They say that...

"Greenland is covered with ice, and Iceland is very nice." Well, I can say with great certainly that Iceland definitely lives up to its name in late December - it is covered in ice! But, as a Minnesotan who isn't allowed to go home for Christmas, what more could I ask for than below-freezing temperatures, cloudy skies, freezing rain, sloppy roads, slippery sidewalks, and beautiful evening snow-fall? (Although, at press time, it looks like Minnesota hasn't quite cooperated in that department this year - I feel your pain, my friends!)

Our little suburb of Hafnarfjörður, Iceland

My classmate John LoCoco and I arrived in Iceland on December 19th, and will be here until the 29th. It has been an adventure, to say the least! Thankfully, we have been staying at a parish in a town called Hafnarfjörður, a suburb roughly 5 miles south of Reykjavik, the capital and largest city of Iceland. Even though it's not Home for the Holidays, there's something so amazing and universal about being with the people of God, especially in these joyful days. We've been able to experience so many of those wonderful parochial joys here: serving Mass, spending time with families, drinking hot chocolate, and butchering Icelandic Christmas carols - all those things I miss about MN!

St. Joseph's awaiting the Midnight Mass!

Our generous hosts are none other than the fathers and sisters of the Incarnate Word, the same religious order who hosted my brothers and I in Tanzania this summer! When I heard that the order had a parish in Iceland, my ears perked up; I knew there would be no better way to experience this country than through the joys of a parish, with priests and sisters showing us the ropes, the people of God welcoming us into their lives, and the Blessed Sacrament literally right above our heads! Yes, there is nothing quite like finding the Catholic Church, especially in a country struggling so much with the darkness of secularism and religious indifference. Needless to say, we are blessed to be here in this beautiful little community.

From our lodging here at St. Joseph's, we have been able to experience many of the sights, smells (sometimes very strong, depending of what kind of seafood is being served), and sounds of Reykjavik and the nearby area. The capital city was much smaller than I was expecting - actually, the whole country is very sparsely populated; there are only about 300,000 people on the entire island, with most of them living in the Reykjavik metro area. To put that whole number in perspective, there are about 100,000 more people in Minneapolis proper than there are in all of Iceland! 

Sunset over downtown Reykjavik...at about 3pm!

While he prominent church in the city is a Protestant one, although it certainly exerts a nice Christian influence on the Reykjavik skyline. We stopped in on our first visit to the city, but the church we really wanted to see was on another side of town: the Catholic Cathedral Basilica of Christ the King! It's the only minor Basilica in Scandinavia (giving it the special recognition of the Pope - just like the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis), and hosted Pope St. John Paul II for Mass when he visited in 1989. It's a peaceful, beautiful little church which serves countless members of Iceland's immigrant Catholic community: people from Latin America, Poland, the Philippines, and Lithuania.

While we've certainly been blessed to spend time in and around beautiful Reykjavik, by far the best moments of our stay have been just living the seminarian life! We have been invited to the houses of parishioners each of the last four evenings, so we have had the wonderful opportunity to meet many wonderful couples and their kids. Lots of Christmas carols have been sung, and lots of amazing Filippino food has been consumed! Around the parish too, Fr. Horacio and Fr. Juan Carlos, our generous hosts from Argentina, have allowed us to help out with the Masses, join them for their meals, pray with them in the mornings, and simply talk to them about priestly life. We've also learned the hard way that they are both much, much better at ping-pong and foosball than we are...like, astronomically better. So that's been a nice little source of humility.

We have a couple more days here in Iceland, before it's time to head back to Italy! As with so many other trips, it will certainly be hard to leave this beautiful little place - especially the people who have made us feel so welcome. But, as is always the case, we know that we can continue to be together in prayer. And who knows? Maybe we'll find ourselves on this little island once again (although I think I'd like to see the sun next time).

Merry Christmas, and God bless!

-Colin

Here are some other pictures of beautiful Iceland; I hope you enjoy:

She was pretty popular, but I managed to snag a pic with an awesome Icelandic horse; it's the purest breed of horse in the world!

St. Thorlac, the 12th century Bishop of Skálholt, and patron saint of Iceland.

Gulfoss, the golden falls.

The Reykjavik harbor.

Holy water fowl, batman!

Saw some real geysers! They were definitely as awesome as expected.

