Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to you all, dear readers. It has been a blessed time at home, from seeing my nephew C.J. for the first time to home-cooking.

May the peace of the Christ Child - he who desires only our love - reign in our hearts.

Free, free, free....

Yes, classes ended with Latin/Greek this morning followed by a tour of the Biblioteca Angelica, the oldest Roman public library, begun in the 16th century. I then grabbed a burger and a pint at Trinity College pub with an Australian classmate - a good way to celebrate. The semester actually ends with exams in February but right now, those seem a long while away.

Yesterday and today I finished some last minute errands to purchase two small gifts for my parents who are hosting me for the next couple of weeks. I snapped a couple of photos today on my way to the Basilica of St. Clement. I walked the route my bus takes daily to classes - right past the Colosseum.

Notice the photo of the various meats and cheeses for sale. I love how the legs/shanks are prominently displayed, ready for the knife to shave off slices for the customers. The whole setup doesn't hide behind plastic, glass, restrictive legislation, health-codes or a sort of fear of the rustic. How can you look at that and be vegetarian? I mean, really, c'mon.

Please say a prayer for safe travel.

Normalcy...

After a morning of more-rigorous-than-usual classes I returned to the Casa where I greeted Fr. Russ McDougall, CSC for pranzo. Fr. Russ is a doctoral student at the Biblicum and I was glad to finally get to welcome him for pranzo.
This afternoon I did laundry as a preparation for travels on Saturday. I then took a walk to my barber. The walk takes me past Piazza Navona which is all lit up with booths selling various Christmas gift items and games that you would typically see in a carnival. In the center is also a large merry-go-round.

I find my time at the barber to be one of the more normal aspects of living in Rome. Antonio is quite good at what he does and charges no more than what one would pay in the states. It is familiar and normal. As I waited for at least an hour (Antonio is a popular barber among priests/seminarians) I improved my memorization of various pronouns (huic huic huic, his, his, his, hos, has, haec, his, his, his, ego, mei, mihi, me, me, tu, tui, tibi, te, te, etc).

Just down the street is The Abbey Pub, where tonight I met up with three good priest friends from the Casa for burgers, fries, and pints. I also got to catch a bit of the Duke/Stanford women's basketball and the Marquette/Tenn men's game. It was our final meal as we prepare our departures for the Christmas break.

Weekend Update...

As you may have seen on news websites, Rome has received considerable amounts of rain with the Tiber River threatening to overflow. This, coupled with the dark days, has really made me ready for the Christmas break. "piano, piano" little by little as the Italians say. One day at a time.

Thursday I walked to the Vatican and the Borgo Pio to do some Christmas shopping, especially for my nephew who I will baptize at Christmas. I visited six bookstores and not one of them had Volume 1 of the Liturgy of the Hours in Italian. They all told me to wait until the end of January when there will be a reprinting. How odd. No, the Italian breviary isn't for my nephew, but for me.

Congratulations to Rev. Dr. Peter Dugandzic of the Rockville Center Diocese for successfully defending his doctoral dissertation on Saturday. Peter is a great priest, and especially helpful for any technical problems one might have with a Mac. (yes it happens). I think it is a bit of a boost in the arm for all of us here at the Casa when one of our number actually passes. Living proof that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Last night around 10 alumni of Notre Dame gathered at the Holy Cross Generalate for social and dinner. The Rome Alumni Club meets a few times a year. This was my first time to join them. I traveled there with Fr. Steve Titus '99 who is currently finishing his license in Dogmatic Theology from the Gregorianum. One attendee had just arrived in Rome after working for a year and a half in Uganda at the Holy Cross high school. We all agreed that coming through Rome on his way to the U.S. is a good way to transition back.

I actually didn't stay for dinner since I had the early morning Mass with the Missionaries of Charity formation house. They are in a time of transition. Last week the sisters professed their solemn perpetual vows and the novices professed their first vows. And so, this morning there were new faces in the chapel - new novices who had just arrived on Saturday. I feel so honored to pray with them once a month.

Today, Sunday, the Honorable Mary Ann Glendon, U.S. Ambassodor to the Vatican, will join us for Mass and pronzo. Afterwards she will speak to us for an hour or so on her duties as an ambassodor.

Ho letto un libro di orientamento liturgico

I read a book. My reading habit has slowed as my time pouring over language grammars has increased. But today I finished a small and well written study on the issue of liturgical orientation. U.M. Lang's Turning Towards the Lord provides a concise summary argument for the need for a "common orientation" or a "common direction" for priest and people during the liturgy. His argument avoids extremes and offers, in the end, a rather balanced suggestion - a suggestion that is already supported by both the I.G.R.M. and the CDW, which is to celebrate Mass "versus populum" during the opening, communion, and closing rites and during the Liturgy of the Word, but to then celebrate the canon of the Mass "versus orientem".

In addition, he stresses the need not so much for a "versus orientem" (for many churches are not constructed on an East/West foundation and even if they are they may be, like St. Peter's in Rome, built so that the apse faces East and the main doors face West) but for a "common direction". He reminds us, as does the CDW, that we should not confuse "theology and topology". Theologically, the Mass is always facing God and facing people.

Toward the end of the book, Lang does address the critique that Masses "versus populum" lend to a subjectivism within the Christian community and that it "closes off" the Christian community and their theological and social outlook. I'm not sure how one quantifies that. I'm pretty sure I know what Lang speaks of and yet I'm not sure how that is quantified. "St. Brigid's parish on 5th St. is "closed in on itself and has a subjective perception of the Mass". Can one state that?

I appreciate this book for its clarity and that it avoids the pitfall of extremes.

Speechless...

http://und.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/120708aaa.html

Uhhh.....

[blink]

[blink]

Really?

[blink]

[blink]

Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated...

I'm alive. These have been busy days keeping up with Latin and Greek classes that seem to pile on new material each and every day. But here I am with less than two weeks to go before we break for the Christmas Holiday, and I am so glad it will soon be here. A rest is greatly welcomed.

But the city of Rome and the country of Italy had a mini-holiday with a three-day weekend thanks to the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception which is also a National Holiday. I spent the days catching up on reading and trying to digest class material. After weeks of rain the weekend was typically mediteranean with bright blue skies overhead. On Sunday I headed to the Generalate of the Congregation for pronzo and snapped a few photos on the way, because hey, everyone loves photos.

To the right are photos of the Università Gregoriana as seen from my front door.


Above: My route to the subway station takes me around the corner to the Trevi Fountain - quite packed with tourists. This weekend was a big weekend for Christmas shopping by Romans and foreigners alike.This window shows a selection of meats and cheeses for sale.A widening in the walk-way/road allows for a fruit and vegetable stand.About 15 minutes later I arrived at Piazza Barberini and metro stop.A shot from within a subway train.

December Intention...

The general prayer intention of the Holy Father for the month of December:

That, faced by the growing expansion of the culture of violence and death, the Church may courageously promote the culture of life through all her apostolic and missionary activities.

A good prayer for the month of December, a good prayer always.