...I will give you a little recap of my last 2 days in Rome! Thanks to Jacqui's and Mike's pictures on Facebook, I have a little visual to show you.
I stayed 2 days extra from the rest of Bernardi because I found out that Corpus Christi was the Thursday after we left, so I wanted to stay in Rome for it to see Our Lord processed from St. Mary Major to St. John Lateran.
The first day, I said goodbye to the Bernardians, moved into my hostel, and then I had 7 hours before I was going to meet some of the other Bernardians who stayed in Rome for dinner. So I thought that I'd have fun wandering around Rome by myself.
Well, I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would. Slowly, the realization that yes, my semester WAS over, dawned on me, so it really turned into a rough day. I missed all of my friends too much to really be enjoying myself as I would've liked. So I really spent the day wandering the city...oh, and finding out that no, the hostel I booked actually DIDN'T have space for me, so they were going to block off a section of the common room for me with a giant, 8'x10' art canvas and call it a "private suite." It's kinda entertaining, actually--here's what it looked like...
So the next morning, thanks be to God, Fr. Carola invited me, Jacqui, Ashley, and Mike to Mass with him at St. Peter's Basilica for Corpus Christi. (Corpus Christi, though it's celebrated in most places on the next Sunday, even in the city of Rome, the Vatican City still celebrates it on the traditional day of the feast, which is Thursday.) It was a beautiful, reverent Mass, even with the simplicity which is typical of St. Peter's at 7 AM. Plus, Fr. Carola had an AWESOME homily, as usual. :-D
Next, we went to Santa Marinella, because one of Jacqui's friends recommended it to us. But the best thing to do there is the beach. And it was a bit chilly and overcast. So we didn't go to the beach. But it was a nice day trip with my friends--they made the day absolutely wonderful! And we ran into one of our friends from the Angelicum who lives there at the train station, so that was fun! :)
Finally, we got back to Rome, and it started to rain. I mean, rain a lot. So we bought these cheap, 3 Euro umbrellas. Of course, when you buy cheap, 3 Euro umbrellas, you don't expect much from them:
After eating my last meal at L'Archetto's (ghiottona, complete with vino), we met up with Fr. Carola at the Gregorian to go to the procession with the Pope, which was supposed to be my last great "hurrah" before leaving Rome.
Well, on the way, we found out that the procession was cancelled because of the rain.
I have to say, I would've taken that news much harder if I hadn't just spent such a wonderful day with such wonderful people. But when I found out it was cancelled, after a look of shock, I just shrugged my shoulders, smiled, and laughed. I guess God wanted me to stay for other reasons other than the procession. :) Because as it stood then, and as it stands right now, I don't regret staying those last 2 days, nor do I think that I stayed "for nothing." I got to spend two last days with four (we met Gina and her family too!) of my new friends and share a last few wonderful memories with them. As they hugged me to comfort me about my lost opportunity, I was just grateful for their presence and the four months I got to spend with them. Praise the Lord for placing such wonderful people in my life!
So we spent my last night in Rome getting desserts with Fr. Carola and listening to more of his stories. As we parted with Father for the night, I asked him for his blessing and got this one last blessing from one of the greatest priests I know. I admit, I walked away tearful (though Gina, the caring person that she is, was there to comfort me), but I tried my best to make the last few moments with my friends cheerful. After all, they gave me such a great last 2 days. Deo gratias! |
I'm so glad we got to spend a few more days with you! You're wonderful and I miss you.