Day 5 - Sunday - A day of rest??

A day of rest, on a pilgrimage - no chance!!

It was such a busy day it has taken me three days to write about it here! Well in all fairness we did have a more relaxed breakfast, we did not need to leave the hotel until 8.45am, which is late in comparison to some of the other mornings we've had. Our first stop was up the hill to the NAC (North American College), where we had a beautiful Mass and then brunch with the seminarians. They were all very welcoming and showed us around. They definitely have one of the best views in Rome from their rooftop.

From the NAC we headed down to St Peter's Square to pray the Angelus with the Pope and to listen to his message. We were in for a big surprise - he welcomed us, the young people of St Patrick's Evangelisation School! We all looked at each other wondering if we had heard him correctly. Yes we had! We were shocked and very pleased that our Holy Father had mentioned us and welcomed us to Rome.

Still in shock we headed towards the Venerable English College where we were due to have lunch and a tour. Again we were made very welcome. For some of us it was a chance to catch up with some of the seminarians that we know from back in England and a chance to see how they are getting on. We arrived during exam time so both seminaries were a little quieter than others.

From the English College we began our afternoon of being 'tourists' rather than 'pilgrims', although we still ended up in some Churches on route. We visited the Patheon, Trevi Fountain and finally Spanish Steps - all of which were beautiful, especially on such a nice day as we had. AtSpanish Steps we had some real Italian ice-cream, which was long overdue.

Right beside Spanish Steps is the congregation that Sr Mary, our Parish Sister, belongs to so we had arranged to call in and visit them. They are a lovely congregation and considering two of them that we met are Irish they had some real tea for us. We were told the story of their congregation, the Poor Servants of the Mother of God, which has its roots here in Soho. We had a lovely evening with them and then it was time to head back to our hotel for our last night in Rome.

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!!