Pilgrimage to Rome
By Alton Pelowski
Photos by Alton Pelowski and Michele Adams

Making Plans

Inspired by prayer, Joe Cella had called me from his Ann Arbor home, in effort to organize a small pilgrimage of young adults to Italy for the beatification of Mother Teresa of Calcutta and Pope John Paul II's 25th anniversary. With less than two months before our intended departure, we didn't yet have tickets to the beatification, plane tickets or accomodations.

First, Fr. Jerry Vincke, director of vocations for the Diocese of Lansing, was able to secure tickets for us to the Mass of Beatification. Providentially, he had celebrated Mass for a small community of Missionaries of Charity who visited mid-Michigan during the summer, and they encouraged him to come see them in Rome.

A couple of our fellow travelers wanted to make the trip, but simply couldn't afford it - even though we were doing it cheaply.

A few young adults traveling from Ann Arbor were the first to find plane tickets that fit their schedule. They purchased the tickets on Aug. 26 - which happens to be Mother Teresa's birthday. I then prayed a novena to Mother Teresa, and as it ended, Fr. Jerry and I at last found reasonably-priced tickets for ourselves. That was Sept. 5 - the anniversary of Mother Teresa's death.

It soon became apparent that finding a place to stay wouldn't be easy. After all, tens of thousands of people had already made plans to visit the Eternal City the same weekend. Msgr. Raica, a Diocese of Lansing priest currently serving in Rome, told me the Casa Santa Maria and North American College had been booked since March. I decided to pray another novena to Mother Teresa. As it was ending, on Sept. 18, Joe found a clean, affordable "pensione" - located just a 10-minute walk from the Vatican - with many vacant rooms.

One Pilgrim's Story

In mid-October, tens of thousands of Catholics from around the world joined together in Rome to celebrate. Many adults from the Diocese of Lansing traveled in a formally organized pilgrimage. As for our group of young adults traveling from Michigan, some arrived in Rome on Thursday, Oct. 16, in time to attend the papal anniversary Mass. Others arrived later, and some left earlier than others. On some occasions, more than 10 of us were together, and at other times, we split up into smaller groups to more easily visit various churches and sites of interest. As a result, while we shared many great experiences, we each had a uniquely blessed pilgrimage. Here are a few highlights of just one pilgrim's story.

Friday, Oct. 17, 2003

I arrived with others on Friday afternoon, Oct. 17. That evening, some of us were blessed to attend a beautiful performance of Beethoven's 9th symphony and Handel's "Ode to Joy" at the Pope Paul VI papal audience hall. By coincidence, Fr. Karl Pung, former director of vocations for the Diocese of Lansing, happened to be sitting right next to us. Pope John Paul II and Cardinal Ratzinger gave short addresses before the concert began. And following the concert, Cardinal Ratzinger happened to be walking by us outside of the audience hall - a perfect photo opportunity.

Later Friday night, many of us attended a "holy hour for priests" at St. John Lateran Basilica. This hour of Eucharistic adoration was an opportunity to pray for and with priests, and featured the reading of the words of Mother Teresa for reflection.

Saturday, Oct. 18, 2003

Late Saturday morning, Oct. 18, most of the people in our group traveled by train from Rome to Assisi, which is located in the breathtaking mountainous region of Umbria. Among other things, our trip of course included visits to the Basilicas of St. Francis and St. Clare, the churches where these great saints are buried. The various adventures that happened that evening included some of us reconvening at the Assisi train station. We soon found that our train - the last one of the day - was running dangerously late, and it looked as if we would miss our connecting train back to Rome. Rather than being downhearted, however, we enjoyed our time together as we faced the possibility of being stranded in St. Francis' hometown. We prayed the Divine Mercy chaplet and invoked the intercession of the saints. Shortly after one of members of our group made an appeal to St. Anthony, a young Italian named Antonio came to our assistance, helping us ultimately to make it home to Rome.

Sunday, Oct. 19, 2003

We departed early Sunday morning and met in St. Peter's Square a couple hours before the beatification Mass began. The weather forecasts we had heard said it would surely rain, and shortly before we left Michigan, thunderstorms were predicted. To the contrary, we were met with a beautiful, blue sky and the nicest weather of our pilgrimage. Attending the beatification Mass was truly a remarkable experience.

