Resurrexit, Sicut dixit!

By this point, we're all aware that my blogging has become few and far between...and I'm sorry!

But...the GREAT news is...Here's a new one!!

AND the REALLY GREAT NEWS since my last post is...

Christos Anesti ("Χριστός ἀνέστη!" - "Christ is Risen!)

 Alithós Anésti! (Ἀληθῶς ἀνέστη!"--"(He is) Truly Risen!")

Our Lenten observance drew to a close with the Paschal Triduum, the three most sacred days in the Church calendar (Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday: beginning with the Mass of the Lord's Supper, moving through the Lord's Passion, and culminating with the Celebration of the Resurrection of the Lord at the Easter Vigil).

As I stated in my post at the beginning of Lent, I planned to be more active in the Station Church pilgrimage this year. It was a beautiful opportunity to walk to historical churches throughout Rome to celebrate the Sacred Liturgy. Being able to offer my Rosary on the walk for people back home, and bring their intentions to this pilgrimage was an honor, and a "preview" of the role that a priest has in praying for his people.

The academic schedule here is such that we have Holy Week and Easter Week free from classes. For the NAC Schedule, during "odd years" both weeks are travel permitted, and during "even years", Holy Week is in house and Easter Week is travel permitted.

During Holy Week, I was blessed to spend some time in Fatima, Portugal working with the Pilgrim Services, something I've done three times now. Fatima has become such a special place to me since my first time there in 2012, and I was very excited to introduce three close friends to the Sanctuary and the various aspects that make Fatima such a special place.

Tim, Mark, me and Clark in front of the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary

I returned to Rome on Holy Saturday with enough time to do my laundry, go to an Easter Vigil Mass and then pack for my departure on Easter Sunday for a Footsteps of St. Paul Pilgrimage in Greece with my Pauline Corpus professor from first semester. Because Catholics are such a minority in Greece (.05% of the population), everyone follows the Orthodox Calendar...so we left Rome on Easter Sunday and when we landed in Thessoloniki, it was Palm Sunday! It was a rare experience to have back to back Holy Weeks!

During our pilgrimage we visited many sites associated with the Apostle Paul, including the place where the first Christian convert in Europe was baptized (St. Lydia), the places in Corinth, Philippi, Athens and Thessoloniki where Paul would have either spoken, or his letters been read, and the place of his imprisonment in ancient Corinth. On Good Friday, we participated in a procession with the Orthodox Church in the town in which we stayed. It was very interesting, because the Greeks celebrate the Lord's passion on Holy Thursday, and Good Friday is a commemoration of His burial. We processed through the streets of this tiny village with an icon of the Crucified Christ in a wooden sepulcher draped in purple cloth, with incense, bells, candles etc. To see the faith of this village was certainly interesting.

Upon returning back to Rome, it was hit the ground running...the home stretch of the year, if you will.

This past weekend was the NAC Spring Play, which I was able to be a part of. We performed Journey's End, a drama written by R.C. Sherriff in 1928 after the Great War. I played Mason, the servant-cook, but a role that had a lot of comic relief to break up the heaviness of the rest of the play. It was definitely a big time commitment, and a lot of hard work, but so many in the house, as well as outside guests, have commented on how much they enjoyed it. Two of my classmates were the director and asst. director, and they did a great job coaching us throughout the months of rehearsal until closing night.

Among my second year classmates, the excitement is definitely building for our first long-time return to the States since we moved over to Rome in July 2013!! Since mid-February classmates have been finding out their summer assignments, contacting their pastors etc. Most of us have planned our final exam schedule and bought the tickets home for the summer! (I will be back in Boston June 13-September 3!!!!!! Although I don't have my summer assignment yet, I hope it will be announced in the coming weeks, and then I'll let you know where it is!)

It's great to see the New Men in the house making their plans for their summer abroad, planning for the New Men class of 2019, and inching closer to being "Old Men"! It's one of those "teacher moments" when you've watched a student enter the school, and to see how much they grow over the course of their first year in the new school...

That's a pretty succinct summary of March 1-now...nothing profound, but I hope it caught you up as my Roman around... ;-)

Until next time...

Praised be Jesus Christ..

--kpl