With Mary His Mother...

Posted by: Deacon James Stiles

7 January 2015 

We began the day with mass at one of the five major basilicas in Rome, Santa Maria Maggiore (Saint Mary Major). A most fascinating relic kept within the crypt of this Church, as tradition has it, is part of the very manger in which the Christ child would have laid on Christmas day! We were stirred by the beauty of the Church as well as by the homily given by one our classmates, Dcn. Adam Laski. He reminded us of the great importance of loving one another as brothers in the Lord. This love cannot remain superficial. Just as the person who is captivated by the beauty of a church like Santa Maria Maggiore is meant to be lead into the mystery of the Person whom it reflects, so too the love we have for one another as brothers must be profoundly sincere and get beyond the superficial: we must help one another encounter Christ. 

This set us up well to have our first class session which followed our visit to the basilica. Among other things, we spoke about the two great tasks which our Lord has entrusted to every Christian: loving God and neighbor and spreading the Gospel to all the nations. After a brief study of the history of the Church’s missionary efforts throughout Her history, I left class with a deeper conviction of the Holy Spirit’s power to inspire and direct efforts of evangelization and was again reminded that the Holy Spirit can use the simplest situations, even just a kind conversation with another, to spread His Gospel. 

We worked up an appetite from our intellectual work, so we headed on over to the North American College for lunch. Ever since Dec. 8th, 1859, the feast of the Immaculate Conception, the Patroness of the U.S.A, seminarians from the United States have been formed to be priests in this seminary in the Eternal City of Rome. The seminary has changed locations throughout the years. Its current location and structure is something to see with arguably the best view of Rome from its roof-top. The highlight, of course, of being at the North American College was catching up with men whom we know from our dioceses who are currently studying there as seminarians. 

We ended the day with a trek out to visit the Missionary of Charity Fathers. We prayed with these priests and religious brothers, shared a great meal with them, and then discussed their charism for bringing Jesus to the poorest of the poor. The most striking thing I heard one of their priests say was, “We can’t go out to the poor until you are first aware of your own poverty.” What he meant was that all of us are poor before God. We can do nothing without Him and we must rely totally on His grace if we are to freely choose to love the poor and be with God for all eternity.

It was, indeed, a blessed day!