More Ordinary Things

It recently dawned on me that, in addition to not updating this blog nearly as often as I should, my updates have almost always consisted of travels outside of the North American College - travel weekends, Christmas, and the wonderful summer experience the Lord blessed me with in Tanzania. I am so grateful for all of these wonderful blessings, and I pray that each place I have been able to see and experience will somehow make me a better priest one day! But I would certainly be remiss if I did not write at all about the more routine side of life which takes place here at the North American College.

All of us here (and that's over 260 men!) have now been back at the classroom for a month now. And, while most of our brothers back at U.S. seminaries are getting ready for the home stretch of their fall semesters, we are only just getting into the meat and potatoes! Such are the mysterious ways of the Roman Universities.

But while we have only just returned to the classroom, things have been far from uneventful here at the North American College in these past few months since we returned from our various summer apostolates. In fact, one of the College's most beautiful events happens every year at the beginning of October, before classes have begun. This is the Diaconate Ordination Mass for the 4th theology class, the men who, at the end of the academic year, will return to their dioceses to be ordained priests forever! As Monsignor Jim Checchio, the rector of the NAC, always says, the beginning and end of the year are always the most beautiful times to be at the College, since "the grace of ordination affects everything!" At the beginning of the academic year, we watch and pray as our 4th year brothers proceed to the Altar of the Chair in St. Peter's Basilica, lie down on the marble beneath the stained-glass window of the Holy Spirit, and rise to be conformed to Christ the servant, or, in Greek, Christos diaconos.

Since early October, the schedule has settled into a bit of a rhythm, as classes, apostolates, communal prayer, and formation conferences have all gotten fully underway. It's been a great blessing to be back in the routine, even though it's a very busy routine! The faculty here is always fond of reminding us that, no matter how busy we think we are in seminary, there will always be more to do as a priest! Truly, everything we do and participate in here at the College contributes to our formation in some way - to helping us become the best priests we can be. And this is something for which I am truly grateful!

One such aspect of formation which my second-year classmates and I have had the opportunity to dive into this year has been that of preaching! Yes, this is the year when we begin to learn the art of homiletics. We had a week-long conference on the topic in September, presented by one of the College's faculty who is a Dominican, the Order of Preachers. So we were in good hands! The conference consisted of watching videos of various speakers and preachers - everyone from Martin Luther King Jr. to Joel Osteen to Venerable Fulton Sheen, and identifying what makes those particular speakers so effective. We would then receive various tips and tricks from Father related to his own preaching experience: how to prepare, delivery skills, advice on content, etc. It really felt like we were drinking from a fire hose!

Fortunately, after having spent time in discussion and receiving advice, we have had several opportunities to try our hand at preaching! Each of us have been divided into groups of 4 or 5 seminarians with a priest moderator, and given a specific preaching topic and scenario for a given day. For instance, we have preached on Our Lady of the Rosary, Exaltation of the Cross, Our Lady of Sorrows, the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time, and a simple daily Mass. So we've already had a pretty wide range of preaching experiences! The practices have certainly not been without a healthy bit of stress, but my classmates and I have found it to be really awesome. I think we have been especially surprised by the fact that we actually can give a decent homily! Each of us, having our own experiences, devotion, prayer life, and disposition, have truly been able to make the homilies our own. One thing I have loved has been the opportunity to hear what my brothers have to say about the particular readings or feast of the day - oftentimes, they mention something that I had never thought about before! It's pretty cool.

Anyway, I just wanted to give a little update to anyone who might be reading. Thank you so much for your prayers, as always. I am so grateful for the way the Lord has supported me through the support of all my family and friends, so thank you! Know that I pray for you as well. May God bless you!

-Colin

The Summer, part 2: Joy Everywhere!

After descending from 19,000 feet (and taking a little time to recover as well!), it was time for the greatest adventure of our summer to begin, this time, in a little town called Ushetu. Upon flying into the town of Mwanza, we were met by Fr. Diego Cano, an Argentinian priest from the Institute of the Incarnate Word, a missionary order dedicated to spreading the Gospel in any place they are called to live! We were given Father Diego's contact information through some alumni of the North American College, who had spent time in Ushetu during their first summer abroad. Father graciously offered to host us in his parish, Our Lady of Lourdes, in a poor, rural farming community called Ushetu. As we hopped in Father's sturdy Toyota LandCruiser, we didn't really know what the next 6 weeks would bring, but we were so excited for everything the Lord had in store for us!

