Happy Mother's Day tomorrow...

Mom:

Watch for me on EWTN tomorrow as we receive Holy Communion from the hands of the Holy Father...

Today at a seaside party we met a guy who was the eighteenth of twenty children! He just arrived from the audience at the Vatican given today by the Holy Father to the participants of the big 40th anniversary Rome celebration of Humanae Vitae. Dr. Billings was there, too.

This afternoon was spent on the beach with Catholic students from all over the globe who study in Rome. Youth from Mexico, Canada, U.S.A., South Tirol, Italy, etc. It's nice to know we are each one of many - a veritable army of warriors for the cause. The Mexicans have the Faith and are an example to us.

This morning was a blast as I entered through the portone di bronzo and up into the Apostolic Palace to the office of the papal master of ceremonies: Officium Caeremoniarum Pontificalium. Everyone there was really nice and they have a great view of the Vatican Basilcia and soon I'll post photos. God bless the Celebrationum Liturgicarum Pontificalium Magister, Mons. Guido Marini!

Yesterday evening I had the great honor to attend an O. Cist. ordination at Santa Croce in Gerusaleme. It was a privilege to greet Angelo Card. Comastri, now Archpriest of the Vatican Basilica. The reception was a real treat, too, getting into the lovely refectory there in the attached convent.

Thursday was spent at a conference near Rome on the battle of Lepanto. It was hosted by a friend of mine whose uncle was the gardener of Pius XII (il giardiniere della famiglia Pacelli). Then he mentioned he's putting together a gita to make a visit to the beach where St. Augustine spoke with an angel about the Ss. Trinity (in the village of Allumiereat, as he mentioned, approx. 20 km from the Port of Rome, Civitavecchia).

On May 6 they had the skull of St. Andrew the Apostle in Rome at the parish of S. Andrea della Valle (up from the Amalfi coast, just south of Naples, where the relic is kept; it's the rear of his skull). As I touched the reliquary and prayed in front of this piece of St. Andrew I prayed for all readers of this blog. On April 30, too, as I touched the reliquary containing the body of Pope St. Pius V at the Liberian Basilcia as I prayed, too, for all readers of this blog and all Catholics in the blogosphere.

It reminded me of when in 2004 they brought the relics of St. Augustine down from near Milan and placed them in the same Rome church next to the tomb of his own mother, St. Monica (Chiesa di San Agostino). I still treasure the time you and I spent on the shore of Ostia (with a stop at the local McDonald's) in 2004. Such a privilege for me to host my own mother in Rome not once, but four times. This was more than Karol J. Wojtyla (first in Rome in 1946) or Joseph A. Ratzinger (first in Rome in 1962) were ever able to do.

There's so much going on that it's difficult to keep up with everything and so much love and union of prayers from la Roma caput orbis terrarum!