Filling in the banks

Our last two days were in Assisi. Most went on a side excursion to Florence the first day. Very large and beautiful city.  We visited Cathedral Santa Maria del Fiore and Piazza della Signoria and the Battistero which used to house the Pieta by Michelangelo.  The Pieta is now in the Basilica of St Peter in Rome.  There is a huge bell tower in the Plazza, several made the climb to the top.  They will have to share their pictures from that view.

Our second day in Assisi was a tour of the Basilica of St. Mary of the angels situated in the plain at the foot hill of Assisi.  This huge church encloses the little church, the Porzinucola, the place where St. Francis spent much of his time understanding his vocation to renounce the world and embrace poverty.

Then our tour took us to the top of the hill of Assisi to the Basilica of St. Claire, where we were to see the wooden crucifix that spoke to St. Francis.  Our day ended with Mass in a side chapel of the Basilica.

Rome is behind us

Our trip home was not as we expected it to be. We arrived at the airport in Rome to find that our plane had a broken window.  This meant that Delta had to find us another way home. Most got home late Thursday evening.   This meant 24 hours of travel time due to the time difference of 5 hours. Father Todd and a few others had to stay over in Philadelphia with a return on Friday to Indianapolis.

If you have been following this blog, please do not think it is finished.  Many days were long days of bus travel with little access to the Internet.  There will be more photos and commentary yet to come.  I am sure many of you have found great pictures on Facebook posted by our travelers.  The stories will be told by many for days even months to come.  What a blessing for us all and for you as we remembered you in our prayers as we visited the holy places.

Special thanks to Father Todd for his relentless care and support for all of  us.  The trip would have been very lacking without him, especially for our daily Mass in the Holiest of places.

Day seven.. Florence

Most chose to make this optional trip to Florence.  Very historical.
Also

Day six...Monday

Visit the Marian Shrine of Loreto. The holy house of Nazareth moved to this place from the Holy Land. These pictures will be added later.
 Also stopped at a city where there was a Eucharistic Miracle.  I forgot the name of the city. Celebrated Mass in the Church where the host and wine are miraculously the  human flesh and blood of Jesus.Pictures are at Mass.
Much time on the road. Late to the hotel Assisi.

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I just found that a setting was not allowing readers to make comments.  Hopefully, this has been fixed.  So sorry, we welcome your thoughts.
I have not been able to make a lot of commentary or load a lot of pictures due to slow wi_fi.  I am sure many have posted on Facebook. Keep us in your prayers as we do for you. Here are some random photos.

Day five..Abbey of Santissima Trinita

Catching up on the day I missed.  This was Saturday March 7th. Very cold and windy. This Abbey is almost on top of a mountain and built into the mountain. Founded by a local saint. Beautiful paintings in a gallery deep in the side of the mountain. We celebrated Mass in this church.
Trip continued on to the Giovanni Rotondo, home of Saint Padro Pio. We stopped on the way in Salerno for lunch and a little  shopping.

day six St. Michael archangel and St. Pio

Wonderful day with St. Padre Pio.

Mass celebrated on the altar used by San Pio. Weather is uncomfortably cold but at least it is not raining.

Pasta lesson at the hotel.

Day four. Roma is behind us.

At Montecassino Abbey.

Had no idea this Abbey was built so close to Heaven. Motorcoach ride hugging the winding road , praying the rosary. Very much worth the trip.
On through the
mountains

to Pompei.  Mt Vesuvius is quite impressive.  We celebrared Mass in a chapel in Madonna del Rosario Sanctuary. 

Day three. many places today

Thursday. First tour was the Vatican Museum. Very rainy and cold to start the day.  Overwhelming to say the least.  Of course the Sistine Chapel was the highlight for me.
From there we went into the Basilical of St. Peter. It was crowded in my opinion. The Tour guide disagreed having experience leading tours on busy days.
So much to see in a limited time. Pictures to follow later.  Maybe you have seen pictures on Facebook.
My really favorite Church today was St Mary Major. There's even a small Sistine chapel,  very beautiful.  Wood from the Nativity  cradle in a beautiful display below the main altar.


Had time to do a little shopping and quick lunch
Some went to see the Colosseum. Left me wanting to know more.

Day two..Papal Audience, St. Paul and St. John

Wonderful positioning for the route of the Pope Mobile. I could have almost touched it.  Pope Francis stopped right in front of our group.  He held and kissed three or four babies and very young children. All together we have many good pictures. Father Todd gave some of us a little translation of Pope Francis's talk. Can't wait to read it all.
Next on to the Church of St.Paul outside of Roma.
Last tour of the day was to the Cathedral of St. John Lateran. This is the Church of Pope Francis.
Too late tonight to upload the pictures. Will do so tomorrow.
Late supper with wonderful operatic entertainment.

Meal shared after Mass,day one

Very nice meal with authentic Italian menu.  Opera entertainment. Free flowing vino.

Mass,day one in Rome

The basket of prayer requests were placed before the altar.

Happy faces

From St. Mark ,through the airport and with one of our tour guides at the Church Palace Hotel.

Safely in Rome

We arrived safely in Rome at 8am tuesday morning.  Settled in our hotels by about10am. No one was sure about the safety of our bus ride ride to the hotels since driving seems pretty chaotic on the streets of the city of Rome. A very good bus driver handled the swarm of "tiny" cars very  well. We are split between two lovely hotels. We celebrate our first Mass this evening in the Church Palace hotel where half of us are staying. A dinner of welcome will follow. Our afternoon is free for whatever we want to do.  There may be some shopping for some. I suspect a few naps will be priority for others since sleeping was difficult on the plane. Hope to include pictures soon.

Prayer requests

We will take you with us in our hearts as we travel to Sacred, Holy places.  Many had opportunity  to write prayer requests on small slips of paper this weekend.  We will carry these requests with us and they will be placed before the altar at each Mass we celebrate.  If you did not get to church this morning due to the SNOW, be assured of our prayers for each of your intentions.

 Do we have volunteers to help clean off the airplane so we can fly to Rome?😕