Breakfast was anything but silent, of course. Yes, there was very little, if any, talking, and lots of polite smiles and nods. But the chairs in the dining room made a symphony all their own. Between the clinking of silverware, the scratching of chair legs against the tile floor, the noises of 100 people having breakfast, the sounds were merely different than usual. But everyone seemed comfortable with the request of having a silent meal, and many remember them from other retreats.
The opening Mass for the discernment days had been prepared by the French language group and they did a marvelous job. We began outside of the Main Chapel, where we were invited to begin our journey by processing into the "tent" of the chapel (See, it's working!), blessing ourselves with holy water, as a symbol of baptism (and going through the Red Sea, etc.), singing a wonderful French hymn recalling the journey.
After the readings, we were invited to really reflect on the readings and to write on a small card an answer to the question: "Lord, what do you want us to do now?" At the offertory, all of us went up to the altar and dropped our cards into a basket. After Mass, the cards were posted in the hallway for all to read throughout the day. During the Mass, there were some further terrific musical settings, to my ear anyway. I might not have been able to understand all of the French, but the sentiments certainly were communicated.After Mass, there was a long 2-hour period of reflection and study. I mostly worked on upcoming liturgical things and the evening Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. I asked Fr. Dennis to begin the service, and both of us spent a good 20 minutes with Br. Vincenzo talking in a mixture of broken English, French, Italian and Esperanto (or our version of it) about the service and what we would need. "Oue, fratello, we need pouvrai le monstrance pour la altare." Even a United Nations interpretor would have had a hard time keeping up. But it all worked. Vincenzo kept smiling, grabbing our hand and upper arm with both of his and dragging us to another part of the sacristry where he would point to things (a taper, or a thurible, or a candle stand) in order to make a point about how he things it should all go. Then, Br. Ferdinand asked me to help him find some push pins so that he could put together a small display for the front of the altar. We went to Br. Lorenzo (didn't have any), to Br. Roch (took us to the Sisters who dove into the convent and came out with needles - no good), to a nearby stationery store (everything else but push pins) to the Interspar store nearby (penny nails wouldn't do, needles couldn't work either). Just as we were exiting the Interspar store, I spied a section with scissors and the like. And there, on the bottom rung, near the back, were the pushpins. They're the tiniest things, and they sure were hard to find. And a small box cost about four dollars. But at that point I was willing to pay twice as much. It's that supply and demand thing, I guess.
Lun
ch time was a time when we could talk. At breakfast that morning, Freddie (Br. Ferdinand) had stopped me, given me a hug, and congratulated me on my birthday. I don't know how he knew, but pretty soon other people were doing the same. At lunchtime, towards the end, Br. Carlos Gomez (the one in charge of the Central Committee), Br. Frank Carr, and a Brother Jean-Francois took the microphone and proceeded to tell the whole group in three languages that it was my birthday, each language rendition ending in applause and smiles in my direction. I, of course, was a bit embarrassed by it all and certainly must have turn red as a beet. Thankfully, there were no pictures. Then the whole place broke into a chorus of "Happy Birthday to You" (you remember how they do this at the drop of a hat - this time it fit) and in the second half even rendered it in three or four harmonies. That was pretty impressive. Then more applause followed by a line of Brothers, both those I already knew and those I'd met, coming up to congratulate me personally. It was all a bit overwhelming. Of course for the rest of the day, anyone who hadn't yet congratulated me made sure to do so when they met me in the hallway. I suppose that it is a mark of these Brothers that they not only really care for one another but that by disposition and experience they are generous in the attention that they pay to others. That's why they are chosen by the other Brothers for the positions that they have. Nevertheless, it was probably one of the most unique and powerful experiences of a birthday that I can recall. Br. Aad van Bentem gave me the gift of a copy of a book on the history of the Brothers in Holland, written in Dutch and completed only last year. Even though the language level might be a bit beyond my own, I'll enjoy making my way through it and improving on my Dutch. He wants me to come give some talks to the Brothers in Holland next year. Yikes! I better start taking those throat lozenges right now - the way the throat works with Dutch gives it a real beating.Okay, that being over, I had to prepare for the choir rehearsal at 2:00 PM. Most of the folks showed up and we practices both the Agio Theos, a wonderful three-part Greek chant that we will use at the beginning of the service tonight, and Adoro te Devote, a traditional Eucharistic hymn. The voices sounded marvelous, both in their harmony and in the way they flowed through the words. For the first time in my experience, the Latin chant was sung with a flow that reflected the united character of the group. With hardly any practice, but with their common background and present character as brothers, they breathed and sung and enunciated very well together, as if they were one voice. It was quite something else to hear.