Over three months have now passed since our arrival among the beautiful people of Ushetu, and my classmates and I are still overwhelmed by the graces which we received during those weeks. Fortunately, Father Diego asked each of us to write a small reflection upon our experience, for publication on his order's website. In the interest of time, I would like to re-post that article here, so that you can hopefully gain a glimpse into the joyful life of Ushetu. And, since pictures describe these things so much better than words, I've included a few of those as well. I hope you enjoy!

              ...When I told family and friends that I would be spending my first summer of theological studies in a rural parish in Tanzania, I was surprised by the words of wisdom given to me by those who had themselves spent time among the people of Africa. My grandmother, who worked many years as a nurse in Zambia, just to the south of Tanzania, summed it up by telling me that, “Once you have the dust of Africa on your shoes, you can never really shake it off.” I know that, for the three of us seminarians who were blessed to live, work, and pray among the people of Ushetu, this saying could not ring more true! Indeed, even as we drove away from the beautiful parish in early August, our sad thoughts of departure were mixed with our conversations about when we would return. Not if we would return, but when. In those six short, but grace-filled weeks, we were blessed to receive so much from Our Lord through Fr. Diego, the Sisters, and the people of Ushetu, and it seems only fitting that we would someday return, God-willing as priests, to thank them all for all they have done for us! The summer has left me with so many precious memories that are hard to put into words, but in this brief reflection, I would like to simply give thanks for three particular ways in which Ushetu has influenced my formation and truly changed my life.

            The first grace I will share from Ushetu was also the first one we encountered upon our arrival, and is probably be the one I will cherish the most, namely, the people! From day one, the people of Ushetu welcomed us American strangers into their home, regardless of our lack of knowledge about their culture and our complete inability to communicate beyond the Swahili greeting “Tumsifu Yesu Kristu…milele Amina!” (“Let us praise Jesus Christ…forever Amen”) For these wonderful people, it didn’t matter that their guests had no idea what they were doing. All that mattered for them was to make us feel at home, and they did this in so many ways. Whether it was the nightly soccer games with the altar boys, the songs and dances with the Watoto wa Yesu girls, the daily conversations with the parish’s faithful workers, or the many invitations we received to visit families in their homes, the people of Ushetu welcomed us into every aspect of their lives. They truly shared with us everything they had: not only their food and drink, but also their prayers, joy, and smiles. How grateful we are for those beautiful friendships!

Patrick Dorelus and I with our first grade class at the school!

            Secondly, my summer in Ushetu showed me what a beautiful thing it is when a parish is centered on Christ. Whether we were among the daily Mass-goers at the main center, or in the outstations which might receive only one Mass a year, I was constantly inspired by how much those people love Our Lord! Naturally, this life of devotion began with Fr. Diego and the Sisters, who always made Christ the center of their day. For us in the rectory, this life of prayer began most days at 5:30 am, when we would spend an hour with Fr. Diego before the Blessed Sacrament. It wasn’t always an easy wake-up call, but Father constantly encouraged us by telling us that our time with the Lord fuels us for the work of the day, and how right he was! For the lay faithful, too, it was clear that Christ was always the most important part of their lives. We were struck every day by the strong presence of men, women and children at daily Mass, some of them walking great distances in the early hours of the morning to be with Our Lord. In the outstations, too, we saw how a single Mass can truly bring a community together, as Fr. Diego’s arrival always seemed to bring joy to everyone in the village. While Ushetu’s harvest is certainly abundant, and its laborers few, the Lord showed me this summer that if He is at the center of our lives, He will do “immeasurable more than we can ask or imagine.” He is certainly working marvels among the people of Ushetu.

Vince Fernandez and I handing out catechisms and Rosaries after a Confirmation Mass

            It was in the midst of the people and their Christ-centered life that I have received another grace for which I will always be thankful. This has been the strengthening of my own vocation. I can say quite honestly that, as a seminarian, there is nothing more refreshing or inspiring than to encounter the priesthood as it truly is, and Ushetu allowed us to have this encounter every day, especially through Fr. Diego. Despite the size of his flock and the numerous things demanding his attention, Father dedicated himself wholeheartedly to Our Lord and to his people, never speaking of the work as a burden, but always a joy! And although he could always have spent more time performing this or that task, he constantly reminded us of the importance of prayer, rest, and fraternity, all of which allowed him to work even more fervently. Essentially, Fr. Diego showed us what it means to be a missionary priest. And, even though I hope to one day serve close to home among the people of my own diocese, I too hope to be a missionary priest, by working tirelessly and joyfully for my people, while always remaining anchored in the Lord. I can only give thanks to God that, through working closely with Fr. Diego, my classmates and I received this beautiful glimpse into priestly life – and what a life it is!

