Hi, all! A principal friend of mine, Sr. MAry Frances, a Sister of Notre Dame, is on her community's annual pilgrimage trip to Rome and Assisi over Easter vacation. She e-mailed a trip report to those of us principals in her deanery, and I received her permission to post it here, because I thought you might like to read it. <BR><BR>Happy Easter to all Deanery and ESAC friends,<BR> Hope you are having a rest-filled Easter vacation. Thought I would drop you a line about some of the things I have been doing and let you know I am praying for you all. <BR> Well I forgot when I sent you the last e-mail but I will go from last Monday! On Monday last we went to St. Francis of Assisi. It was a fantastic experience. We started off at St. Mary's Of the Angels down in the valley. It was a beautiful church where everything is something in St. Francis's life. We could not take pictures but I loved the frescoes, the bas-reliefs and the paintings. We had mass there in a side chapel. It was great. There was also a little gift shop there that had some awesome items of St. Francis really cheap. I was also able to get a good book of Assisi very cheap as well(all color plates for less than 3 euro) then it was a bus ride up the hill to the town of Assisi. We went to the St. Francis basilica and had a tour by a Father Robert who is from Thousand Oaks but is stationed there working on his thesis. He took us to the cloistered areas and I was able to get some great shots of the cloister walk and the surrounding Umbria region. He had lots of information about the paintings and the artists that worked in the church and the reasons for changes and the various events that took place and the different levels and the reason for things like the special dark blue ceiling in the lower church with its sparkly stars. He also explained about the Tau that is very much a Franciscan symbol. I was definitely on cloud nine and would have trouble coming down for several days. Then it was with a taxi we went to St. Damiano. There were some great statues of Frances and Clare there that I was able to take. It was a very simple church. Then we took the taxi back up to St. Clare's basilica. This one was even more damaged than Francis from the earthquake. We then spooked around the stores and had an ice cream before we caught the train and headed back to Rome.<BR>

Report continues:<BR><BR><BR><BR>Then the next day we went to some shops by St. Peter's and roamed around for some souvenirs. It took a good part of the morning. We then went to a part near Castle San'Angelo and had lunch. Then it was across town to several churches -- Church of the Cross, the holy steps, Church of the Gesu and St. Ignatius' house in Rome. It was a long day and we ended at home late. We did all of this traveling by city bus.<BR> The city transportation is fun. We have taken trams, metro underlines, buses and taxi(Assisi). The people are fun and very polite. There is only one seat along each side of the bus and the rest is for standing. The signs say seats for 20 and standing for 100. Most of the time we are able to get a seat eventually. But sometimes it is a packed sardine situation but everyone moves to let you on and off and not tempers flair. There is a tremendous amount of patience and everyone is resigned to waiting. Because we travel in a group it is a good time to visit and discuss what we have been seeing or getting to know one another. I have truly enjoyed this form of transportation. We had a pass that was good for a week so we did not have to clock in but starting tomorrow we will have to clock in coming and going.<BR> Wednesday was another round of visiting churches and historic sites. We went to the Prison where St. Peter and Paul were kept and visited the chapel there and say a cell where they might have been kept, we went to a Church near by (St. Cosmos and Damien) and then to the Forum and the coliseum. We then went to St. Clement's church in which you can go down three levels. There is a 1st century villas and streets, a 4th century church and a 12th century church. It was awesome knowing you were walking on streets that were that old but are underground now. There was a demonstration going on downtown so we got ice-cream and then went home. We had an evening off.<BR> On Holy Thursday we got an early start and went to several churches and ended up on the Piazza Navona. This has a lot of fountains, and artists there. We had a good time looking around. We needed to get home early this day because we were going to have services at the Generalate. We got home around 2pm and rested a little then went to the community room for the washing of the feet services and then to chapel for the Holy Thursday services. They were beautiful and then we went to the dinning room for some wonderful homemade bread and supper. By the time the festivities were over it was after 9pm and time to head to bed because we were going to be up early again the next day.<BR>

