Greetings from Rome

Dear Friends,

On Pentecost June 5, my son, Asher (age 15) and I set out for Rome. We left Newark airport (see photo above) for a 3 week pilgrimage. From the moment we got in line for security check in Newark, we could see the fruits of our prayers asking Our Blessed Mother to be our guide. The person in front of us in the security line was a priest who is in charge of evangelization for the Diocese of Newark, New Jersey. Indeed this trip so far has been peppered with a multitude of providential meetings. 

The travel was difficult, but we arrived on Monday, June 6, in time to make our way to St. Peter's Basilica for their last daily Mass of the day. The sun was streaming through the stained glass window above the altar. It has indeed been a great blessing to spend the Octave of Pentecost in Rome. 

Our daily uniform has been the Children's Rosary T-shirts. Asher and I wear these each day. It is amazing to see the smiles we get from total strangers as we wear the image of Our Blessed Mother of the Children's Rosary across our shirt. We also carry the Children's Rosary book with us as we want always to be prepared
to share these as gifts. We see these little books as seeds that we share during our travels. We put our hope and trust in God that they can bring fruit.

Please know that our time in Rome has also been one of prayer. We have brought you here with us to St. Peter's Basilica where we attend Mass most days and also have the opportunity for Adoration. When we have not attended Mass on a particular day at St. Peter's Basilica it is because we attended Mass at another location, such as the Basilica of St. Mary Major, the Basilica St. John Lateran, or at the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi in the village of Assisi.  We usually end our evenings with a walk when it is cooler in St. Peter's Square, which makes a lovely place to pray the Rosary. We had a providential meeting with the Archbishop of Lahore Pakistan (see photo below) in St. Peter's Square. It was a great blessing to meet Archbishop Shaw since we have many Children's Rosary groups in his Archdiocese. 

We were able to visit the Church with the original Icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, which appears on the back of our Children's Rosary book. See below the original icon is over the altar.

We will cap our trip to Rome by attending the World Meeting of Families at the Vatican beginning on June 22. From Rome, we will travel to Austria to stay at the Cistercian monastery, Heiligenkreuz, until July 1. We will then complete our pilgrimage by visiting Scotland for a special prayer event with Bishop John Keenan of Paisley, Scotland. 

We hope to continue with dispatches from the journey. 

United in prayer.

Your Friend in Christ,

Blythe