Touch Down - ROME!!!

We have arrived in Rome after our 26 hour journey. It is wonderful to be here.

Charlotte King from Forbes and Heidi Welsh
from Eugowra with our guide Stephania

Stephania, our tour guide and Salvatora our bus driver greeted us at the airport and took us on an orientation tour of the streets of Rome. What an amazing city. We stopped at the Colosseum and the Circus Maximus; this is the site

Miranda Evans and me

where most of the Christians were martyred. Stephania also taught us a very important skill – how to drink from the water fountains of Rome. Bishop Mark also pointed out many of the Mother houses of the religious orders and the university (Propaganda Fide), where many of our Australia Bishops studied.



Thanks for the demo Charlotte



We celebrated the Eucharist at the church of Our Lady of Guadeloupe near our hotel. The gospel of the Beatitudes was proclaimed. Archbishop Mark told us that in the Roman Missal, all the saints are called – not ‘saint’  but ‘blessed’ – beati – because we see in them what the beatitudes really look like. Mary MacKillop lived the beatitudes in her life, as did St Vincent de Paul and our other wonderful saints.



Dinner was shared in a quaint little restaurant in the cobbled streets near the Vatican. We then walked through the Piazza of Saint Peter’s Basilica – the warmth of the Piazza came not only from the beautiful warm October weather but also from other pilgrims who seemed as awe struck as we were as we gazed upon the stunning spot-lit architecture.

Channel Seven found us at the hotel, interviewed Archbishop Mark, filmed us all dining at the restaurant and interviewed Fr Richard Thompson for the live AM program. Looks like we are going to be TV stars!!

Another word on comments

I've taken out the "Word Verification" step in the fun filled comment process to make it speedier for you all. But, if my poor blog starts getting spammed with fake comments I'll be forced to turn it back on. So we'll see how we go.
Thank you for those who have commented already. I really appreciate hearing from you!

And just by the way, I've added the actual footage of the Archdiocese Mary MacKillop video for anyone yet to see it. Just scroll down a few posts. Alternatively, you can check it out directly from the Archdiocese website.
Hopefully I'll be able to get some footage from Rome, as well as photos, up on the blog too so you can really see what we all get up to!

We've got the tickets so it's not long now...

With just days to go before we fly out, a meeting of the pilgrims was held at the Rheinberger Centre to make sure we all knew who was who and what was what. I was happy there were plenty of familiar faces and it was exciting to see young and old from all parts of the Archdiocese will be journeying with us.

This is just part of our group of 35 - what a happy bunch!

Bishop Mark greeted us as our spiritual director. I am looking forward to learning from him, praying with him and experiencing this special event under his spiritual guidance.

We received our tickets, a map of Rome, the itinerary, backpack and cap – holding those goodies in our hands brought to reality the closeness of our departure.

Trish from Capital Travel went through the usual travel queries but there was one point she and Bishop Mark really emphasised - BE PUNCTUAL!

Now all I have to do is finish packing!! I am envious of those really organised people who have finished already. Organisation: what a gift. 

I'll get there eventually.

How to leave comments

A few people have contacted me saying they'd love to comment on my blog but aren't sure how to do it. It's a bit of a process unfortunately, but hopefully these instructions will help. I would really like to hear what you think so the more comments the better!

• Click on "comments" located after the time stamp under the post you wish to comment on.
• Type your comment in the Post a Comment box.
• You'll see a drop down box underneath it. This is where you need to select your profile. If you have one of the accounts listed, select it. If you don't then click on anonymous (if you want your name to appear you'll have to write it in the comment box with this option).
• Click on "Post Comment".
• Those who didn't select anonymous will then be asked to sign in to their particular account. Once you do you'll be redirected back to the blog where you'll see a preview of your post. If you're happy with it then click "Post Comment" again.
• To avoid comment spam, you'll also be asked to complete a Word Verification. Type in the letters you see, hit "Post Comment" one last time and you're done.

Ridiculously complicated process I know, but I promise I'll appreciate your comments even more knowing the drama you had to go through to post them!

Who are these amazing people?

In England, Benedict XVI presided over the beatification ceremony of Blessed John Henry Newman on Sunday. He is about to canonise our first Australian saint Mother Mary of the Cross. Canada is celebrating the life of Brother Andre and his story of charity, holiness and hope. Another three people are also to be canonised on 17 October. Who are these people? What makes them holy?
Here I am sorting out what clothes and how many pairs of shoes to take on my trip thinking about how these men and women clothed the poor... How different our lives are.

What Mary means to us

I've just added a link under my "Important links" list to a new five minute video on the Canberra and Goulburn Archdiocese website about what Mary MacKillop and her canonisation means to us.
Or you can check it out right here:

Mary's gentle mercy

I must tell you about a beautiful little book I have been reading as preparation for my trip to the Canonisation. It is titled - ‘Memories of Mary, by those who knew her. Sisters of St Joseph 1925 – 1926’. It recalls moments and memories of the Sisters who knew Mary of the Cross. I loved this particular little story, set in Kincumber where my great, great grandmother lived and knew Mary.

 ......Mother Mary was devotedly attached to the orphans. In years gone by her visits to Kincumber were always looked forward to by the boys who met her at Woy Woy. In a small open boat they rowed her for three miles across the Brisbane Water – one little chap being employed the whole way bailing out the water. This happened frequently on dark nights too, when only the splash of the oar could indicate their arrival at the orphanage. Mother went there on imperative administrative business, but was always accompanied by bags of bread and meat. On one occasion a little orphan came to her crying: ‘Please, Mother, Sr A sent me to tell you that I stole a loaf of bread!’  ‘Were you hungry, my child? If so, go back and steal another.’.....

It shows such gentle mercy as she imitated Christ’s love for the poor and orphaned. I suppose that is what a saint is made of!