Day 3 - St Peter & some Friday penance

What a start to Day 3 - Mass at the tomb of Blessed John Paul II!! Was having difficulty believing that Fr Alex could pull it off successfully but he did. An unbelievable experience. I think it may turn out to be one of our highlights of our time here in Rome.

After Mass and a quick prayer it was a very quick walk back up to Domus Carmelitana for what I believe you could safely say is an amazingly good breakfast. Our boys are definitely enjoying it! Seriously good food - there's even desserts for breakfast!!

Our morning has been very busy. We also visited he Scavi, where yet again we were treated to a great tour with a very good tour guide, Luke from the English College. It is impossible to describe how it felt as we walked around the Scavi under St Peter's and then came to the actual location of the bones of St Peter, exactly where tradition has always said they were. The evidence that there is to say that yes these are the bones of St Peter and yes this is where he was buried is overwhelming. A truly amazing and unbelievable experience.

Just finishing our lovely picnic lunch on the beautiful roof terrace of our hotel. This place is so great. Today's has been quite sunny, although not all of us want to sit in the sun. Plenty planned for the rest of the afternoon so pop back later to find out where we've been and what we've been up to.

Day 2 - Art, Faith & St Paul

The morning of our second day was focused on Art & Faith, touching very much on this Year of Faith. We had a tour of the Vatican Museums, the Sistine Chapel and St Peter's Basilica by Sr Emanuela. Sr Emanuela is from the Missionaries of Divine Revelation, which is a relatively new order. Her order are some of the official Vatican guides. She is amazingly awesome!! We would recommend her to anyone! Best tour guide ever! Sr Emanuela is not difficult to spot - she has a emerald green habit!! During the tour she explained to us some of the artwork in the museum and the significance of it and the Year of Faith. It was a very inspiring tour and left each one of us thinking about our own Faith and what we can do to be true witnesses to the Faith. After the tour Sr Emanuela joined us for some coffee and a chat. She truly is a remarkable witness.

In the afternoon we grabbed a couple of buses to have an afternoon of St Paul. We went to visit Trefountane (sp?) where St Paul was beheaded and also St Paul's outside the Walls, where St Paul is buried. What a magnificent Church! To be honest I think all of us have been in awe of the places that we have visited. To think that this is where the apostles Peter and Paul were and where they were martyred for their Faith, the Faith that today we still profess!

We had Mass with the seminarians at the Venerable English College, where some of us had a chance to catch up with some friends. Four of the students from Westminster Diocese joined us for a lovely supper. It was nice to get to hear about the College and their studies and to also explain to them what SPES is. Not too sure who has the most full timetable! ( I personally think SPES do!) but both are worthwhile programs and intense for a reason.

Rome is awesome! What will Day 3 have in store for us!!

Day 1-Finding our way around

As mentioned above we had Mass at 3pm. Isn't it handy to have a priest in your group!? We grabbed some lunch after Mass and then began our tour of Rome. We went to St Peter's Square first so we could all see St Peter's, the sun was shining so brightly it was difficult to look up at The basilica. From St Peter's we began to walk up one of Rome's seven hills, passing the North American College (NAC) on our way, where we shall be having Mass and lunch on Sunday morning. At the top of the hill we sat down and looked out over the city of Rome. Fr Alex explained some of the history of Rome to us and pointed out some of the main sites of Rome.

From there we walked down through some of the city visiting different Churches on our way. We visited Santa Maria in Trastevere, which was so beautiful. We took time to pray in the small Church that is built where St Benedict's residence was in Rome. We visited a few other Churches as we wandered around Rome, each one of them was beautiful and truly fit for giving glory to God. The artwork and general design of each Church is unbelievable, there are no words to describe it.

As we walked around we crossed over a bridge which dates from (oops I forget the date it said on the sign but definitely before the time of Jesus) - which means Peter and Paul and others would have actually walked on that exact bridge! Really brings it all alive to you to think that not only are you standing where they would have stood but you are actually standing on what they would have stood!

To finish the evening off we had a lovely supper and then it was back to the hotel to get some much needed sleep.

Catholicism Course Lesson 2

Last night we held our second night of the Catholicism Course, another good turn out with some new people joining the course. Last night episode focused on the Teachings of Jesus. Fr. Robert Barron highlighted the Beatitudes, the path of non-violence, what it really means to turn the other cheek and our relationship with God as presented to us in the parables that Jesus told. We journeyed with Fr Barron through parts of Poland, Germany, Spain and New York City. Looking at the true beauty of the Catholic Church through the world and the different art and culture helps to really bring the Faith alive to us and for us to see how universal the Catholic Faith is.

