Tu es Petrus, et super hanc petram ædificabo Ecclesiam meam...

"You are Peter, and upon this rock, I will build My Church"

New Men entering 1st year at the Pontifical North American College

Yesterday was the first full day for all of the 64 "new men" entering First Year at the NAC. The day began early, arriving to St. Peter's Square for a 6:55 am photo of the new men with Msgr. Checchio, the rector of the college.

Afterwards, we went into the basilica, and at the altar which is above St. Peter's tomb, we all knelt down and professed our Catholic Faith in the Apostle's Creed--the same faith that Peter professed 2,000 years ago and was martyred for. (Of course, we also prayed an Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be!). Next we went below to the altar directly in front of the burial place of St. Peter for the celebration of the Holy Mass. On Thursday night I asked for prayer requests on FaceBook, and I was very humbled to be able to bring so many peoples intentions to the Lord at Mass, and ask for St. Peter's intercession. It really goes to show how powerful prayer is!

Below is a picture of the altar and the tomb of Peter in the arch:

It was a very cool experience. Last time I was at St. Peter's, I did not have the chance to attend Mass in the crypt, so I am grateful to have had this opportunity!

Today was pretty much a free day--we had an optional excursion to St. Peter's this morning to have a guided tour by one of the Second year men. Again, since last time I was at St. Peter's I didn't have the opportunity for a free guided tour, I decided to take full advantage of this opportunity. It's interesting how you can walk through a place and admire it's beauty, enormity and rich history, but not know why certain art pieces are important, or why certain things were placed where they are, etc.

Later in the afternoon I walked to S. Bartolomeo (St. Bartholomew) since today is his feast day, and his relics are contained there. Bartholomew is also known as Nathanael, so I offered up prayer for all those who bear this name, however spelt ;-)

After cena we had the opportunity to break into teams of 4 to do a trivia night, which ended up being a lot of fun. Three teams tied for first--Contrada dell'onda (the team I was on), ended up being one of them!

Tomorrow after Mass we are heading down to the square for the Angelus with Pope Francis, and then back to the NAC for the bus to Castelgondolfo where we will eat lunch and have a tour.

As always, your prayers are much appreciated, and know of mine for you all!

--KPL