Top 5 Highlights of The Rome Experience Week #5
1. An exam
Usually, students don’t get very excited for exams, but this is not a normal class. Our class just wrapped up on Saturday with our final exam, which was an opportunity to bring all of the fascinating material that we learned about the history of Rome and the theology of the Papacy together. There is nothing greater than learning about that city which has had so much influence on the Church while living in that city and experiencing its daily life.
2. Visit to the Congregation for Divine Worship
Archbishop Roche, the Secretary of the CDW, was gracious enough to grant us an extended interview this week, in which he spoke about the really cool work that is being done by the Congregation. We all enjoyed those parts in which he spoke of the recently translated Third Edition of the Roman Missal in English and the progress on a new translation of the Liturgy of the Hours in English. He was very welcoming of our questions and clearly had a deep love for the liturgy and a deep knowledge of that topic, so to be able to ask him questions and hear some interesting answers was definitely a high point.
3. St. Peter in Chains
A seminarian brother and I, who are both here from Cincinnati, OH, went to visit the church in Rome that has the same name as the cathedral in our home Archdiocese of Cincinnati, St. Peter in Chains. Predictably, it houses the chains which Peter wore while he was imprisoned in Rome, until his martyrdom around AD 64-7. We were able to intercede there for all of the people in our home diocese, who we ardently wish to serve as priests. Our attempts at procuring the chains of Peter to bring back home to Cincinnati were unsuccessful, however…
4. Cardinal Burke
We were visited by His Eminence Raymond Cardinal Burke this week, who is currently serving as the patron of the Knights of Malta. Of course, we had all heard of Cardinal Burke before, but none of us had been able to spend any time with him before, and this was that opportunity. He struck me as a very fatherly figure, who very much through his words and actions communicated that he cares very deeply for the People of God and cares especially for us seminarians. He works very hard and I, for one, greatly appreciate the sacrifices that he has made on behalf of the Church.
5. Mass at St. Eugenio’s for Feast of St. Josemaria
To round out the week, we had Mass with the Prelate of Opus Dei at St. Eugenio’s, a church in Rome which Opus Dei serves. It was an astonishingly beautiful Mass. The celebration of the Sacrament was extremely reverent, and it was accompanied by beautiful music. The high point for our group, I think, was at the final procession, when the Prelate stopped and spoke briefly with some members of our group and wished us well.
Chris Komoroski
The Rome Experience Class of 2016
Archdiocese of Cincinnati