that meant no sitting down. So, I headed to the Blessed Sacrament Chapel.

I also visited the Pieta by Michealangelo, and the funerary of Blessed John XXIII (who called for the second Vatican Council). In each of these places pilgrims were praying, and so I remembered you all in my prayers, especially for the success of your up-coming exams.

Before we headed home for dinner, we visited Castel San Angelo. It was originally built as a Roman tomb (Hadrian's Tomb). But was eventually used as a fortification for Popes. It's also the site of some scenes from the new movie "Angels and Demons."


(St Michael the Archangel -- sits atop Castle San Angelo.)



We also welcomed back Fr. Craig Larkin. He was gone for 3 days of meetings. Sorry, Craig, we didn't realize you had left!

Basilica of St Paul / outside the walls of Rome

(Front facade of the Basilica of St. Paul.)

The Basilica of St Paul (one of the 4 major Basilicas of Rome) can hold twenty five thousand people! It is a huge Basilica to say the least. It's also one of the quieter Basilica's because it is a bit more difficult to get to. Tradition and recent archeological evidence holds that this is the burial place of St. Paul. As in the Basilica of St. Peter, the main Papal Altar is situated over the tomb of St. Paul. I was unable to get good pictures inside as the lighting wasn't adequate. But his tomb is definitely a sacred place for the Church.

(An unbelievable mosaic in the apse of the Basilica --
Jesus flanked by Peter, Paul, Andrew, and Luke.)

We celebrated Mass in the Chapel of St. Stefano (oddly enough the Chapel we used in Assisi was also dedicated to St Stefano). This was our last Mass in a place of pilgrimage. We were all reminded of the missionary zeal of St. Paul, and prayed that we too may be zealous for the missions that we are each charged with.

(Fr. Tim, who lead the Rome part of our renewal, was principle celebrant at our Mass at the Basilica.)

I took the opportunity to Concelebrate and offered the Mass for those Newman couples preparing for the sacrament of Matrimony.

This evening Ron, Bruce and I will venture out to find some Roman Pizza.

I will also attach a clip of the portico of St. Paul's. Now if the portico is this big imagine how big the Basilica is!

SMSM Hospitality

(SMSM sisters with Kevin and Ron.)

This afternoon we shared a meal with the Marist Missionary Sisters. Many of you have met Sr. Christina who helped us with the Busy Students' Retreat these past two years -- she is a Marist Missionary Sister. The veteran Newman folks remember Sr. Avelina who helped with our Busy Students' retreat several years back -- she also is an SMSM sister.

It's hard to beleive that this congregation finds its roots in a group of lay women (they call them 'the Pioneers') who followed Francoise Perroton (the first pioneer) to Oceania to be of service to the people there. These pioneers were all from France and Francoise was enrolled in the Marist Third order. The courage to leave country, family, and friends to go off to distant lands for the Gospel is made even more courageous when you realize they went as individuals. Only later did they form a religious congregation -- Marist Missionary Sisters. Today they have missions in many, many places.

(We received a quick tour of the house before we headed back to Monteverde.)

Sharing a meal with them towards the end of our renewal was truly a blessing.

Tonight we head out to pray with the St. Egidio Community. They are a lay group, about 50,000 world wide who live the Gospel in a very real way both spiritually and in service to the poor and forgotten (Anawim). While the prayer will be in Italian, we are told that we'll feel their love for God and neighbor.


(Cross from St. Stefano's in Assisi -- where we had Mass.)

Catacombs of St. Callistus

Underneath the city of Rome are catacombs -- ancient cemeteries. These were the places in which the early martyrs of the Roman Church were also buried. Scores of men and women, young and old were martyred during the persecutions. In many ways, the Church was built upon the blood of many martyrs.


(We sang the Salve Regina at the end of Mass in the catacombs of St. Callistus -- helped by the acoustics.)


