Catching Up

It's been almost 2.5 months since my last confession. And frankly I don't quite know how all of that time passed so quickly. When I got to the end of the Chapter I was happy to forego the nightly stint to feed the blog beast. However, since then not only have I kinda missed the regular ruminations of recent events, but - surprisingly to me, at least - a number of folks have asked me what happened and why I wasn't keeping it up.

So, okay, I'll move ahead with it and we'll see what happens. But it will likely be once or twice a week and not every day. Keeping a daily blog means that either you don't really have a life, or that you're so disassociated from real people that you need to "relate" to those accessible through a screen, or you're doing something so interesting that it's a way to share the experience and process it for yourself. Two of those are not too good. I'll try to maintain the third option, within reason.

The main job upon my return was to move myself from Sacrament to Napa. Instead of living at the high school, I'll be living at our Provincialate office in Napa (Mont La Salle). An idyllic painting of the place is shown here. I commissioned it about 10 years ago when I was living there, but it's not far off the mark. It certainly is a contrast from the busy, loud, economically challenged neighborhood that Christian Brothers High School is in. Here the loudest think you hear at night are some birds that haven't gone to sleep yet, or the occasional cow in the attached farm. I spent the first couple of nights at Mont La Salle listening for the comforting sounds of a fire engine or some distant gun shots - typical noises from the area around the school.

After eight years in one place, it's amazing how much "stuff" accumulates. I found a set of boxes that I hadn't opened in all that time. The Director convinced me to just leave them there, unopened (they were pretty much books) and he would go through them for me, giving away what he could and saving what he thought I might want. I took him up on it. God knows there was enough other junk to go through. It made me think that simplicity really is a virtue, and that the more things we have, the more those things potentially have us. God save us from stuff.

There were movers that came and packed the things I hadn't yet packed, took the several items of small furniture, etc. that I've dragged with me from place to place, and deposited it all in my new room in Napa. Subsequent days were spent going through the boxes, saying "Oh, yeah." and putting it in a new pile in the room. Now I'm about 75% settled in. I still need to go through everything in detail and really decide where it should live.

Of course my responsibilities continued - contacting folks interested in the Brothers, exploring new avenues for vocation promotion, attending lots of meetings, etc. In the middle of the summer I traveled to Philadelphia for a meeting of all the vocation directors in the U.S. for the purpose of developing collaborative strategies, etc. A worthwhile meeting, actually, with some good results. I took the opportunity to go on to Washington, D.C., to pursue some vocation contacts there (didn't really pan out) and took a day to do the sights, meeting up with Sam Stefanki - former student body president at CBHS and now legislative assistant to Congresswomen Doris Matsui - who showed me lots of wonderful places. This included the Library of Congress, where I found out that anyone over the age of 18 could be member. Next thing I knew, I was walking down underground tunnels in pursuit of a membership card, which I eventually received. I thought I'd try it out and went to the music library - a real rabbit-warren of libraries make up the Library of Congress - where I sat down with some nifty folios from Alexander Gretchaninov that I'd been interested in for years.

When it came time to leave Washington, I'd arranged to take the train to NYC and then on to Chicago and Sacramento - a little vacation of sorts. However, through my own stupidity (lingered at a museum longer than I should have), I missed the train out of Washington by all of 2 minutes, caught a subsequent train (which was delayed en route) and missed the NYC train also by just 3 minutes. No more room in subsequent trains for a couple of days. So I ended up sitting on the floor of Penn station, surrounded by the rushing crowds, trying to figure out how to get back to California. Thankfully, I had my laptop computer, got online, found a $238 flight the next day to SFO, booked it from the cold floor, and had an adventure trying to get out to the airport. Lesson learned was: don't assume that you can catch a train by showing up 5 minutes before it leaves. Get there 30 minutes ahead of time. (I know, common sense.)

Other noteworthy things that I'll write about if the occasion presents itself:

1) Attended a Tridentine Wedding Mass and Reception (non-Tridentine) at the Sacramento Cathedral for Abigail Hesser (and Jonathan Burke). Brought back a flood of Latin memories.

2) Had my over-50 "procedure" - enough said. Spent a whole day indoors watching all of the Lord of the Rings movies; the uncut versions.

3) Spent a couple of days at the family cabin in Jackson, fixing things, visiting around, enjoying the time with my relatives.

4) Took my niece and a friend of hers to see Joshua Bell play with the Russian National Symphony right here in Yountville. Decided that life was too short for bad tickets, and so we sat close enough to really appreciate the experience. Passionate stuff, the violin.

