Amazing Times!

What an awesome weekend we had here! It all started on Friday morning! We went on a tour of the Scavi...it is only given to about 200 people a day and tickets are very difficult to come by. We did not know this until our tour guide asked about our group and told us that we should feel very honored to be there. The tour leads people through the city below Vatican city. Believe it or not, there is literally a whole city below St. Peter's and the square. Up until the 1940s the Necropolis was only spoken about and never seen, some believe it existed, while others did not. When Pius XII became pope, he gave the nod to begin the excavations under three circumstances, it was done in secret so that during WWII Hitler would not catch wind of the project and take over, all work had to be done with buckets and shovels, no electric machinery that would disrupt masses above them and third, no one went near where they believed St. Peter to be so not to disturb the sacred place until they knew more about where he might lay. The tour led us all through these pathways and through many glass doorways until we came upon St. Peter's bones...it was so amazing! We continued after spending a few moments at St. Peter's bones down to where Pope John Paul II's tomb. I still cannot describe or come up with the words to say how amazing that experience was. I have always wanted to see him and even though he was in his tomb there was just something special about it even still! It was the most moving experience I have encountered yet and I don't think there were too many who didn't have tears coming down after being able to encounter that!

swinging at the park

The rest of the day was spent at Burghese Park which was absolutely beautiful and so relaxing. We walked around for a couple hours and enjoyed the peacefulness! It was so nice to be able to walk along trying to fight your way through people. There were many different statues and buildings and even a restaurant. It was fun because we were walking along and came upon a park. So we took some time to swing which was actually a ton of fun! We even got the guys to play on the park equipment. That was pretty much Friday other than eating which you probably don't want or need to hear about :)

Mark and Justin on the park equipment

Saturday we were able to sleep in which felt so good! I have been on such bad jet lag that I really hadn't been sleeping hardly at all and I think that was the first night I really slept :) I am finally starting to get on the schedule here now though. In the afternoon we went to some catacombs. It was a very interesting experience! They are basically the ancienct underground cemetaries that go approximately 80 meters below ground. There are 150,000 graves (but no estimate of people since some were mass graves) that span about 11 kilometers. It was crazy! After that we went to St. John Lateran for mass.

Tea with the Little Sisters of the Lamb

Following mass, Fr. Carola let us know he had told the Little Sisters of the Lamb that we were coming by for a visit. They showed us around and served us tea. I was never a tea drinker back in the states but I have really learned to like it here! It was a fun visit to learn about their order and such! They were all so friendly and beautiful!

Lunch in Norcia prepared by the Poor Clares

Sunday we took a day trip to Norcia. We left Bernardi at 7:15 for a 2.5 hour drive north to Norcia, located in the Umbria region of Italy. Here in this town were born the twins Sts. Benedict and Scholastica. The bascilica there is named for them and below, in the basement or lower level is the house their family lived in. We joined the Poor Clares for mass. They are cloistered, so they sat in a separate part of the chapel where we could not see them. After mass we were served an amazing and huge meal that they prepared. The food just kept coming! It was DELICIOUS!!!

Tea at Diane's

After lunch we went to Diane's (our women's chaplain...in case I never mentioned her before ;) She showed us her garden and since it was raining just us girls went there and had tea and pastries. We also talked about plans for the semester and what we will do as a community of women for the semester. After spending about an hour there, we were set to meet back up with the men and joined the monks for vespers and adoration in the room St. Scholastica and her brother St. Benedict were born in. The lights were all off except for candles that lit the room and the monstrance. It was very peaceful! After that we headed back to Rome! It was a very full but very good day!

Monday was our official first day of classes! I was very excited despite that fact that we were in classes for 10 hours with a one hour break in the middle! I didn't think I would make it through the day but I did and it went very well! I am very excited with my classes and it should be an awesome and very full semester with the materials! After classes were all over at around 7p a small group of us went to dinner and you will never guess where we went :-p We went to the Hard Rock Cafe! It was amazing to have a cheeseburger, fries and a milkshake! It is kind of sad that it has only been two weeks and we already are needing that food but oh well :) It was a good time!

Finally, today we had more classes, just two today. After class we grabbed some lunch and rushed back to get some laundry done before we had mass and our first official community dinner! It was awesome! To be living in a community where everyone has the same views and thinking as you is something that can't even be put into words! I am just so incredibly grateful to the friendships I have made already! The friendships that are continuously developing will be ones that will last for a lifetime for sure!

One last little note...we have a terrace here on top of our building! It over looks Rome entirely! You can see so much and it is absolutely beautiful! It is my most favorite place to go...it calms me and is the best place to go to just sit and think and relax! I go there everynight before I go to bed and it is amazing!

Well, I hope everyone is doing well and I miss everyone! Although, I am not homesick yet and absolutely love it here! It just blows my mind still that I can be studying here for 5 months! I am truly blessed to have this opportunity! I also am trying not to take any of it for granted because it is so easy to do when you have been here for a while and that is a huge challenge I am dealing with, but it is great! I hope to hear from you all soon! I love you all and you will continue to be in my prayers!

Arrivederci.....until next time! :)