Italy...October '07 I'm back!!!

Roma...I told you I'll be back!!!

(Italy Oct 2007 Post under construction....updates in progress)

When my company transferred me to Atlanta I was on the move (again) into a new environment. Ciao Louisiana...a dopo! . I found a new church parish, The Cathedral of Christ the King in the Archdiocese of Atlanta. While reading up on the church and different ministries I found my way to the Young Adult Ministries. They were going on a pilgrimage to Italy and guess what?!?...They had 1 spot left! And you all should know me well enough to know I jumped on it! Yippee! Back to Rome!!

(Pic 1) Shows the Young Adults in St. Peter's Square with our spiritual director, Fr. Ricardo Bailey.

(Pic 2) A group of us snacking on pizza in the main square of Assisi.

(Pic 3) A group shot. Most of us are here...the other group shot has others. We included folks from around the Archdiocese of ATL and even 2 out of state couples. We all agree we had a great time!

(Pic 4) Basilica of St. Francis, Assisi. We went on a St. Francis pilgrimage under the direction of Bret, our guide. He and his wife are in a lay order of Francisicans. Bret is so knowledgeable and did wonderful job. We had a very educational and prayerful pilgrimage. He even signed a copy of his book "Francis and Clare, Their Times, their Story" to me. Thanks! He does tours of any size if you are interested folks! He is from Atlanta and married an Italian and they moved to Italy, outside of Assisi.

(Pic 5) Before we went in to see the Porziuncula in Saint Mary of the Angels (outside of Assisi) we were blessed to hear a talk by two Poor Clares, Sisters Katia and Mariella. Their words still stick with us.

We picked up snazzy vestments in the gift shop there and presented it to Fr. Bailey in appreciation as a gift from the group.

(Pic 6) Beep! Beep! Watch out! Stai Attento! Tiara is driving the bus! I thought I'd take the wheel and drive us back to Rome....Donatello our driver welcomed the rest!

(Pic 7) Ho fame! I'm hungry! Donna and I are so into the delicious pasta and wine we didn't even realize someone took our picture. I love the food in Italy....I'm sure you can tell from how much I talk about food in my prior posts.

(Pic 8) Congratulazioni! They're getting married! We even had a marriage proposal on the trip! Neil proposed to Lisa at the Trevi Fountain in Rome. She said Yes!! They are the nicest people you'd ever want to meet. I suggest the wedding be at St. Peter's in Rome!!!! What do you think Lisa and Neil???? (smile)

(Pic 9) We had a reflection on contemplation and prayer followed by a Q&A session and did a little worship and praise with some Poor Clares of San Severino. I even impressed them with my Italian skills!

(Pic 10) Singing Nuns!
Funny story...I said my mom wanted them to pray for me to find my husband. They said they know the perfect one and pointed to the back of the room. I looked back to see who I missed in the crowd. It took me a second to realize they were pointing to Jesus on the cross! I said "Perfectto"! They said, "Come on in!" And preceded to pretend to open the gate (they are cloistered). I laughed and said No, thanks! (Tee Hee)

(Pic 11) The nuns fed us too! They prepared a wonderful dinner for us. I also went shopping. They sell religious items for support. They believe in making beautiful things out of poor materials. I picked up something for my friend Shelli in Shreveport...I knew she would enjoy it. Sister Nicoletta was battling cancer so please say a prayer for her.



(Pic 12) Heather bowing to receive a blessing. We received blessings with the relics of St. Benedict, St. Francis and St. Clare.







(Pic 13) Shows a sign outside the monastery when we visited the Capuchines at Renacavata. Many of you will recognize "Pace e Bene" from my Christmas cards this year.

(Pic 14) I snapped a shot of the Friars' Schedule. You can follow it from 6:15am when they wake up through mass, lunch, the Rosary, Vespers, Meditation, dinner and then complete silence.

(Pic 15) Lunch with the friars in a wonderful dining room. Notice the beautiful painting on the back wall.

(Pic 16) Io non parlo Italiano! OK...Barden doesn't speak Italian and the friars don't speak English. What in the world were they talking about for an hour??? Whatever it was...looks like it was a great conversation!
We know it wasn't about time management. (wink) Barden and Tino overslept on the very last morning and were almost left in Rome! (smile) That might not have been so bad, huh? Rome is great.

(Pic 17) Brett talking to 2 older Italians. The one seated was telling Brett how when he was young he thought Americans were monster looking creatures with sharp pointy teeth...because that was what he was told. When the Americans parachuted in during the war he was surprised by this tall good looking blonde guy! Can you imagine expecting a monster and seeing Brad Pitt or Matthew McConaughey?? Funny!