5) Joined the board at La Salle High School in Milwaukie, OR, for a day of "bonding" (my word) through playing golf in the morning (made a hole-in-one, much to my surprise), lunch, and an afternoon of work at Medical Teams International's warehouse, sorting medical supplies. It's surprising how much "business" can get done in a casual setting - what someone else has called "parking lot conversations."

6) Went to a pool party at my brother's place in Manteca. They have a great lap-pool next to the house: the only way to go. All the family was there, and then some. A great time for everyone.

7) Did a couple of presentations / discussions at Saint Mary's College, at the invitation of Dr. Carole Swain. Two with the Lasallian Scholars Practicum of the Buttimer Institute, and one with the MA program participants in Lasallian Studies.

8) Spent a couple of days at our camp at Lake Huntington, joining a group of Brothers there for a short vacation. It's a gorgeous area, where we've had a lodge and cabins since 1954. Mostly used by others, but they keep a couple of weeks open for just the Brothers.

9) Did a Day of Reflection for the faculty and staff at Christian Brothers High School, Sacramento. Lots of great friends and acquaintances, and a find morning of interaction.

10) Joined my new community of Brothers for a series of meetings during which we set goals, principles, etc. for the upcoming year. It was held at Sea Ranch - kind of remote, but beautiful, near the ocean, with an interesting little non-denominational chapel (see picture) that's along the side of the road.

So, you see, it's not as if I've not been doing anything during the past few months. Naturally, the things that stand out for me are the "fun" things. But rest assured that there was lots of other work in between.

Enough for now. More later. Life moves on and we'd better be paying attention.

June 6 - Traveling Home

It's best to pack the night before leaving somewhere. I've learned this by experience - at least, by my experience. It also makes for a more restful sleep the night before a journey.

I was well and truly packed, except for the things I'd wear and take along on the place, by around midnight and had a good rest. In the morning, being awakened by the morning sun and the view of the Main Chapel put me in the right disposition for the day. Before Mass at 7 AM, I took my bags downstairs to the basment so that they could be loaded right onto the van going to the airport. One of the bags weighed at least 70 lbs. and I hoped that it wouldn't cause problems at check-in. But since I'd emptied out my mileage account to get upgraded to Business, it shouldn't be a problem.

Right after Mass there was just time for a quick breakfast before taking off. I said my goodbyes to the Brothers in the dining room and we packed up the van. One of the Brothers at the Motherhouse, Br. Steven Touhy, had volunteered to drive us. The group consisted of myself and Paul Wolfing, traveling together on the same plane, Roch (going to London for a week with the Brothers there), and Br. Tim Coldwell, who was just appointed as the Visitor of the New Orleans - Santa Fe District and would therefore have to end his job at the Motherhouse as Secretary for Formation, having only spent some 10 months at it. A number of Brothers were there to see us off, including Lorenzo, which was a nice thing for them to do. I'm sure that they see folks coming and going all of the time. Perhaps that's why they know that a gesture like that gives an appreciative ending to an experience like this.

We left the house around 8:15 AM and I arrived at the house in Sacramento at 10 PM. Given the time difference, that makes for about 23 hours of traveling time all-told. The experience airport at Fiumucino was an appropriate end to my Italian journey, since it was as chaotic as some of the traffic patterns in Rome. Once you got inside, you had to figure out which line to get into. "Oh, it's that long, 100-yard line, five people wide, moving slowly through two lanes where airport personnel are checking passports and tickets prior to letting you through to the lines for the counters. Thirty minutes later, now we stand in line for the United counter server and checking our bags. Twenty minutes later, now we stand in line for having our carry-on bags checked through the radar. Twenty minutes later, my Ovieto wine bottle was confiscated and disposed of. And then there's the line for passport control out of the country. Finally, finally you're in the shopping area prior to standing in line for the tram to the terminal where the planes are. And then there's the line to get onto the plane itself.

The plane ride was long and tiring. It's sort of exciting to get onto the plane to begin with, but that soon wears thin and by the end of the 9 hours you can't wait to get off. In Washington, since we were transferring, we had to walk at least 200 yards down this tiny corridar skirting the departure areas, separated from those in the boarding areas by a wall of windows (I felt like an ant in one ofthose ant farms where the ants scurry down long plastic tubes) and then to a very small passport control area. More lines. First a long line for US citizens to have their passport stamped. Then out to a baggage area crammed with people, baggage taken off the carousels to make room for more bags strewn around the floor - one with a puddle of wine around it where a bottle inside had obviously broke. Another line to turn in your US Customs card after you've picked up your bags. Another line to drop off your bags to be re-checked in for your domestic destination. And a final line just to make sure that you did the the first lines correctly. From there it was into the terminal for the wait for the Sacramento plane, with the appropriate lines of course. Travel is no longer fun.