Vince and I with Father Diego, IVE and the 5 IVE Sisters of Ushetu

Our little rectory community: Father Diego, Patrick, Vince, and myself

As my grandmother said so wisely, the dust of Africa will never leave my shoes, just as I know that no memory from those six weeks in Ushetu will ever leave my heart! It has certainly been difficult to now be so far from that beautiful place, but, as Fr. Diego said to the parish before our departure, if we carry each other in our prayers, we are never too far away. And who knows? Perhaps the Lord will bring us back soon to the beautiful kingdom of Ushetu! Tumsifu Yesu Kristu…milele Amina!

In Christ,
Colin Jones

Teaching English in the parish school!

A Confirmation Mass in Ushetu with the local bishop of Kahama, Ludovick Joseph Minde 

The interior of the church!

Snack time at the school

The "Watoto wa Yesu," the girls' group which sings and dances at Mass

Little James and I!

Father performing baptisms; there were over 90 that day!

Vince taught his kids some English songs and dances

Saying goodbye at the end of a school day

The Summer, part 1: Verso L'alto

Friends in Christ,

I might as well cut right to the chase: Over the past couple of months I was blessed to have the best summer of my life! As you may know, the North American College asks its first year theologians to spend their summer between first and second years away from home. Obviously, this didn't exactly seem like a fun idea at first, either for me or for my friends and family back home. But God truly is full of surprises, and my experience this summer ended up being a truly remarkable and life-changing experience.

The adventure took place in Tanzania, a country of East Africa, notable mostly for Serengeti National Park, Mount Kilimanjaro, and the Swahili language that gave us the phrase "Hakuna matata." In fact, "The Lion King" basically took place in Tanzania. While we unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) did not get to see any lions, elephants, or wildebeests, we did get to experience Tanzania's natural beauty on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa, and tallest freestanding mountain in the world. I was joined by my St. John Vianney classmate and fellow NAC-er Vince Fernandez, who must be given credit for everything that happened this summer, since he took the initiative on making this adventure happen!

That's Vince. He's the man.

Our first order of business upon arriving in Africa was to promptly climb to the top of it. To put it bluntly, climbing Kilimanjaro was awesome. It was also one of the most difficult things I've ever done! The dormant volcano stands at 19,340 feet (5,895 meters) above sea level. Fortunately, because it is volcanic in nature, the ascent is pretty gradual most of the way, and could be called more of a hike than a genuine "climb." To be honest, our knowledge of this fact made us a little cocky. "Oh, it's just a really long hike, right? I mean, I can do that. Piece o' cake." Boy, were we wrong!

On day 1, we set out in the lush rainforest foliage with a nice brisk pace and a little spring in our step. Day 1: we made it to our first campsite, Machame Camp at 9,500 feet, no problem. Day 2, we set out from there to Shira Camp at 12,500 feet. Easy peasy. Day 3...well day 3 kicked our butts! We had emerged from the tree line and entered a rocky, more desert-like landscape. Fortunately, this gave us finally a beautiful view of the Mountain in front of us, but it also showed us that we had a really, really long way to go!

A view of Kili from our day 3 campsite...kind of a long way!

It was at this point that the mental aspect of climbing kicked in, and it was something I never expected. As much as we wanted to just be at the summit in a heartbeat, we had to realize that it would only happen one step at a time, one campsite at a time...Our two Tanzanian guides kept reminding us on days 4 and 5, "Don't think about the summit today. Today, think about getting to that camp and having a nice meal!"

Here we are with our two studly guides, Moody (left), and Nico.

