This weekend I went to Rome for the Canonization of Kateri Tekakwitha and 6 other beautiful new saints! We were in Rome from Thursday until Sunday and the trip was amazing! Thursday was such a beautiful day. We got up early to take a train to Rome where some lovely Felician Franciscan sisters picked us up and brought us to their home which they are graciously letting us stay in for a few days. As it turns out, one of the sisters who was just moved to Rome, Sister Margaret, is from New Mexico and I knew her before we got here! Such a small world. Their home is beautiful and peaceful and they are so hospitable. As soon as we walked in the door all of the sisters came to greet us (I still haven't mastered the whole kiss each cheek Italian greeting thing - Heck, sometimes I struggle with the awkward handshake/hug greeting in America, so this has been interesting!) Anyways, after getting settled and having lunch Anne and I set out on a quest to retrieve our tickets for the Canonization on Sunday from the U.S. Bishop's Office for Visitors to the Vatican. We got more than a little lost trying to find our way to St. Peter's but luckily we ran into a precious nun from Madagascar! (Who knew there were actually people from there?!?) She didn't speak a word of English but I was surprised to find out that I knew enough Italian to talk with her for the entire 10 minute walk! After a quick stop at St. Peter's Basilica we made our way towards the Trevi Fountain to find this office that had our tickets. As we were getting close we ran into Michael Niemczak! The greatest of unexpected surprises! We said hello and he went on his way to class. So Anne and I find the huge door that has the sign outside to indicate that this is where we want to be. Unfortunately, we rang the doorbell and nobody answered. We found some super great American seminarians close by, Andrew and Brian, and they were so gracious to help us try to find our way in. Talk about a small world, Andrew is Byzantine Catholic and knows Fr. Chrisopher and Fr. Kurt from Our Lady of Perpetual Help in ABQ really well! Alas, we weren't able to get our tickets that day but we made some great new friends while we tried to! On our way back to the Sister's home we ran into Chris Bernabe! How can this be?!? I only know two people that live in Rome and I ran into both of them in one afternoon! God is so good! Once we were on the bus a little priest got on and I remembered my parents telling me about Fr. Oscar who was assigned at Annunciation for a few months earlier this Fall and now he is studying in Rome. Maybe because I was still so excited about running into my friends in Rome, I thought it would be acceptable to do this (In hindsight, not so much). Anyways, I really thought this guy was Fr. Oscar so I just asked him, "Excuse me, are you Fr. Oscar?" And he looked at me surprised and said in his accent "Yes, I am." "Wait really?!?", I replied. He said "Yes, this is something strange." So I asked him if he had been at Annunciation in Albuquerque earlier this year and it turns out that it was simply an unfortunate coincidence - He just happens to also be named Fr. Oscar. Oh well, it was worth a shot. I kept a tally that day, we saw 13 bishops and 76 priests (Although I suppose some of the men we counted as priests could have been seminarians, but still). It was so great to see the Catholic Church so alive! We made it back to the Sister's home and ate supper with them that evening. We woke up early again on Friday - Seriously, I had not seen 5:30 am in months. We went to Mass with the sisters and spent the day exploring in Rome. First, we went over to the Bishop's office to get our tickets for Sunday. It is beautiful there and everyone speaks English! We even got to go to confession in English while we were there. It was great! After some lunch, gelato, and exploring we made our way towards the NAC where we would meet up with Chris and Michael. When we got there I saw Bishop Kicanas (Bishop of Tucson and my grandma's cousin). I went up and introduced myself and it was so great! He was very nice and it was awesome to actually meet him. Anyways, we spent some time with the guys walking around the area of the NAC, which is always super great, and then made our way back to the Sister's home again. On Saturday we spent the entire morning inside of St. Peter's Basilica adoring our Lord and exploring - It is such an incredibly beautiful place! I just cannot get enough of it! After that we wandered into a Bulgarian Orthodox Church right next to the Trevi Fountain, it was interesting and very beautiful! When we finished there we made our way over to Santa Maria Maggiore. It was so beautiful - There were Masses going on in each of the side chapels in all different languages! It was awesome. Then we went to some little Indian restaurant for dinner. It was delicious! We got a very early start this morning to make it to the canonization as early as we could. We said goodbye to the beautiful sisters who have been so great to us the last few days! When we arrived at St. Peter's two and a half hours early we realized that it wasn't early enough. In the huge mob of people I spotted some lovely New Mexico flags being waved in the air. Boy, do I love the sight of that red Zia symbol! I squeezed through the crowd to say hello and met a nice lady from St. Jude Thaddeus in Rio Rancho. I made my way back to my place in the line where the man next to me was trying to nonchalantly take a picture of me on his phone while he awkwardly whispered to the woman next to him that he thought I looked like Kateri Tekakwitha. I suppose I'd rather have a saint doppleganger than a celebrity. Once we got into the square we weren't able to get seats but it was an incredibly beautiful experience nonetheless. It was so great to see all of the different cultures and people uniting to witness the canonization of these 7 new saints. And how beautiful is it that the Church honors the saints so that we can look to their lives as examples of how to live ours in a way that points people towards Christ! I love the Catholic Church. After the mass I ran into Fr. Clement Niggel - That was a great surprise! Rome, so big and beautiful, seems to get smaller and smaller each time I visit. It was an incredibly blessed trip and Rome is surely becoming one of my favorite places! Saint Kateri Tekakwitha - Pray for us!
Our precious little rooms with the sisters.
St. Peter's!
St. Peter's again - this time with the banners up of the new saints!
I love this place!
A bishop just sitting outside of St. Peter's Basilica praying a rosary in the middle of the day - I thought it was so beautiful!
Mom and Dad - Coming soon to a mailbox near you!
The Vatican at night!
The Land of Enchantment was well represented.
Thousands and thousands of people came to the canonization.
Check it out! Look at all those priests, bishops, and cardinals on the altar!
