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Final Day in Rome, Sweet Rome

Location: St. Mary Major

Today was a day filled with both lasts and adventures: last-minute visits to churches we haven’t seen, visiting saints’ relics for the last time, and doing any last-minute shopping before we head to Assisi. We started off the day by praying at the Basilica of Mary Major, the resting place of Pope Francis and our last stop to the Holy Doors for the Jubilee year of Hope. It didn’t occur to me until after this that the Holy Doors won’t be open again until the next Jubilee year, which will take place in 25 years, in 2050. It was a blessing that we made our way through the Holy Doors! We finished our time in Mary Major with Holy Mass, celebrating our Lady of Guadalupe, which I was able to serve. Though we were not able to celebrate Mass on the main altar, we had Mass in a side chapel with just our group. During the Mass, we sang our hearts out in praise of Mary (though not always beautifully or in tune).

Our private Mass in the Basilica of St. Mary Major.
The resting place of our late Holy Father, Pope Francis.

After our Mass and praying at different places inside Mary Major, Fr. Kasule set us loose into the city of Rome. We were free to do whatever we wanted until evening prayer and dinner. A group of us went church hopping around the city to pray and visit relics of saints. First, we went to the church of St. Mary of Vittoria, which holds the famous statue of St. Theresa of Avila in ecstasy. Then, we went to the Basilica of St. Prexedes, which holds the pillar that Jesus was scourged on, and the church of St. Alphonsus Ligouri, which has the original icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. We took a break from our church hopping adventures with lunch at a restaurant named “Abruzzi.” It was recommended to us by some seminarians at the North American College who raved about the carbonara – so, naturally, all 5 of us ordered carbonara. We also tried Sambuca, which is a mint- and licorice-flavored liqueur that is only sold at that restaurant. If you like mint and licorice then it’s the liqueur for you. Personally, I did not enjoy it.

After lunch we visited two more churches. We visited the church of St. Ignatius of Loyola which holds the body of St. Robert Bellarmine and St. Mary of Minerva which holds some of the remains of St. Catherine of Sienna. Once we were done with our church tour extravaganza, we went to different stores for clerical goods and to look at vestment ideas for our ordinations, which are coming up in the next year and a half. 

To be completely honest, I was wiped out after all of this. Some of my brothers wanted to keep walking around, but I was tired, so one other brother seminarian and I walked back to the hotel. As we walked back, we walked by St. Peter’s Square and saw, on one of the screens in the square, Pope Leo celebrating Mass in Spanish for Our Lady of Guadalupe – the day fittingly started and ended with Our Lady.

Pope Leo celebrating Mass for Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas, pray for us

-Conrad Sissell, Diocese of Wichita 

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