In Sacramento, Paul's girlfriend, sister, and CB friend Will were there to welcome him, and Br. Donald was there to pick me up. We had to wait a while for the luggage, but thankfully everything arrived without obvious problems. Then it was a short ride back to the house, where I spent a little time filling Donald in on some of the Chapter's highlights before gratefully turning in on a familiar bed in a familiar room (that will change soon).

So that's the final final end to this particular journey. I must say that it's been one of the more significant experiences in my life as a Brother. The privilege of meeting the Brothers attending the General Chapter, of interacting with them, of helping them celebrate the liturgies, of being part of conversations regarding the significant aspects of our life as Brothers - even with all of the time and the work and the worry - made it very much worthwhile. It gave me new appreciation for our vocation and for our significant impact, albeit it largely unrecognized and unadorned, in the educational apostolate of the Church. There are some great things happening out there in the Lasallian world, and there are some great people involved in it. I guess that I knew that already, but it's nice to have it confirmed by way of an experience such as this. It makes me proud to be a Brother and grateful for my vocation with the Brothers.

For those who have followed this blog, thanks for your comments and encouragements. I would likely have dropped it at some point over the last six weeks, simply through the need for sleep, if I hadn't received the positive feedback and emails. For now, I'm going to stop doing this everyday thing, but I will likely do a weekly post if you care to check in.

But first I have to unpack my bags. Why am I coming back with more stuff than when I left? Well, the "good stuff" that I came back with isn't in the bags and will remain with me much longer than anything else that I might have brought. And that's a good thing.
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More pictures from today at http://picasaweb.google.com/gvangrie/ItalyJune6

June 5 - Last Day in Rome

All good things (and bad things) must come to an end. Today was that day for me. Although I've enjoyed my time here tremendously, I'm ready to return to California and the various things awaiting my attention there.

This morning was the first day of having the community Mass in the Main Chapel. It was a bit of contrast to find the "red chairs" from the JPII Chapel now distributed around the main altar of the Main Chapel - this is the "regular" setup here. The group was smaller than usual, owing to the fact that various members of the community had gone elsewhere for a break or were simply sleeping in. In any case, all the evidence from the 44th General Chapter ("tent" effects, banner, music stands, keyboard, flowers, etc.) were gone and it was back to the normal routine, apparently.

After breakfast, I began to organize my "stuff" for taking it back home with me tomorrow. But I had arranged with Gerard Rummery to do some sight-seeing, and by 10 AM we were walking in Piazza de Populo, with him giving me an complete and fascinating history of the place, followed by a visit to the two Caravaggio paintings nearby - in the Augustinian church where Martin Luther stayed when he came to Rome. From there it was on to other churches where there were Caravaggio paintings, and to the Dominican church where there was a sculpture of Christ holding his cross, and to the Pantheon, and so on. Along the way, Gerard gave me some wonderful insights into the architecture and history of the area. By about noontime, my feet were dog-tired and I was ready for a break. So we took the bus back to the Motherhouse where I took a merciful nap and then was up and about for the main meal at 1 PM. At that meal, there was cake, champagne, and speeches to honor those from the house community who were leaving (five of the Councillors plus several other Brothers). They each also received a nice gift from the community.

After lunch, I became serious about organizing myself for tomorrow's departure, packing up my suitcases and sending about three boxes of acquired material down to the basement with Abram, who would package it all up and send it to me in Napa with all possible dispatch. It may get there in a few months. I also checked on some clothing that I had placed in the washer (I think it was the washer) yesterday. There was still water standing in it, and I couldn't open it with the jerry-rigged piece of rope that someone had tied to the broken handle unit. So I twiddled with the knob some more (It's all in Italina and I can't figure out what's what) and it began to make noise again, so I left it to its own devices. When I went back later, it was at yet another cycle. If I can't open it tonight, then I'll just leave it here and the first person who can figure out how to open the darn thing can have the clothes.

Finally completing that work around 3:30 PM, I called Gerard for phase two of the day. We again set out and this time wandered around the Florentine area of Rome, where Michaelangelo lives and worked and where there are still plenty of artisans to be found. Again, the history was fascinating and the small streets quite captivating. We ended up walking to Santa Maria de Trastevere (something that I had requested) to end our tour with that magnificent interior of early mosaics. In a sense, it's where I started my Roman journey (remember the Byzantine Mass that I attended here on my first Sunday in Rome) and it's a good place to end my visit to the city.

