A Good Day

Today we attended the Papal Audience at the Paul VI Audience Hall. In his many of his Wednesday Audiences, the Holy Father has been making his way through the Fathers of the Church, providing a catechesis on them and their major contributions in the development of theology, Church doctrine and Church life. Today Pope Benedict spoke about the that giant of Church Fathers, St. Augustine of Hippo. So, today was a good day to be present. One of our classmates is especially devoted to St. Augustine, whose writings influenced him to consider the priesthood while studying them in a Latin class at the U of M.

We all brought our articles to be blessed. In his blessing at the end, the Holy Father includes them in his intention. He also includes the family members of those who are present, which is also pretty awesome.

After that, we went to Mass and lunch at the Casa Santa Maria, which is located in the central historical part of Rome. We were the guests of Fr. Scott Carl, who is here studying Sacred Scripture. This is a very old residence that used to be the American Seminary in Rome, until the North American College replaced it in the 1950's. Now it is a residence primarily for American priests who are on study leave from their dioceses for advanced degrees at a Roman university. It is only steps from the Gregorian University (Jesuit University) and the Biblicum (for Scripture Studies) and a few blocks from the Angelicum (Dominican University) and the Trevi Fountain.

Finally, we went over to San Gregorio to visit the Missionaries of Charity Sisters. We prayed a Holy Hour with them including Benediction and Vespers. One of the sisters also gave us a talk about the Missionary spirituality of Blessed Mother Theresa of Calcutta. We enjoyed this very much. It is so wonderful to see so many prayerful young women giving themselves to the Lord in prayer and service to the poor.

Whew, it was a busy day. However, some were still up for visitng a few more churches, but most opted to make their way back to the residence for the evening.

His Holiness: