Dana Goes A'Romeing: Bringing Collegeville to the Vatican

This morning was a small slice of Collegeville. Grudgingly, after five hours of sleep, I woke up at 6:00. Drew had organized a mass with Father Nicholas Becker, the priest at the St. John's student Mass. Father Nick has just moved to Rome to get his doctorate and will be here for 5 years. We met him under the obelisk in St. Peter's Square at 7:30. We went through security and into the basilica. After Father Nick got his vestments on, we were taken down a stair case that is closed to the public...I felt like a VIP

Down Vatican Grotto in the we passed by countless chapels, many filled with people from all over the world having Mass (we for sure heard Polish and German). We filed into the Chapel of the Patrons of Europe (St. Benedict in particular). Our quick Mass included the first reading of Jonah (which I read on an awkwardly tall podium) and the Gospel of the good samaritan. It was so nice having Father Nick talking to the 16 of us in such a familiar way.

After Mass, as we neared the stairs back up to the main floor, we passed by the tomb of St. Peter (no pictures were allowed, but it was pretty powerful). We left St. Peters and went to a nearby coffee place for breakfast (a cafe latte and nutella crepe) with Father Nick (his first time eating outside of the monastery since arriving in Rome 2 weeks ago). It was so fun talking to him and hearing how funny he is! We said our goodbyes, and began what we thought would be a treacherous 90 minute walk back to our apartment since the buses were scheduled to go on strike. As luck would have it, we managed to find good old bus 62 up and running back to Nomentana. Not enough time for a nap before classes, but the morning was worth it!