Yesterday was the feast day of St Thomas Aquinas, who is one of the Catholic Church's great theologians and a Doctor of the Church. Throughout the Catholicism DVDs Fr Barron refers to some of the great saints in the Catholic Church and in particular he refers quite a bit to St Thomas Aquinas last night. He spoke about how we can detach ourselves from worldly things to come closer to God.

Last week we had the pleasure of having Bishop Elliott and Fr Alexander who were more than happy to answer questions that anyone had. Unfortunately we can't do that every week so we have found our 'Question Box' where people can post their questions each week and we will try to answer them the following week.

We look forward to next week's episode and there is still space if anyone else would like to join us. Just give Ciara an email at spes@stpatricksoho.org

'No Pain No Gain'

'No Pain No Gain' - this beautiful truth became more familiar to us than ever before on Sunday 29th October when we joined a group of pilgrims on their 20-mile-in-one-day (!) walk from Westmister Cathedral to Hampton Wick (Kingston). For some of them it was a reunion after their walking pilgrimage to Walsingham in the summer, but for the rest (including us - SPES) it was a venture into the unknown.





Some of the group waiting to cross the road

The pilgrimage was organised by Sr Hyacinthe and Joanna Bogle - two women inexhaustible in their passion for walking and bringing people to God. We first attended Mass, then marched along the Thames path and after 7 hours reached our destination which was the Shrine of Our Lady of Westminster. This is where we gladly offered Our Lady our blisters and sore feet.

Striding along listening to Sr Hyacinthe

However incredible it sounds, the pleasure of walking 20 miles brought us many joys - we made new friends, enjoyed the picturesque views but, most importantly, prayed for the conversion of England and gave witness to our faith by saying the Rosary and listening to Sr Hyacinthe's talks on the Church. Being in the company of Catholics of all ages and walks of life strengthened our faith and gave us the sense that although we're all different we form one community in Our Lord Jesus. Praise be to Him!


Still smiling at the end (even after our train was cancelled!)

Word on Fire ministries: CATHOLICISM (mid-way point)

What does it mean to be Catholic? If that question is echoing in your head, do not be worried! It is a good sign that suggests we are getting serious about our Faith. Faith is such a gift that we need to hand over to others. And... here we are, between 80 and 100 Catholics and non-Catholics gather together in St. Patricks Community Centre to deepen their Faith or discover the truth every Wednesday (with a one-off session yesterday!). Yes, this program called Catholicism is making headway across parishes and dioceses all over the world – even as you read. It was developed and produced by Word On Fire ministries and is hosted by New Evangelisation advocate Fr. Robert Barron. Each episode of the 10 session course focuses on a specific aspect of the Catholic faith, for example, Jesus is Lord or the communion of saints.

We open the sessiosn with music and prayer, then an introduction is given from Fr. Richard Nesbitt, who is the vocations director to the Diocese of Westminster and also heading the course . Afterward, we watch the film together, which leads on to group discussions – which are an essential part of the pilgrimage of Catholicism. We ae divided into 9 groups for reflection, discussion and passing the Faith onto one another.

The Catechesis, even though really good, is singular in direction. We realise that our Faith is relational, and has vertical and horizontal components. Here, we have lovely group which is pretty much a family in Christ. We have been given the grace to develop our Christian friendships with each other and grow in it. Thanks be to God, people look enthusiastic, are full of spirit; and obviously that is the work of the Holy Spirit that we have been seeing so far. For this reason, we think that the small group sharing is one of the most important aspects of this course.

We are grateful because two weeks ago, Fr. Robert Barron came along to St. Patrick’s. He gave some talks, and a Q and A session to the audiences about the Faith and also some “behind the scene” stories. He talked about His experience involved with this project related with the new evangelisation.What led him to produce this series, he shared,was his concern about the culture of the world, and his desperation about what to do to evangelise. Based on that situation, His friend asked him, “What would you do?”. We might ask that question as well to ourselves, “What would I do to pass on the Faith, Hope and Love of Christ and His Church?”. Let’s think about the small things in our daily life, but we do it with a big heart! God bless...

Carmel