Italian Procession and Feast!
It’s Tuesday night. Another day gone and it’s a good thing I remembered to log onto the site and write a small update. It wouldn’t do to become a slacker the last week of my time here in The Peg, would it?
Now Sunday was an amazing day. I was invited by Fr. Sam from Holy Rosary parish to join into their annual parish festival. We celebrated the H. Mass of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary at 2:30 (in Italian – it gives such a totally different and wonderful atmosphere to the Mass!) and afterwards there was a procession. It was much different than the usual processions I’ve been to where there has been more of a prayerful atmosphere. These Italians, however, seemed to make it into some sort of festivity, with them cheering, talking, singing and throwing flowers in the general direction of the statues. Well over 30 degrees, it tends to get a bit hot in your cassock, so the secret is not to wear any long pants underneath 
After an hour, we were back at the church. My friend Mark Filips came out to Winnipeg for the last time, and after the procession, we all had a drink at Fr. Sam’s house before going to the Italian centre in Winnipeg. Now, you won’t believe the show this parish managed to pull off. There was great Italian catering (you did have to pay for your own meal, but nothing too outrageous) and a show with song, dance and this great magician. I tell you, how they do it, I never know, but this time I was involved in one of the tricks. He had me pick a card from a kid’s imaginary deck of cards, then showed us a deck of cards with only one card face down and asked me which card I had picked from the kid’s imaginary deck. So I said, 7 of hearts. And whaddayaknow, the only card in his deck that was turned face down was… the 7 of hearts. Unbelievable! (I do, by th way, deny any rumors of being seen talking to him before the show in the hallway)
After dinner was over, Fr. Sam, Mark and his parents, and yours truly went back to Fr. Sam’s rectory where we shared one last drink. And then… time for goodbyes. It’s kinda weird – a prelude to more goodbyes that will follow a week from now.
The last two days were kind of dominated by two funerals I went to; one at Holy Rosary church and one at St. Joseph, where Fr. Kevin presided in German. I was touched by the husband of the deceased who I had only met a week ago. I told him I had come to give him my condolences and to pray for his wife, even though I was only a stranger. He hugged me and said “You’re not a stranger anymore”. At the end of the funeral Mass, the priest prays that all signs of affection we give, may be a sign of God’s love. I was reminded of that in this moment and am still left with a sense of humility and gratefulness for having been able to be there for this poor soul who lost his wife, that I could share in his sorrow. It’s moments like these that you really want to be a priest, because you feel you want to dedicate your life to being close to people like him. To God’s people.
Tonight I watched “Thérèse’, a movie about the life of Therese of Lisieux. I left a review at the Amazon website, which you can read if you are interested at all. (If you don’t see my review on the page, the Amazon people haven’t approved it yet… try again later). The movie really lifted up my heart to God and made me feel very connected with Therese. I love her so dearly, and although the movie wasn’t very good, it did manage to touch that place in my heart where I hold her close, where she leads me, guides me and surrounds me with her prayers. I first came to know St. Therese when working on the cover of Fr. Marie-Dominique Philippe’s book “Strength in Weakness”. If you don’t know her yet, you don’t know what you’re missing.
Listen guys, it’s time for me to go to bed. In one week I will be packing my bags to head home on the 27th. When I am back in seminary, I will have several exciting things to work on. This site will return with posts less in diary style, but with more Life at the Seminary posts. I am also thinking about a course on the Chronicles of Narnia – what we as Christians can learn from these books. I am hoping to hear whether you might be interested or not!
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