So, for the next two whole days, we trudged on, winding our way through the rocky terrain, moving slowly so as to acclimate to the altitude, and trying to think only of next day's camp, while the mountain seemed to remain far away...Things got even more frustrating when, on day 4, our route to the campsite brought us downhill! We had arrived at 4,600 meters, our closest point to the summit, and yet we had to go down to camp! Obviously, we knew that this was to allow us to get used to the altitude changes, but it was still difficult to think that we were walking away from the summit! We weren't playing that mental game so well, but we were still in the hunt, and after, a long, foggy trudge on day 4 to our final camp, Baraf Hut, we were now able to put the summit in our minds!

Our final ascent began on Day 5 at the brisk morning hour of 12:30 am. After a few hours of sleep, our guides woke us up and gave us the pep talk. Now was the day to think of only one thing: the summit! After saddling up, we rolled out, with our headlamps lighting the way. The climb was still slow as molasses as followed a switchback pattern up the side of the mountain. Usually when you're at a high point, the best advise is "don't look down," right? Well, during the seemingly endless morning of Day 5, the motto was "don't look up!" The reason for this was that, if we looked up, we could see off in the distance the flickering lights of other climbers who had set out before us. The truth was that we had a very, very long way to go, but, in the dark the only way to actually understand how far we had to go was by seeing these little lights! One glance was enough to make us start thinking, "Man, this is going to take forever!"

So look down we did. We walked, drank boatloads of water, sang a few songs to make the time pass, watched as the sun slowly started to illuminate the sky behind us! As it grew lighter, we could see the vast, beautiful landscape below us. It was truly amazing; one of those moments where you realize that no picture could do it justice! Slowly but surely we trudged, as the sun rose and the hours passed by...

After roughly 8 hours on the trail, we finally stopped going up! We had arrived at Stella Point, marking our arrival not at the summit, but at the rim of the volcano. We could see the summit on the other side of the rim, not too far away, and we knew that the most difficult stretch was over!

Stella Point. Yeah, we were pretty wiped.

After another 45 minutes across the ridge, the ascent was finished! We arrived at Uhuru (Freedom) Peak at a little after 9 am that morning, exhausted, but grateful that the Lord had given us the strength to carry on! We knelt down with our guides (both of whom were Catholic!) and prayed two Hail Mary's: one in English, and the other in Swahili. What a blessing it was to offer the highest point in Africa to the protection of Our Blessed Mother!

The Summit!

A day and a half later, we were back at sea level, where we essentially slept and ate ice cream for two days while we prepared to launch upon the next leg of our summer adventure! Overall, climbing Mount Kilimanjaro was an incredible experience, and while the jury is still out for me as to whether I would ever do something like that again, it was, in its own way, a great moment of growth. I learned, mostly the hard way, about the importance of taking the ascent one day at a time. The summit was always in mind, but in those moments where it was still far away, we learned the importance of taking it slow and trusting that we were making progress. I learned also that, in order to make it to the summit, you've got to want it! I'm thankful for Vince, as well as our guides, for keeping the goal in mind, especially during that 8-hour marathon of a climb. I could not have done it alone!

It was a blessing too to be united with a great man who has been a powerful influence in my life, namely, Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati! He was a young Italian man who lived in the early 20th century, and was renowned for his deep Faith, love for Our Lord, and charity for his brothers and sisters. He was also a great mountaineer, and is known to have loved the Italian phrase "Verso l'alto," which means "To the heights!" He also said that, "the higher we go, the better we shall hear the voice of Christ." We all have to climb the mountain, and fortunately, God is with us at every step! We just have to take it slow, enjoying the beauty along the way, and trusting always in His love!

More to come about the rest of the summer, folks. Until then, know of my prayers for you all!

In Christ,

Colin

" A Gust of Holiness"

Well, folks, I've got a lot of catching up to do, as usual! A beautiful Easter season and another semester of studies have almost completely gone by, and it's crazy to think that, in just a few short weeks, I'll be officially in my second year of theological studies! Simply wild. This whole dizzying feeling really hit home just a few days ago, when all of us in the new man class received a list of the roughly 70 men who will be joining the College this coming fall. Just 12 short months ago, my classmates and I were on that list, preparing for the headfirst dive into life in Rome, a life which has included a new language, 250 new brothers, pasta everywhere, a bunch of saints, and a suspension of traffic rules. Now, it will be our turn as second year men to welcome our new brothers to the College, showing them the ropes and assuring them that everything's going to be alright, especially in the difficult moments.

