Let Us Be Saints!
 
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The view from outside the cuppolla of St. Peter's
Now I will be honest...I am in ROME!  Thus, there is no such thing as a "typical day" in my life here!  Yet that does not dismiss the fact that I do have a schedule and a routine that gives my life structure - it is wonderful to have it broken once and a while though!  I hope I can give you a very real semblance of what a couple days of my week usually look like.  Enjoy!

Tuesday, April 4th, 2011

6 am - Roll out of bed, ready to begin another day!  (By the way, this is sleeping in compared to yesterday!)
6:15 am - Begin the trek to the day's Station Church.  We follow the Tibre River for a ways and I have a great conversation with one of my Bernardi brothers about plans for upcoming travel. 
7 am - Mass at the Church of St. Lawrence, in English, with tons of guys from the NAC and other Americans that are in Rome
7:45 am - Enjoy a cornetti and cappuccino at a bar (coffee shop) with some other Bernardians and Ben, a seminarian from the NAC who serves on our chaplaincy.
8:30 am - Spend some quality time in the study room at the Ang where I read JPII's incredible encyclical "Evangelium Vitae" for Dr. Coulter's class.
9:30 am - Our Bernardi schola (small singing ensemble) rehearses for Mass Wednesday night.  We simply stand outside in a group and sing through our parts for "Lord Who Throughout these Forty Days"!  What a joyous noise we make for the Lord!
10 am - Pop in to see Jesus for a little while in Eucharistic Adoration, which takes place every weekday at the Ang.
10:30 am - Moral Theology class with Fr. Giertych, Pope Benedict's Moral Theologian! 
11:15 am - Break!  Everyone mills about the courtyard in the center of the Ang, playing hackysack, tossing frisbees, filling up water bottles, and simply chatting.  I converse with Nguyen, a seminarian from Vietnam whom I sit by in class,
11:30 am - Class is back on.  We are studying emotions today! 
12:15 pm - Class is done and it is time for lunch.  We head over to L'Archetto's Spaghetteria, a ten minute walk away, where there are over 50 types of spaghetti to choose from.  I order the spaghetti vodka, which is SO GOOD!  We enjoy lots of laughs at the table regarding Fr. Murray's poetry course about the Book of Jonah the previous night and since there are seminarians at the table, philosophy comes into play inevitably. 
1:30 pm - Return to the Ang, where I spend some quality time writing my paper for Dr. Coulter's class and reading about the Counter-Reform period for Dr. Lev's Art History course. 
4 pm - Eight of us Bernardi women leave the Ang for our Apostolic Outreach at the Missionaries of Charity!  It is a half hour walk, past the coliseum and Roman forum, through crowds of tourists and dozens of vendors. 
4:30 pm - Arrive at the MCs, greet Sr. Josephat (a spunky Kenyan) in the kitchen, and receive our tasks for the day.  I help take laundry off the clothesline, fold other clothes (after learning how to properly fold blouses because they don't iron them there), sweep and mop the hallway, have a great conversation with Gerald, a man from Switzerland, help heat up milk for dinner, and sweep the dining room when it is done.  Somewhere in there I also manage to speak a few words to our French, Canadian, and Hungarian friends from the Jesuit discernment house in Rome that also serve at the MCs.
7 pm - Exhausted but filled with joy, we depart the MCs for our hefty hike back to Bernardi.  We stop on the way for a piece of pizza and an arancina (Sicilian rice cone - delicious!) at Mondo Arancina, a ticket bar right near Bernardi that we have become regulars at! 
8:15 pm - Right after returning to Bernardi it is time for Formation with the Apostles of the Interior Life, the beautiful religious sisters that are part of our chaplaincy.  Tonight is a session for sharing our experiences on the silent retreat last weekend.  God poured out many graces during that retreat and has blessed us with beautiful sisterhood in which to share these blessings!
9:45 pm - I head to the computer lab to print off my Coulter paper, check my e-mails, and have a few brief conversations with my Bernardi brothers and sisters.  I am getting pretty tired after such a busy day!
11 pm - After hitting the shower, I hit the pillow.  My roommate Audrey and I pray a quick prayer together and then it is time to set my alarm and turn off the light!  Another great day in ROME!!!  :-) 

[And I walked 11,701 steps today!  Though it feels like more...]

Also, I hope this random assortment of photos can give you several more glimpses into a "typical" day in Rome!  Enjoy!




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