report continues...<BR><BR> Good Friday saw us heading out to the catacombs. We made great connections on the bus and trams and were there in no time (about an hour). We had a fantastic guide who told us not only the history but also the meaning of symbols and all about the crypts and chapels found there. We prayed and sang while we were there. We then went to a monument nearby that was for 335 people (men and boys from age 15-80) who were massacred and buried in a cave during WW II. It was a very moving site. We were there shortly after the anniversary of the event and the tombs were all covered with flowers. Each of these special people is remembered. It was time to head home because we were going to the North American College (the seminary for all the diocese in the US) for Good Friday services. It was in English which was nice for a change. The music was beautiful and the service simple but full of meaning. We headed home and arrived in time for supper. Some went to the coliseum for stations, but I preferred to go to bed and rest for the rest of the excitement.<BR> On Holy Saturday we were up early again and went to the Vatican Museum and the Sistine chapel. This was also a very different place to wander around. We arrived at 7:50 am and still had to wait nearly an hour. We were lucky because we were very near the front of the line. The line wrapped around the building and down another street. We spent about 3.5 hours there. We then ate outside and headed home for services. Some went to St. Susana's for services I elected to stay at the motherhouse and enjoy their Easter vigil. The service was again very beautiful and the chapel was decorated so nice. I hope to take some pictures to have to show everyone. After the service we went to the dining room and wished everyone a happy Easter which took about half hour. We stayed and enjoyed cookies, cake, candy and each other’s presence. It was time to move our watches ahead so it made it about midnight by the time I headed back to my room. It was a great day<BR> On Easter Sunday, it was a gorgeous day. The sun was out and bright and warm. We headed for St. Peter's around 8 in the morning and arrived around 9am. We got pretty good seats and waited for the mass to begin. We get these wonderful worship aids with beautiful artwork and this time they had an explanation of the holy door they used at the beginning of the liturgy. When the Holy Father arrives you can feel the energy and the love in the crowd. He seemed a bit more agile this week and was able to stand at the altar to celebrate the liturgy. The music and the Gregorian chant is so beautiful bouncing off the walls of the square. Mass was over about 12:30 and we arrived back home around 2:00 to a delicious dinner then I had a siesta, finished a book, and walked the beautiful property of the motherhouse. There are gorgeous wooded walkways, outdoor stations and flower gardens. It was a delightful afternoon. <BR> There is such a wonderful spirit here. Such a feeling of love and of caring. The community made up of sisters from many different countries with many different languages model the true sense of universal church. It is a special place to be.<BR> I am afraid I can keep everyone up all night to read this but I just thought I would up date you on what has been happening. We are at St. Paul's beyond the wall and a few more churches over the next couple of days then on Wednesday we head to Germany.<BR> I want you to know I have tucked you in my prayers as I visited each church and hope you are feeling the prayers each day. God bless you and keep you well.<BR> <BR>Sister Mary Frances<BR><BR>

report continues...<BR><BR>Greetings to all!<BR> This is my last day in Rome and I will be moving on to Germany next.<BR> Well the sister continue to know how to keep us busy. Monday we visited St. Paul outside the wall. It is a beautiful church. It has mosaics of every pope on the wall. They look like little medallions but are actually 2 meters in diameter. It even has Pope John Paul II with a few more spaces for more. This church has a lot of columns (over 100). It was very simple inside with some very beautiful mosaic work. The gardens around were also very beautiful. We then took a bus to a Benedictine set of churches that were on the spot that Paul was beheaded. Each church was simple and a very quiet place to pray. Of course I tucked some prayers for you all when I was there. <BR> We also went to the Little Sisters convent which is just up the hill from these Churches. They take Charles deFoucald (please excuse spelling) as their spiritual founder. There houses are made of wood and are "A" framed. They are very simple. Their chapel was a very quiet place to pray and they had the exposed Blessed Sacrament there. It was like an oasis in the middle of a very busy city. Then we went to a basement that had a small chapel that had artifacts from Charles deFoucald. It has the altar and tabernacle he made, candle holders etc... that he had made by hand. It was also a good place to pray.<BR> That evening at supper we did a little farewell presentation which was hard on everyone because the sisters have been so great to us.<BR> In the evening we took a night tour of Rome given by one of the sisters. This was absolutely fantastic. It was three hours of fun. We got to the Trevi Fountain and tossed in our coins but there was so much to see. When we got home sister gave us a paper with two columns of all the sites we saw. Rome is very beautiful at night.<BR> Tuesday we went to St. Peter's for Mass. We ran into a priest from Tampa, Florida, who was studying in Rome. He did a mass for us in English at the Pope Leo altar. I was told later this is a part of the Church that is blocked off to tourists. It was a nice quiet mass for just the 13 of us. We then went down to the crypt of St. Peter's and were able to see into all the side altars there that are dedicated to various countries. The artwork is fantastic and we were able to go up to them and see them clearly because all the gates were open for liturgies. If we came after 9am all the gates would be closed and we could not get close to the beautiful art work. <BR> We then went and did a little shopping and returned home. <BR> Later that day we went to the cemetery where our sisters are buried. There cemeteries are stacked high. and are all outside mausoleums. There were some craves but they to were more like mausoleums where families were buried. It was a very interesting and different.<BR> We then visited our Provincial house that is in Rome and visited the school that they are running there on the same property. They also have rooms for girls that are attending the university. Their convent and school chapel is absolutely beautiful.<BR> I was able to play my flute a few times for liturgy. The sound is absolutely fantastic in these high vaulted ceilings.<BR> Well I have a meeting to attend so I better sign off now and let you get back to work. Have a great day!<BR> <BR>Prayers,<BR> <BR>Sister Mary Frances<BR><BR><BR>End of the report - if she sends her Germany report, I'll post it.<BR>

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