The catacombs were places where the Christians also came to celebrate Eucharist away from Roman eyes. It gave these early Christians the chance to literally pray over the tombs of the martyrs. This is where the practice of having a relic of a saint in the Altar stone came from. As a matter of fact, many of the Churches in Rome are built over sacred burial spots or other holy places. St. Peter's Basilica, for example, is built over the place where St. Peter was buried.

As we celebrated Eucharist in the catacombs of St. Callistus Fr. John Hopkinson, SM reminded us of modern day martyrs -- people who have been killed in Latin America and other places because they cared for and stood with the oppressed. We only have to recall Bishop Romero, and four martyrs of El Salvador to realize that persecution still goes on today. Hopefully, you and I can be strengthened by their example for whatever small persecutions we endure as we do our best to live the Gospel.

We also spent some time this afternoon with the General Administration of the Society of Mary. These are the men who form the international leadership for the Society of Mary. They shared with us plans for a Society wide meeting this September -- called a Chapter. Please keep them and all the Marist delegates in your prayers as they work to further the mission of the Society of Mary.


(Waiting for the 75 bus -- Joe, Joel, and Guiliano with John in the background.)

Assisi Pilgrimage

(Basilica of St. Francis)

We started out from the house this morning at 7:10am to make the train to Assisi. We all knew it would be a hot day, and it was! Although our time in Assisi was very limited it was a good day. And while there is no direct connection, that I know of, between Fr. Colin and St. Francis, Assisi is an important place of pilgrimage. The day included:

• Mass at St Stephano (St. Stephen). Stephen was one of the first deacons and was stoned for preaching the about Christ. Fr. Joel lead us in prayer and gave us some food for thought about whether our hearts are open enough for the Spirit to enter. This was a quiet out of the way little church, and so it was easy to manage a prayerful celebration of Eucharist.
  

(Fr. Joel celebrating Mass at St Stefano's in Assisi.)

• Some time in the Basilica of St. Francis which includes the wonderful Giotto frescoes of the life of St. Francis. The basilica has a lower Church as well, and below it is the actual tomb of St. Francis who is surrounded by the tombs of four of his original companions (no pictures allowed -- sorry!)
  

• We also had a spectacular lunch looking over the Umbrian landscape. The food was excellent and WAY more than we needed.

(Lunch with a view. Apparently we owe Fr. Joe McLaughlin, SM thanks as he found this place on an earlier renewal. Thanks Joe!)

I spent about fifteen minutes praying before the tomb of St. Francis as many, many pilgrims walked by, touching the grate around his tomb, leaving candles to be used for the altar, and praying to this well known and popular Saint. I've been there before, and as before I was left with a real sense of peace. The life of St. Francis also reminds of the beauty of creation and our need to care for the environment as a gift from God.

The heat today got the better of most of us, and we dragged our sweaty bodies back to the train station. But it seems that the heat hit our fearless leader, Fr. Tim, the most. He needed a nap no matter where he was. Or maybe he's had his fill of us renewalists!

(Fr. Tim stretched out on the bench next Kevin Stewart at Assisi train station!)

Sabbath Rest

(Marist General House in Rome. It was very quiet here today.)

The local Marist community in Rome abandoned us today! They went on a planned 'play day.' They drove to Orvieto for a recreation day -- well deserved. The few renewalists who remained in the house figured out how to work things, got laundry done, and endured the heat. It's hot here! A few like Fr. Ron ventured out in the heat. He's not home yet, so I don't know if he survived.

So, that means there is not much to share about the day. Of course, we had Mass and a meal. But otherwise, it was quiet for me

The 3 Americans did venture out last evening, however, to visit a few piazzas and to find some pizza for Fr. Ron. Tomorrow we take a train to Assisi for a vist to the Basilica and we'll have Mass together at the Church of Santo Stefano. We'll leave early for a two hour train ride. No doubt, the train will be warm as well. I'll revel in the cooler climes of SLO when I get home.

Here's a couple of images from last night's piazza visits. As you can see lots of folks were strolling around in the evening.


(Parching thirst in the heat of the afternoon.)

(Pantheon -- originally a temple to all gods. Now a Catholic Church ot the Marytrs.)