10 Years Ago

A few days ago a friend and former classmate of mine sent an email to those of us who spent a semester in Rome with her, reminding us that it has been ten years since we spent those three blessed months in the Eternal City.  

In my reminiscing spurred on by her email, I was moved to pull out my diary from the trip and as I perused it I realized that ten years ago today I was standing in St. Peter’s Basilica to the left of the Baldacchino for the Mass of Ash Wednesday (Mercoledi delle Ceneri).  

We had gotten there very early to get a good seat and had been able to hear our group announced by name at the start of the Mass, being among those who had requested tickets for that day.  I recorded in my diary that Mrs. F. – our Art & Architecture teacher and our dear mother away from home – shared with me that morning that the Baldacchino pillars were made to represent a vine and branches growing upwards.  It was as if the very bones of St. Peter, buried below us, had sprouted and grown, blossoming not only into this majestic Basilica itself but also into the Mystical Body of Christ of which we, sitting there, felt like such a part.

These words on the entry leaf to my Rome diary say my thoughts, both then and today, so well:

"I set out on . . .a pilgrimage to the Eternal City . . . I saw some very beautiful things; I contemplated all the marvels of art and religion; above all, I trod the same soil as did the holy apostles and the soil bedewed with the blood of the martyrs.  And my soul grew through contact with holy things."

~ St. Therese

How blessed I am to have had that semester, and how grateful to have these memories too!

Joining Jen's 7 posts in 7 days Challenge