As many of you know, I had applied to study at the North American College back in December, and I am excited to announce that I just received word that I have been officially accepted, and thus, barring some catastrophe, will be going over there for my Theology-level seminary in a few months! As far as I can tell at this point, I will be heading over to Italy in mid-July to begin an 8 week long Italian immersion program at Assisi. Then, in September, I will move into the North American College in Rome, where I will continue to study Italian until classes start in October. Obviously, I'm pretty excited about the whole thing (though not without a bit of trepidation). Please keep me in your prayers - not only about going into upper-seminary, but also about finishing up all my classes here at Brute (it's that time of the semester, where you are just trying not to fall behind). Hopefully I can blog a bit more regularly about everything that goes on with heading over there (but that probably won't be happening until I knock out some of the many assignments that are careening towards me over the next few weeks).
Thanks for all your prayers, know of mine for you!
Also, don't let the last 2 weeks of Lent slip away - recommit yourself to growing towards God!
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A view from the PNAC towards St. Peter's (It's that close)
It also has a (rare) bit of snowfall. |
Happy First Saturday!... I don't know if I've ever wished someone that before, but I guess it can be done, right? Actually, we should be very happy, because on Saturdays (especially 1st Saturdays) we honor Mary, and that should make us happy, because Mary is awesome! (I'll have to expound on that in some other post, because that one word isn't very descriptive in today's society...) Anyway, drum roll please: this post will be a little bit more important than my typical "sorry, I don't have much time, here's a cool video" post... :-)
And that is because I am finally able to announce to you all that I will be applying to study at the Pontifical North American College - in Rome, Italy - for my upper/theology level seminary! It is located within Vatican City (i.e. it overlooks St. Peter's Basilica!), and has about 250 seminarians from the United States, Canada, and Australia. If I get accepted, which is somewhat likely, but not guaranteed (they are at, or almost at, capacity right now), I will be heading over to Italy in mid-July (as in, 7 months from now!), to spend 8 weeks, or so, in Italian immersion. That is very important because all the classes (which start in October, I believe), are taught in Italian...
It's a little scary - not so much the language (that is overcome-able by hard work), but mostly just how far away I will be from everything I know (and love) back home. But, while it's incredibly daunting, it is also incredibly exciting (as you can imagine)! Please, as always, keep me in your prayers - that God's will may be done.
Part of the reason that I haven't been good at posting stuff over this Christmas break is that I have been really, really busy trying to fill out all the forms (all 30 pages of them!), getting the requisite check-ups, and writing the required autobiography. I have so many plans for great posts, but I just haven't had time to write them! Unfortunately, I'm going to have 19 credit hours next semester, so unless I stay really organized I don't think my rate of posting is going to go up... (We'll see!)
In other news: I just got back from a wonderful First-Friday, First-Saturday vigil (which started with the Rosary, then Mass, then Exposition, then many, many devotions, then Benediction, and Mass again at 1 in the morning - it was fantastic!) Also, later today I will be heading down to Effingham where I will meet the other Springfield-diocese Brute guys and we will car-pool over to St. Meinrad where our retreat is happening. It will last until Wednesday, at which point, I will come back home, finish all the application stuff, and then get some more blogging done before going back to Brute on next Sunday. Man, this break has gone by way too fast!
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| view from St. Peter's dome - overlooking the city of Rome |
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