The last full day of our pilgrimage started out overcast and with a light drizzle. We woke our boys up as usual, but we could sense the excitement in most of them as they realised that this was their last full day in Rome. We could tell that they were looking forward to going home to be with their loved ones again. We went down to the cafeteria for the usual breakfast (especially since Easter Sunday) of cereal, milk, cake and picked up our afternoon lunch. We then boarded our bus for the 30-minute ride to the St. Callixtus Catacombs.
We arrived at what appeared to be a vast green farmer’s field. The area was lush with vegetation and had a few well placed spruce trees lining the walkways and well manicured hedging around the buildings. Upon arrival at the catacombs we moved into a small chapel for our morning Mass. The chapel which was just large enough for our group is located right above the spot where the church buried its early martyred Popes. Today our boys where wide awake and had more than enough energy to sing and play their little hearts out. It was quite a moving scene. There were quite a few other visitors who passed by and looked in the chapel with great interest.
After Mass we met up with our tour guide for a briefing prior to starting our tour. Our guide was a priest from the order responsible for maintaining the catacombs. After our briefing we descended to stairs of the catacomb to the second of four levels. The catacombs lie 7–19 metres (23–62 ft) below the surface in area of more than 2.4 square kilometres (590 acres). Narrow steps that descend as many as four stories join the levels. Passages are about 2.5 by 1 metres (8.2 × 3.3 ft). The temperature in the catacombs was cool, but the environment was slightly damp. Our boys had many questions on the purpose of the catacombs and how it was developed.
Before we knew it we were back in the bus and heading towards St. Paul Outside the Walls Basilica. On our way out we passed Chiesa del Domine Quo Vadis church. This pint-sized church marks the spot where St Peter, while fleeing Rome, met a vision of Jesus going the other way. When Peter asked, “Domine, quo vadis?” (or “Lord, where are you going?”), Jesus replied, “Venio Roman iterum crucifigi” (or “I am coming to Rome to be crucified again”). Reluctantly deciding to join him, Peter tramped back into town where he was immediately arrested and executed.
The church was a breathtaking sight. We had our picnic lunch in front of the church before heading in for our tour. Father Thomas is very familiar with this church. On December 14, 2009, he and 57 other men were ordained into the priesthood in this church. During our visit, we stop and prayed in front of the tour of St Paul. Many of us also took the opportunity to submit our prayer intentions cards for future Masses at the great Basilica. At this basilica the crowds were much more manageable. The church was located off the beaten path.
Many of our boys where so disappointed that we did not finish our tour of St. Peter’s that we decided to return. We waited in the long line to clear security in order to re-enter St. Peter’s Basilica. We then joined the line the go up to the highest point of the cupola. Unfortunately, there was a 5 Euro cash only charge person to climb up to the cupola. They refused to accept our Euro traveller’s cheques or credit cards. We simply did not have enough cash so we missed the opportunity..sign. Since we could not go up we decided to continue our tour of St. Peter’s and cover the right side of the church.
Our return to St. Peter’s was very challenging as we encountered the largest crowd yet. However, we persisted and managed to view the Pieta sculpture, the altar containing the totally uncorrupted remains of Pope John 23 (yet another minds), and a few other pieces of art. Upon our exit we noticed that our boys were fatigued so we elected to return to the seminary a little early to pack and rest.
At the seminary a number of boys wanted to go to confession so Father Thomas made himself available. A number of our boys sought the opportunity to seek the Lord’s forgiveness through the sacrament. Father remarked that the confessions were so beautiful, honest and sincere that it was truly inspiring. Father Thomas truly felt like the instrument of the Lord. After confessions, we had another great dinner and then headed to the main hall for our awards ceremony.
Prior to the start of the awards ceremony we all sang happy birthday to Sinju Ha and much to his surprise and shock all 350 seminarians present in the dining room stopped eating, stood up and joined in the singing too. Brother Nicholas had established a point system for our boys to accumulate points based on their behaviour over the period that they were are the seminary. The results for the teams were as follows:
· 1st Green team
· 2nd Grey team
· 3rd Blue team
· 4th Yellow team
Father Thomas also took the time to hand out some special awards, including a 1st Communion give for Andy and some special wards for the most attentive boys. As leaders, we were pleased with how our boys reacted to winning or not, and how they celebrated their efforts and success. The congratulated their brothers in a very sincere way. There was not a single negative comment. This was awesome. Mantee’s team pooled their money and purchased a gift for him to express their appreciation for his care and leadership. This was a very thoughtful gesture from them. We ended the evening with deep prayers in the chapel before heading to bed.
Map of trip
Link to map of our trip for the day
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