But, the year's not done yet, and it seems that the Lord saved some of the best moments for these last couple of months! The best one happened on May 2nd, when His Holiness Pope Francis came to our house to celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, in anticipation of his visit to the States this coming September. It was cool to think that, only 4 months before he will be welcomed to the beautiful awesomeness that is the United States, the Pope was welcomed to the little slice of America right next door! I hope that we prepared him well.

The day began with a few conferences related to the life of Blessed Junipero Serra, an 18th century Franciscan missionary who established Catholic missions throughout Arizona and California, and converted thousands to the Catholic Church. To the great joy of the American Church, Pope Francis will canonize Father Serra during his visit, thus making him the first Hispanic to be enrolled among the growing number of American saints. Although the Pope was not present for the conferences, we were blessed to hear from many inspiring authorities on Father Serra's life, including the Italian Franciscan in charge of researching his life, and Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles, who has undertaken the task of putting him forward to the people of the United States as a man of courage and gentleness among the indigenous peoples whom he served.

Blessed Junipero Serra

The Mass which followed was truly special. The Pope, not wanting his visit to be a huge, grandiose occasion, had requested that we simply celebrate the Liturgy as we normally do. Now, it's tough to have a "normal" Liturgy when the principal celebrant is the Vicar of Christ, but the Mass certainly did have a feeling of beautiful simplicity. The choir sang the proper chants of the Mass for the day (the memorial of St. Athanasius), and the men of the NAC served as readers, acolytes, and masters of ceremony for the Holy Father. There were certainly a few flash bulbs going off too! It was amazing to gather in the chapel where we celebrate Mass every day, and to pray as we always do, all while looking upon the successor of St. Peter.

The Pope's homily was beautiful and inspiring as always, and felt even more moving since he had come to our house to preach it. Naturally, he spoke to us of Blessed Junipero Serra, presenting him as a man who had not only captured his own devotion, but ought to be a companion to us as well. He summarized Father Serra's life by referring to three aspects which characterize him best, namely, his missionary zeal, his devotion to the Blessed Mother, and his exemplary witness of holiness. Personally, I was struck mostly by the Pope's words regarding Our Lady. He told us that Father Serra dedicated all of his missionary work to Our Lady of Guadalupe, who had become, and still is, the patroness of the new world. The Pope summarized our dependence on Our Lady of Guadalupe by saying that "You cannot separate her from the hearts of the American people, for she always hears and protects her American children." As Americans who are blessed to profess the Catholic Faith, we truly owe all our joy to her! And, as Americans called to bring the love of Christ to the rest of our brothers and sisters of this continent, we owe her as well our fervent prayer and devotion, since it is she who has been bringing souls to Christ since her appearance at Tepeyac.

As the Pope continued, he gave us our pep talk, our marching orders! He prayed for "a gust of holiness to sweep through the Americas," led by men and women rooted in the Gospel, and inspired by the Holy Spirit - men and women such as Junipero Serra, Kateri Tekakwitha, John Neumann, Frances Xavier Cabrini, and so many others. Certainly, these marching orders apply to all of us as well; we are called to be the next American saints!

A blessed Pentecost to all of you. You are always in my prayers!

Pope Francis with our rector, Monsignor Jim Checchio

Station to Station

As we have been coming to learn during our time in Rome, there are few things cooler than discovering a new church! Each one has its own particular history, its own beautiful art, usually a handful of saints and/or blesseds, and plenty of reasons to drop in and say a prayer. During Lent, we've learned that the only thing cooler than discovering new churches, is discovering new churches together, and having Mass at each of them! Every Lent, the North American College invites pilgrims from all over Rome to the Station Church pilgrimage, offering Mass in English at a different church in the city every day of Lent. This practice of pilgrimage began in Rome as soon as Christianity was made legal, as Christians began to celebrate the feasts of Our Lord and the saints at the various holy sites associated with those devotions. Over time, this pilgrimage took on a special significance during Lent, when Christians sought to remind themselves that our life on earth is a constant march toward the heavenly city, and the fullness of our Easter joy. This idea of a march was also an important one for the early Christians, because many of the saints who were venerated in Rome's churches were martyrs  - soldiers who had completed this march of Faith by giving their lives for Christ.

Those chains held St. Peter as he was led to his crucifixion.