After the choir practice, it was time for a nice nap. I'm getting used to that Italian siesta thing - not a bad idea. And to drift off for a while with the sounds of the kids at the school in back playing in their schoolyard and providing a background noise through the open window is a rather nice thing. It doesn't matter how small or large the room is.
At 5:00 PM there was another Central Commission meeting. We reviewed the day so far and looked at the details for tomorrow. Then we took up an item that had been submitted to us by a member of the Chapter and had a thorough discussion. I was again impressed with the caliber of the people in the room. Within a 30 minute period, I heard several positions stated very articulately and with conviction. But if a little later some reasons were given to chance that opinion, they readily did so. People were interested in moving the discussion forward, not in defending some position that they had previously espoused, and they were quite willing to change their minds for the right reasons.
Just before dinner, I went downstairs to "The Den" - which is the room the the English-speaking Brothers call their own, for some chicken wings and Coke that Roch had prepared for the occasion. The two volunteers, Paul, Roch, and one of the other Brothers were there to participate. Dinner was again in silence. There was the clinking of glasses and all of the noises from breakfast, only more intense (more food, more utensils, more walking around getting things from various serving tables). The tables had champagne glasses on them, so we knew that they'd probably bring out a cake at the end of dinner. Several Brothers toasted me in silence with their empty champagne glasses and a smile, and I got at least one gift of a bread stick. 
Near the end of dinner, the cake was rolled in to applause (still no speaking allowed) and then the moderator announced that because of the occasion, we could now talk. Great relief all around. I'd gotten hold of Br. Michael French and Br. Camillo, telling them that the cake was for them as well (they had celebrated their birthdays yesterday, but there had been no cake), and they joined me in cutting the cake. Again, "Happy Birthday to You" but this time "Happy birthday, dear Brothers..." We distributed the cake and served the champagne, which quickly ran out.Pretty much right after dinner, I rushed off to my room to get my candle (we were each to bring a candle for the evening service) and then made my way to the Main Chapel for the Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. Since it followed dinner so closely, I waited a couple of minutes before beginning. Then the choir started Agio
Theos and Fr. Dennis came out to place the host in the monstrance, and so on. We had also placed a lectionary / bible on the altar next to the monstrance in order to show that God was present in both Word and Sacrament. Then we sang four verses of Adoro te Devote (everyone seemed to know it, and it sounded very nice a capella in that chapel) and then there was silence for a few minutes. Finally, Paulo Petry and I walked over to the Paschal Candle, lit our candles, placed them on the long table that Freddie and I had put in front of the sanctuary, and gestured for others to bring their candles. Soon we had a full procession going where, silently, the Brothers placed their candles on the table (on top of small plastic dishes in order to preserve the wood surface). It was quite a sight.For the next 80 minutes of so, the Brothers prayer silently in the chapel or elsewhere. They were free to stay or to go and most stayed for at least an hour. You could hear the creaking of the benches but that too gradually faded away. I had thought that the chapel would be almost empty at the end of the time period, but there were still 40 or so Brothers there. So I went up to the front and began to sing the Tantum Ergo as a closing hymn, gesturing to Vincenzo to put the host back into the tabernacle. He did so - I think it made his day - very reverently. Then I intoned the Salve Regina, which all sang with gusto, and closed the ceremony. A few minutes later, five or six Brothers were blowing out the candles (too dark to take a picture, which was too bad), cleaning up the wax that had fallen on the table, and helping to roll the table to the side, since tomorrow morning the French language group would be having Mass there (everyone would be back in language groups for the next three days).
The day wasn't over for me yet, however. Two people had invited me to go our for gelato, and this evening was the only available time for me. So at 10:15 PM, Roch, Leonardo, Paulo and I made our way to Blue Ice for a closing gelato. It was a fine end to a fine day.More pictures of the day at http://picasaweb.google.com/gvangrie/ItalyMay9?pli=1
