Ordination Day

My third day and night in Rome was very eventful. The night before I had received a text from Michelle Mitchell saying that there would be a metro and bus strike that day. I had woken up at some point during the night to a storm that went on for hours. When it was time to get up and go, I tried calling all of the taxi numbers in my guide book, but they all either disconnected or rang busy. Grandpa and I decided to start walking to the taxi stand near St. Peter’s, but as we went we saw the buses were running. Taking a chance, we went to the Cipro metro station and the trains were running. My prayers had been answered, we would be making it to the ceremony on time. It was the ordination of Jason and Michael Mitchell. The ceremony was gorgeous and the ordination itself included the laying of hands, anointing of the hands, robing, and consecration of the bread and wine.

That afternoon, we met up with Chuck and Mary Ann Gray for lunch. I had a tuna and tomato sandwich and it was delicious. The man serving it to me said, “For the beautiful lady.” I didn’t even hear him say it, perhaps it’s because I was too distracted by the food coming to me. We went to the Trevi Fountain, which was one of the things I had been most looking forward to seeing. Mr. Gray took a picture of me throwing a coin into it, which promises a return to Rome. We ventured to the Parthenon, which is such a breathing building. It was actually built with a hole in the ceiling, so when it rains, it pours into the building. The center of the floor was roped off as it was wet due to the storms from earlier in the day. I enjoyed snapping pictures of the architecture. The Gray’s then showed us Santa Maria as well, which was a gorgeous church, but it was too dark for my camera to do it any justice. It is also the church that has the elephant with an obelisk on top of it. There was scaffolding over it though, as they were restoring it.

That evening we went to a restaurant near the Vatican with everyone to celebrate the ordination. The food was excellent and so was the company. I sat with Andrea, Theresa, Jeremy, Peter, Michelle, and Grandpa. We were first served appetizers of ham along with deep fried vegetables, rice, and fish. Next came two different kinds of pasta, one in tomato sauce and another in a cheese sauce. The main course was chicken and potatoes which was quite delicious. For dessert, we were served an array of tarts with fruit or peanuts while those who wanted it got gelato. Shots of limoncello were passed around as well for those of us old enough to have it.

Afterward, I met Brother Joel and we talked about Ireland. He lived in Dublin for two years, which I am jealous of with my mere four months residency there. Being in Rome made me miss everything about Dublin. The metro made me wish I was on the DART, the Italian accent and language made me long for the Irish accent, when I saw a Despar I wanted it to be a Spar, and the list went on and on. I think revisiting Dublin will be my next trip abroad.