Month: April 2011

A Silent Vigil

/ esteban / 1 Comment

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Friday evening, after dinner with my friend Msgr. Mueggenborg, who works at the Pontifical North American College here in Rome, I had some time to kill before meeting up with Fr. Roderick.

I made my way back over to St. Peter’s Square and enjoyed some quiet time strolling on the piazza.  A large video screen at the entrance to the square has been displaying commemorative videos about Pope John Paul II’s pontificate and they were still showing although it was now almost 10 pm.

It’s a mesmerizing video, projected without sound, which recounts JPII’s important history of traveling the world.  Although I had seen parts of the video earlier, this night it drew me in and I was captivated by the memories that it brought back.

Slowly, as the video played, more and more people in the piazza were also drawn in and a crowd gathered in complete silence, a vigil of remembrance for Pope John Paul II.

As each year of his pontificate passed in turn, we saw the joy of the people he visited and remembered the messages that he delivered in all parts of the world.  In a short time, we also saw him age and the heartbreaking advance of his illness and infirmities.

The video ends with his death and funeral.  With a few tears and a collective sigh from our little group gathered in vigil, a quiet applause came as the crowd dispersed, deep in thought.

This was one of those unplanned moments, a shared experience among strangers.  But also one that those present will not soon forget.

Rome & Radio

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The theme for our Friday in Rome quickly centered around international Catholic radio.  During the morning hours, we settled into an upper room at the Dutch Friezen Church, just off of St. Peter’s Square.

I listened to Fr. Roderick and his radio crew record a radio program in Dutch for over 2 hours.  I never imagined that I would be in Rome but yet privy to the work of the Church from the Netherlands.

Later in the day, we had truly one of the best experiences I could have hoped for.  We had the privilege of visiting the offices and studios of Vatican Radio and were introduced to Fr. Roderick’s former professor Mr. Sean Patrick Lovett.  He is the director of the Italian and English language channels for Vatican Radio and a wonderful person to talk to about Catholic media, its past and future.  Vatican Radio is celebrating its 80th anniversary this year and it a worldwide organization, broadcasting in 34 languages.  It was a great experience!

Mr. Lovett also gave us a tour of one of the radio studios where live broadcasts were in progress informing pilgrims in Rome about the upcoming Beatification, security, and traffic arrangements.    Mr. Lovett also expressed his interest in the work of SQPN and in some of the ways that our experience can benefit them.

 

Fr. Roderick and Mr. Sean Patrick Lovett at Vatican Radio

Vatican Radio Broadcast Studio

Vatican Radio Control Room

 

 

Trading Days

/ esteban

Yesterday, Fr. Roderick and I were walking in one of the districts just outside of the Vatican when I saw this graffiti on an alley wall.

It immediately struck me as profoundly full of despair.  Would I ever want to trade all my tomorrows for one yesterday?  I hope I never feel that way.  I know that there will be bad days in the future, but I certainly have hope for wondrous days to come as well.  The Beatification of Pope John Paul II is hopefully one of those wondrous days.

The Catholic sentiment is absolutely the antithesis of this graffiti.  Through the Sacrament of Reconciliation you can trade all your yesterdays for the best of all tomorrows.

I hope the soul, who expressed the sad plea above, finds a better path.

Walkabout

/ esteban

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Our first full day in Rome, Fr. Roderick and I took some time to check out the preparations for the beatification in St. Peter’s Square and get our bearings on a few places that we’ll be visiting over the next few days.  We weren’t there too long, so I didn’t take too many photos.  No doubt there will be more as the excitement builds.

It seems to me that there are already quite few people in Rome for the beatification.  Strangely, I haven’t noticed any other Polish pilgrims but I have no doubt that there are loads of them here, somewhere.

Some SQPN fans from Indiana introduced themselves to us along one of the streets and we even had a brief encounter with Boston’s Cardinal Sean O’Malley, who kindly hosted last year’s CNMC.

Here’s a little video of St. Peter’s that I shot as well.

The Journey to Rome

/ esteban

I made it safely to Rome yesterday and met up with Fr. Roderick Vonhogen, CEO of SQPN. Not too much to report other than a well deserved nap, some good pasta at a nearby restaurant, and a nightcap of some excellent tiramisu.

Usually, the journey to Europe is extremely tedious and something to be endured as part of the price to be paid to visit a wonderful city such as Rome.

This trip was not like that and I couldn’t have been more pleased.

The flight from Washington, DC to Rome included about 25 Polish Catholics from Chicago, traveling like me to the Beatification of Pope John Paul II.  They were a joyous group and fun to watch.

I sat next to a Polish couple, now living in Denver, who are just old enough to remember the Communist years in Kracow, but still young enough to appreciate the spirit of renewal that JPII brought to his country.

The young woman in the couple told me that she had never taken advantage of the opportunities she had to see or meet Karol Woytila, when he was Archbishop of Kracow.  Her journey to Rome for the beatification is in a sense to correct that and to honor his memory.