Then it was back to the Motherhouse via the tram and the bus, and then a brief respite before going out to dinner with Gerard, Leonardo, and Roch. We went to a favorite restaurant of Gerard's - one that he had been going to during his many years in Rome. While there, he told me that the maitre de (who looked to be about 35) was a small boy when he had first gone to this restaurant. The food was good, the company was excellent, and the conversation was captivating. It was yet another good way to end our time here.

Then it was back to the Motherhouse to finish this blog and then get to bed in preparation for tomorrow morning 8 AM departure for the airport (flight is at 11:15 AM). All good things must come to an end, and this end is darn close.
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More pictures from today at http://picasaweb.google.com/gvangrie/ItalyJune5

June 4 - Well and Truly Done

There were clear indications today that the 44th General Chapter is well and truly done. After Mass in the JPII Chapel and a bit of breakfast, the focus shifted to moving things about so that offices became offices again, libraries became libraries, and things were put back to where they belonged before the Chapter began. For example, the area where the translators did their work had all of their computers removed as the area became reading tables again. Even the primary chapel for the community changed today from the "winter chapel" (the JPII room) to the "summer chapel" (the main chapel). And so the chairs were carted off to the main chapel while everyone else was trying to move things as well. Carts of various types were in high demand.

It's good that I moved rooms also, since I had to move everything from the "office" to my bedroom in preparation for my flight back on Wednesday. I'm not sure it would have all fit into the tiny room that I'd had before. As it is, it looks as if I'll have to have some things sent home to me. The former Councillors also were moving out of their offices and rooms in order to let the new crew move in within the next few months. So it was a lot of running around for most of the morning.

Around 10 AM I joined Leonardo for his trip to the Vatican. I'd decided to dress in my robe because I figured that this was my only chance to wear it in a country where it was an "expected" dress rather than an oddity. As a result, as was pointed out by Leonardo, the Swiss guards and Vatican police would often salute us as we passed. Kind of cool.

Leonardo and I first went to the Department of State, but security was very tight and we couldn't proceed beyond the doorway without an appointment. We did, however, run into a friend of Leonardo's who works in the Vatican, Rafaelo Ottavianno. He gave Leonardo his commissary card so that we could buy things at the Vatican store with a 30% savings. Several errands later, we did go to that store where I bought a couple of relatively small items, and indeed the prices were very good with that card. There were different "departments" inside of the large former train station, from the out-of-the-way and smaller-tighter room with liquor and cigarettes to the larger areas for electronics, clothing of all typies (mostly fancy and expensive), ladies purses (a little more expensive than the ones sold illegally on the streets of Rome, but very familiar to me now in their style), jewelry and watches, and even a linen / bedding / towels section. When I was looking at the shirts, the man in charge of that section came over and after a few sentences determined that I was a "43" - something that he probably does all of the time with folks dressed up in various religious garbs. Then he tried to sell me a black shirt with a clerical collar. Of course we had to tell him that that wouldn't apply in this case. When I did find a shirt I liked, he didn't blink an eye when I took off the top part of the robe at his request to get an accurate measurement. I am, indeed, a "43." Once decided on, any purchase in the store is not simply taken to the cash register out front. Instead, they give you a piece of paper with a number written on it, and you go to the cash register to pay for your goods and pick them up there. Here we are, at one of focal points of the Catholic Church, frequented only by "official" Vatican people and their guests, all of them undoubtedly Catholic and including quite a number of priests, bishops, cardinals, perhaps even the pope himself, and they don't trust you enough to take an article to the cash register and pay for it. Perhaps it's an application of the principle of not placing yourself in situations of temptation - if there's no chance of anyone even thinking about stealing something, then that's good for both the person selling the item and for the person buying the item. Morality in action.

Walking around Vatican City, it was interesting to note the differences from the world in the rest of Rome. There is absolutely no graffiti, of course, and the place is very clean no matter where you go. There are young policement everywhere, directing traffic, asking questions to those getting into various buildings, and working mostly in pairs. There are bright red cars with the Vatican City logo on it (I think they were police cars), and other utility cars or trucks with the same logo. People are dressed very nicely wherever you go and invariably courteous. And the place just seems to hum with effiency and purpose. I must be missing something. Pope John XXIII was famous for having said in response to the question "How many people work at the Vatican?" with the phrase, "About half." If that's even remotely the case, perhaps our new German pope has thrown in a good measure of organization and accountability.

