Hi Everyone,
It's been a very busy two days. Just so you know, to post a blog with photos takes me about one to one and half hours. There hasn't been the time in past two days.
There are some great pictures that I need to post, but I will get to it sometime over the weekend. In the meantime, here is a quick synopsis of what has been happening.
Thursday morning: a tour of St. Peter's Basilica with Liz Lev. She is considered one of the best tour guides in all of Rome. She does lot of work for the American and English speaking seminaries and colleges. She is a native of Chestnut Hill, Boston and she is the daughter of Mary Ann Glendon. All of you in the the pro-life ministries know of Dr. Glendon because of her brilliant work and speeches in support of life in the USA. She is a Harvard University law professor and former US ambassador to the Holy See. I did not know of Liz's relationship until after the tour. From the quality of the tour it is not surprising.
The rest of Thursday was free. I went exploring around Rome. Returned to the Casa O'Toole very tired. I did a quick Skype to my mother and went to bed.
Today, Friday the 25th, was an early day. WE had to meet a bus at 8:00am to travel to the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. Of the 4 major basilicas in Rome, this is the oldest. The major structure dates back to 486 AD. There we celebrated Mass with Cardinal Law, former Cardinal Archbishop of Boston. Afte Mass we had a tour with Monsignor McInerny, formerly the secretary of Cardinal Law, and now a canon at the Basilica. He has what is considered the most comprehensive knowledge of the history of the basilica in the world. There are beautiful pictures from this tour. But they will get posted sometime over the weekend.
After the tour, we returned to the seminary for lunch. This afternoon, I had some personal financial matters to deal with online, and laundry. This evening I attended a piano recital given by Signor Aldo de Vero, pianist. He is the director of the Ischia Chamber Music Festival in which I will participate in May. I mentioned before that he informed me of this recital and invited me to come. It was a terrific program of all piano music for 4 hands. He perfomed with Giovanni Campisi. Included in the program was a Sonata for 4 hands, by Mozart, Sonata by Francis Poulenc, The Dolly Suite by Gabriel Faure, a selection of Slavonic dances by Djorak, and a transcription of the overture to Giacomo Rossini's "An Italienne in Algiers". The plan was to finally meet Mr. de Vero after emailing with him for nearly a year as I prepared for the sabbatical program. I learned that he will be back in Rome for more performances before May, AND, he has a house in Falmouth, Massachusetts and spends the latter part of the summers and early fall on Cape Cod. He invited me to join him for some music when I get back from the sabbatical. Looks like more music making in the future.
Tomorrow I am joining some priests in a day trip to who knows where. I think we may go to Ostia, the most preserved ancient city on the Italian peninsula and the sea port of Rome. Rome is actually about 20 miles inland. Entire houses, with restaurants, and even public outhouses are still standing. I suspect that there is not much new to learn about 1st century outhouses. Some human habits just don't change. Anyway, stay posted for a few interesting pictures in the next few days.
Blessings
Ciao