I was so glad, and lucky, to have the chance to sit and talk with them as we whiled away the time over the Atlantic.  Polish Catholics have always impressed me with their devotion to the Church.  I know that their society is increasingly under the pressure of secularization, so I take hope when seeing groups like these.

We are just beginning our time in Rome, so hopefully we will have more opportunities to share the experiences of other pilgrims here for this wonderful event.

There’s a forecast for rain this weekend, but I would be surprised if it dampens any of the spirit of those coming.

Pilgrimage to Rome

/ esteban

I am enormously privileged to be going to Rome this week and witnessing the Beatification of Pope John Paul II.

I’ve been to Rome several times before and saw Pope John Paul II on three occasions.

I took this photo standing alongside his popemobile route through St. Peter’s Square on May 18, 2000.   This was a special Mass commemorating his 80th birthday.   What a joyous occasion and we couldn’t  believe how close we were allowed to get.  I could have touched him (with a little help, perhaps).

I was there with about 25 students from the St. Philip Neri Newman Center at the University of Tulsa on the first of our yearly pilgrimages to Europe.

We returned to Rome four years later (May 2004) with another group of students and were even more blessed with chances to see JPII.

Somehow, I’m still not sure how this worked out, but we had the awesome privilege of attending the Mass for the canonization of six new saints  Luigi Orione, Hannibal Mary Di Francia, José Manyanet y Vives, Nimatullah Kassab Al-Hardini, Paola Elisabetta Cerioli, Gianna Beretta Molla.

You can get a sense of the joyful atmosphere and see the portraits of the new saints on the fascade of St. Peter’s Basilica. It was a bit like attending a football game with groups chanting and singing and sharing information about their favorite saint.  I had never heard of St. Gianna Beretta Molla before this day but was very moved to see her husband and daughter present the saint’s relics to the Holy Father.  Can you imagine what it must have been like for your wife or mother to be canonized as a saint!?  She has since become a favorite of mine and a true testament to the sanctity of life.

Even more astounding, a few days later we attended the pope’s weekly audience and had tickets to sit on the platform next to the altar.  Our bishop, Most Reverend Edward Slattery of the Diocese of Tulsa, was in Rome for his ad limina visit and secured these seats for our group.  What an honor and privilege to be so close to the Holy Father while he spoke.   It was difficult to get good photos from there and not cause a disruption, but here’s one that suffices.

It was a very sad day when he died, about a year after this trip.  What a tremendous library of writings and speeches he left us; and such a testimony and Christian witness during his final months.  Who doesn’t remember where they were during Holy Week of 2005 and the following weeks of his final decline, death, and funeral, followed by the Conclave of cardinals and the election of Pope Benedict?

It is enormously significant to me to be able to witness Pope John Paul II’s Mass of Beatification and to see Pope Benedict in person.  I can hardly believe that I’ll be there in a few days.

I will do my best to share my experiences as much as I can while in Rome.  I hope you’ll join me.

Honor John Paul II on YouTube!

/ esteban

Fr. Roderick over at SQPN had a great idea for the upcoming beatification of Pope John Paul II.

He is inviting people to create short video testimonies about their memories of JPII and upload them to YouTube. A really fine way to document his legacy!

Learn more over at SQPN at this link.

“The Way” Movie

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The Way – Trailer. Watch more top selected videos about: St james, BBC

I have great anticipation for the upcoming film “The Way”, directed by Emilio Estevez and starring Martin Sheen.    It’s a fictional story filmed along the Camino de Santiago de Compostela in Spain.

I was blessed to spend more than 3 weeks walking the Camino in the spring of 2007 with my good friends Jim and Tom.  It was a great experience and continues to have an impact on my life.  I would like to walk the entire Camino some day, but until then, I hope this film will serve as a worthy reminder of that time.

So, take out your calendar and make a note to search out this film on September 30th.    If you’re lucky enough to live in Ireland or the UK, you can see the film starting May 30th.

St. Damien

/ esteban

 

St. Damien of Moloka'i

I have a new devotion to St. Damien of Moloka’i.

 

If you don’t know about St. Damien, his story of devotion to the lepers on the Hawaiian island of Moloka’i is truly inspiring.   You would do well to read about him.

 

 

 

 

 

Here are a few links:

Dr. Paul Camarata and his SaintCast have a couple of episodes dedicated to St. Damien.

Article on American Catholic
Article on Catholic Online

Why the sudden new devotion?

 

Last night, I had the opportunity to see a performance of the one-man play “Damien” written  by Aldyth Morris.  It was performed by a wonderful actor, Casey Groves.

Although there was a very small audience for this particular performance, his portrayal was very powerful and captivating.   Here’s a link to Casey’s website where you can see a bit of video of the play.

I seem drawn to  missionary saints and truly respect the special devotion it took for them to leave family and home to serve God and the Church.  So many of the struggled tremendously and faced certain martyrdom.

St. Damien is a great example of this type of devotion, knowing full well that he would face the same terrible disease afflicting his parishioners.

His relics are currently in Tulsa and I plan to visit them later today.