Rome: The Eternal City
I leave for a week of vacation tomorrow, after my Sunday Masses. I head for a week in Rome, the Eternal City, and where the heart of the Church is. This will actually be my second trip to Rome; I first went there in the year 2000 for the canonization of St. Katherine Drexel. I was a theology student at St. Charles Seminary in Philadelphia at the time, and since St. Katherine is from Philly, the seminary wanted a many of us as possible to go. Actually it was almost the same dates as this trip; early October, for 5 days. My parents were able to go with me, and they celebrated their wedding anniversary in Rome. This time it will just be me, although I will be meeting up with some people I know.
The main reason for the trip is the ordination to the diaconate of a man studying for the Diocese of Trenton. Mike did his one year of pre-theology at St. Charles, so I got to know him then. Being that it is in Rome, I wanted to make sure that he had some brothers in Christ present. The Diocese seems to have had the same idea because they are sending the other two transitional deacons so they can be present when their classmate joins them in the Order of the Deacon. The three of them will be ordained priests, by the grace of God, in May 2006. Mike will then return to Rome for further studies.
One aspect of the trip that I am looking forward to, is praying Mass at some of the churches in Rome. Mike will actually be assisting as deacon for the first time at a Mass at the church of Santa Maria della Fratte. When he told me that, I was very excited. That is the church where Alphonse Ratsibone had a vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and was grace with the infusion of the Faith. His witness was an inspiration for St. Maximilian Kolbe, who heard of the story while he was a seminarian studying in Rome. Kolbe of course founded the Militia Immaculata as an association of the Faithful to help crush the head of Satan by refuting heresy, especially Modernism and Freemasonery, in word and deed. St. Maximilian celebrated his first Mass at the altar there in Santa Maria della Fratte, where Mike will preach for the first time at Mass. It is hard for me to pinpoint why and how I developed a devotion to St. Max, but in keeping with an old tradition, since Holy Order also puts a mark on one’s soul, I took the name Maximilian when I was ordained a deacon.
I will not be taking my computer to Rome, so I will not be doing any blogging, but don’t forget about this site. One of the commentors recently said that I need more comments, and I agree. Please feel free to share your thoughts (as long as they are in keeping with Christian charity). I hope that when I get back from Rome, to start sharing my reflections on “The Spirit of the Liturgy,” by then Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict). There are also some exciting developments/projects at the HS I am chaplain at.