At some point in the recent past (I have no idea when), the NAC began to host station church Masses for English speaking pilgrims, using largely the same rotation of churches that have been used for centuries! The Masses begin at 7 am every day, and it is truly amazing to see how many people participate. Some pilgrims are in town for a few days, others have lived in Rome for many, many years. We meet young men and women from study abroad groups, couples celebrating their anniversaries, international classmates from our theological universities, and everybody in between! As for us NAC guys, we roll out bright and early (usually around 6:15, depending on the distance) and walk prayerfully through a beautiful Roman sunrise (or perhaps a torrential Roman downpour) toward whatever holy place awaits us. It has truly been a blessing to experience this Lent on foot with my brothers and sisters, praying at some of the holiest sites in the world.  Please know that my daily prayers and journeys have been offered for all of you who support me in so many ways!

San Giorgio in Velabro contains the relics of St. George, patron saint of England (and of my Dad).

The Church of San Marco is built on the site where St. Mark wrote His Gospel.

The Basilica of Sts. John and Paul contains chandeliers from the Waldorf Hotel in New York!

A beautiful morning at St. Paul Outside the Walls (after a 75 minute walk!).

I hope you enjoyed the pictures. A blessed Holy Week and Triduum to you all!

In Christ,
Colin

A Ski Trip Full of Surprises

A lot has been going on lately in the North American College, and thus there is no short explanation for why it has taken me so long to update this blog!  But since a picture is worth a thousand words, this should do the trick:

I actually got a little sunburned.  No joke.

Our exam period at the College spanned the last full week of January, and the first two weeks of February - quite different from the 4 tests in 4 days format that we have back home!  We had the option to choose (for the most part) when our finals were, so I gave myself about 2 or 3 days between each one in order to have plenty of time to study (and, as I found out, plenty of time to get stressed).  But at the end of the day, the exams went well.  So, thank you very much for the prayers!

On the Thursday after my last exam, I flew with three of my classmates to a little town called Bolzano, in northern Italy.  The apartment we had rented was in a little town called Falcade, about an hour and a half from Bolzano, so we had planned to rent a car.  At the tiny airport, we walked up to the gentleman running the rental car counter, who informed us that the only car available was a Fiat 500, which is simply not suited for four 6' tall men and their luggage:

Fortunately, as we were about to bite the bullet and pile in, a gentleman walked up and turned in the keys for a Fiat Panda!  It still wasn't the most comfortable fit, but it was certainly better than the alternative!

Our silver bullet: 5 doors of awesomeness.

We spent the next two days on the slopes of the beautiful Dolomite mountains and got to see some breathtaking views.  Day 1 was especially sunny:

Day 2, on the other hand, was cloudy.  We decided (or, as I should say, my more adventurous companions convinced me) to head to the highest point in the vicinity on top of Mount San Pellegrino, which we hadn't attempted on day 1.  We were more than a little freaked out as we climbed into a huge lift and ascended into the cloud-covered summit, where visibility was basically zero.  We couldn't see much, but we did manage to find the pub!

My brothers Stephen Logue, Joe Furnaguera, and Dan Carr and I enjoying a beer on the slopes!

Coming down from the mountain was incredible!  Since it was so hard to see anything, we had to stick together and take it pretty slowly.  It took us about 20 minutes, and we were able to stop and pray daytime prayer on the way down.  We were truly blessed to be able to experience God in the beauty of His nature and in the joys of fraternity.  Being a seminarian is so awesome...

Also, this didn't happen, which was a grace in itself:

Another beautiful grace of the weekend was quite unexpected...We booked a small apartment on booking.com, and arrived on Thursday afternoon to move in.  A very sweet lady in her sixties named Pia Luciani welcomed us to the apartment and showed us around.  We were very grateful for her hospitality, but soon found out that she happened to be the niece of Pope John Paul I!

His fitting nickname is "the smiling Pope."

We were blown away as Pia told us stories, gave us holy cards, and shared her love for her uncle, who had been the Successor of St. Peter for 33 days in 1978.  We also got to visit the Church of St. John the Baptist, the small parish church in town where Pope John Paul (or "Papa Luciani" as he was known in there) had received all of his sacraments as a child.

The holy water font in which Pope John Paul I was baptized!

Our beautiful encounter with the Servant of God John Paul I was a reminder to the four of us that God is full of surprises!  He certainly took care of us that weekend, and I am very grateful.  Also, I did not die or injure myself on the slopes, so I am grateful for that too!

A blessed Lent to you all!
-Colin