After lunch, some of us visited St. Peter's Basilica. We took time to pray, look at the magnificent art and climb up the steps to the "cupola," from which we could see look down to the church and square below.

We then attended a documentary about Mother Teresa's life filmed by Anne and Jeanette Petrie, which premiered in the papal audience hall. There, we sat next to some religious sisters. Soon, we found out the sisters were from Michigan, lived at the Casa Santa Maria in Rome and were in charge of distributing the tickets to the cardinals' consistory two days later - which Fr. Jerry and I had hoped to attend.

When the documentary was over, as it was getting dark, a few of us were on our way to meet others in our group for dinner and gelati (Italian ice cream) near Trevi Fountain. Shortly before we could catch a bus to our meeting place, a fireworks show began unexpectedly near the Vatican. So, we joyously ran down the street back to St. Peter's Square. Among the first people we saw were those whom we were scheduled to meet - they, too, had been running late. Pope John Paul II looked from his apartment window as we and others gathered in the square to watch the extraordinary fireworks show and listen to the music that accompanied it. Afterwards, the Holy Father spoke briefly, blessing us a good night.

Monday, Oct. 19, 2003

Some of our fellow Lansing pilgrims had to return to Michigan on Monday morning. Those of us who remained were planning to meet at St. Mary Maggorie Basilica, where Fr. Jerry Vincke would celebrate morning Mass. But Fr. Jerry had a sense that we should go back to the St. Peter's where a cardinal was going to celebrate a Mass of thanksgiving for Blessed Teresa. Shortly after we arrived at the basilica, Fr. Jerry was allowed to move up to the large stage and celebrate the outdoor Mass with many other priests. The rest of us found seats in the square. During the Liturgy of the Word, it began to rain. Although we remained unbothered by the wet seats and dark sky, we were happy to see the sun appear and the rain subside as the Liturgy of the Eucharist began. Following the Liturgy, we were surprised by an announcement that a papal audience would immediately commence in the Pope Paul VI auditorium. Once again, we had the opportunity to receive a message and blessing from the pope.

The rest of the day, we traveled around the city of Rome, visiting various sites. A few of us were privileged, for instance, to visit the home of the missionaries of charity in Rome. We were amazed at the simple accommodations in this unheated building that once served as a chicken coop. We prayed in their humble chapel, and then one of the sisters explained to us that while the week's celebrations were a blessing, she and the other sisters looked forward to returning to their simple lives. Soon after leaving, we also finally saw the amazing exhibit featuring the life of Mother Teresa, which was on display near St. John Lateran Basilica throughout the week.

Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2003

On Tuesday morning, Fr. Jerry and I attended the consistory of cardinals in St. Peter's Square. This involved Pope John Paul II installing the 30 new cardinals, including the only new American cardinal, Archbishop Justin Regali of Philadelphia. Cardinal Regali and Bishop Carl Mengeling became friends when they were priests working as pages in Rome during the Second Vatican Council.

At this time, Fr. Jerry and I visited Nathaniel Sokol, a seminarian for the Diocese of Lansing, who is studying at the North American College. (Less than a month later, Nate was ordained transitional deacon in St. Peter's Basilica.)

In the afternoon, we went to the train station and departed for Nettuno, Italy - a small, coastal city an hour south of Rome, which was the home of St. Maria Goretti, a young Italian martyr who died protecting her purity. After a long walk, Fr. Jerry and I made it to an American World War II cemetery, where thousands of American soldiers are buried - a truly powerful sight. The Italian man who oversees the cemetery grew up in St. Lous, Mo., spoke perfect English and kindly drove us back to the Shrine of St. Maria Goretti. Fr. Jerry hadn't celebrated Mass yet that day and spoke with the rector of the shrine. To his surprise and mine, the rector invited Fr. Jerry to celebrate Mass almost immediately, on the crypt church altar - which is the tomb of St. Maria Goretti! During the Liturgy, Fr. Jerry prayed for the purity of our country - especially the Diocese of Lansing youth.

As I said before, these were just a few highlights of the amazing experiences we had throughout the week. (One might argue that the wonderful Italian food and ice cream would have made the trip worth it alone.) Truly, the Lord blessed and watched over us of throughout the pilgrimage even beyond our expectations.

- Alton Pelowski is Assistant Editor and Webmaster of FAITH Magazine.
- Michele Adams owns and operates Elements of Faith, a religious fine jewelry store.