(Pic 18) Fr. Bailey celebrating mass at the tomb of St. Peter at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. An experience of a lifetime.

Special Note: See my previous post from EWTN tour re: Fr. Mark and tomb of St. Peter.

(Pic 19) As Brett lives near Assisi, his wife and 2 adorable kids joined us for dinner a couple times.

(Pic 20) A church outside the city of Assisi built for the lepers of the day.

We also visited San Giovanni Rotundo. Three of us decided to venture out and attend a Rosary for the city. Dorothy, Julie and I prayed a Rosary (in Italian) and then they opened up Padre Pio's tomb. What a great experience. I said a prayer for priests there under special request. We also said a prayer for the rest of the group as they wouldn't have the gates unlocked when they would visit the next morning.



(Pic 21) The Eucharistic Miracle of Lanciano. Italy 8th Century A.D.

(Pic 22) The Church of St. Benedict in Norcia. Fr. Cassian Folsom gave a wonderful talk and tour for us even though he was recovering from a bone marrow transplant. Please say a prayer for him.

(Pic 23) St. Rita's in Cascia

Ciao!

My next stop is Sydney, Australia for World Youth Day 08!!!!!

EWTN Tour / Life on the Rock Taping

In November a few of us hit the road and went to the EWTN studio outside of Birmingham, Alabama and sat in a taping of the show Life on the Rock.

Funny note....in the very first picture on this blog where I announce I'm taking a leave of absence and moving to Italy, I'm wearing a LOTR baseball cap. Go ahead...Scroll all the way down and look! You know you want to. (smile)

(Pic 1) shows Jan, Dorothy - Director of Young Adult Ministries - Archdiocese of Atlanta, Ashley and I in front of the EWTN studios.

(Pic 2) Surprise! Guess who was asked if they wanted to sit on stage during the taping! Me! And even thoug I was about 20 years older than most of the others...I enjoyed myself. This was the after taping shot of the group.

The guest on this edition of LOTR was Fr. Leo Patalinghug. Fr. Leo was one of the guest speakers at our Revive event in Atlanta along with Jesse Romero and our own Fr. Bailey from Holy Spirt Church- Archdiocese of Atlanta. Fr. Leo created a great recipe, discussion of faith, prayer book called "Grace Before Meals". He is working with PBS to get his show "Grace Before Meals" supported and aired soon. (Pic 3) Nothing like a little product placement in the shot. Even Brother Louie is getting in on the act.

(Pic 4) shows a group shot of us sitting on the stools used in the beginning section of the LOTR shows.

(Pic 5) Shows Dorothy and I hanging out on the interview chairs on the set prior to show taping. We look right at home, huh?

(Pic 6) An action shot. This shot was taken during the taping of the show. I sat right in back of the host, Fr. Mark, so when I went home and watched the show on my Tivo...I was all over the tape. Tee Hee Oh, I have an interesting story about Fr. Mark...I will come back to that.

(Pic 7) Brother Louie goofing off before the show with his wonderful camera work.

(Pic 8) The chapel at EWTN.

(Pic 9) Talking over things before the studio tour with Fr. Leo, Brother Louie, our tour guide and a couple going with us, Dave and Bonnie.

We were joined for dinner at the Irondale Cafe...the original Whistlestop Cafe from the movie Fried Green Tomatoes, by a few EWTN staff members from the theology and graphic arts departments and a producer, friends of Dorothy.

OK...back to the story with Fr. Mark. The first time I visited the EWTN studios was with a pilgrimage from St. Joseph Church in Shreveport, LA. We also went to the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament. We were the inaugural group (12 of us...Hi Ladies!!) and they went this year also but I had to drop out as I moved to Atlanta. During that first visit I met Fr. Mark while waiting for half the ladies went to the restroom and the other half the car. I was just taking everything in...a whirlwind time of my life. I told him I was going on a pilgrimage to Italy (the trip that gave me the crazy idea to move to Italy...and start this blog). He tells me to go to a specific altar in St. Peter's Basilica at the back to the right as he celebrated a special mass there. He couldn't find the picture of St. Peter healing the cripple so I would just have to see it for myself. We get to Rome and had planned to have mass at the tomb of St. Peter. Unfortunately, we were bumped by some cardinals. They move us to another altar and and guess where they took us...yep, you got it ...right next to that altar Fr. Mark talked about. So I guess it may have been my fault we were bumped...I was meant to see that altar! Don't fret...I had the opportunity to have mass at the tomb of St. Peter when I went back on a second pilgrimage to Italy Oct 2007....that will be my next post.