On the way there, most of the traffic in the Vatican was stopped by the police. We didn't realize why until we say a cortege of cars fly by into the back of the Vatican, obviously looking very official. Later on we found out that it was the President of Mexico coming to pay a visit to the pope. This would be reason why all of the Italian police were around with guns showing and the Swiss guards were edgy about anyone who didn't have an appointment. After our trip to the store, we went to Rafaelo's office to return the card and ended up seeing a bit of the building that's right behind St. Peter's in Vatican city. It's the "municipal" building and has a very nice little chapel attached to it, which we visited. The central area on the ground floor, where we waited to Rafaelo, it's beautifully decorated with inlaid marble and large original paintings. There's a good one of Pope Benedict and another very nice one of the Sermon on the Mount. Rafaelo pointed out the marbel seal on the floor, which is Benedict's seal and which was done by the best marble artist in Rome. It showed.

Besides the Vatican store, we also went to the official Vatican photography office. There I asked to see the photos from September 17, 1987, because that's when John Paull II was in San Francisco and when I was less than 3 feet away from him as he passed by (I had been closer, but at the last second three little nuns magically materialized in front of me, all atither and excited, and I couldn't get any closer). I thought that perhaps they might have a photo of that encounter. They brought out an archival box full of proof sheets from those dates and I went through them with a magnifying glass, never finding any likeness of myself in the pictures taken in the SF Cathedral. However, I did find a couple of shots with Brothers in them and put in an order for them. Although I didn't recognize them, perhaps when we have a larger version I will, and then I could send them to those Brothers.

Meanwhile, Leonardo had been looking at the pictures taken at our audience with the pope the previous Wednesday, and he had me come over to look at them. There were lots of photos, and a couple of good ones with Br. Alvaro - which we also ordered. More interesting still were some pictures showing Roch and myself clearly in the background. We might not have met Benedict XVI, but now we at least might have some pictures with us "pretty close" in the background. All these will be ready on Saturday, so Leonardo will have to send them to me. Maybe that will be an occasion for another quick blog entry. We'll see.

By now it was lunch time, and so we found a nice little walk-in pizzeria and ate it on the sidewalk, sitting on the stoops of nearby businesses. Good pizza and good environment; people watching. Leonardo had to go home after lunch, but I decided to do a little more exploring, walking around the Vatican area and going into and out of various stores. Some of them featured some very substantial religious articles, not just souvenier stuff. One store also included an extensive religious book section, with books in all of the languages. One magazine that I was tempted to get - I resisted - was called "Inside the Vatican." It leans decidedly to the right, but the stories and pictures aren't bad and it comes out every month. It certainly would be one way to stay up with what's happening in Rome.

By the time, my feet were sore and legs were tired. As I entered the plaza in front of St. Peter's, I noticed an empty chair at the end of the collonade and grabbed it. Sitting there for the next 40 minutes was one of the nicest things I did all day. There was a wonderful little breeze blowing, people were walking by speaking all sorts of languages (3 Cunard Line groups, for some reason), the weather was overcast but warm, and the chair was comfortable, with a direct view towards the papal apartments. It was one of those "moments" that I'll remember from this trip.

Finally, it was time to go home and so I grabbed the next 46 to come along and proceeded back to the Motherhouse for a short nap and then dinner, after a brief social in The Den with a couple of other Brothers. After dinner, Leonardo asked if I'd like to see Rome in the evening and we made plans to meet at 9 PM. Michael Avila also joined us, as did Br. Luis (Visitor) from the District of North Mexico. Leonardo drove us to several places with some terrific night-time views and pointed out various landmarks in parts of Rome that I'd never visited. We ended our nocturnal tour at a gelateria opposite the Victor Emmanuel monument (the same one Roch and I went to when I was here for the Preparatory Commission meeting in February). A good end to a good day.

Now I just have to worry about packing everything up tomorrow and hope that it will all fit.
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More pictures from today at http://picasaweb.google.com/gvangrie/ItalyJune4

June 3 - First Day of "No Chapter"

Okay, it's kind of strange now. After the daily maelstorm of deadlines, preparations, "what's next" events, meetings, serious discussions, serious fun, and 100-plus Brothers trying to get something done, it's really different to not have that.

I had planned to sleep as long as I wanted, but nevertheless I awoke at 6:30 AM with the "what's first" question in my head. Even after I'd figured out that that no longer applied, I could only sleep for another 15 minutes before deciding that it wasn't any good to simply lie there in bed. So I got up, put myself together, and mozied over to the "office" to begin cleaning things up. On the way there, I met some Brothers who asked where they could get copies of the Liturgy Resource book to take home with them. Yesterday, after the Closing Mass, I'd noticed Br. Lorenzo wheeling the cart of Liturgy Resource books to the storage room near his office - my guess is that he figured to use them for future events. But I had also put a small note at the end of the Mass program inviting participants to take a copy with them. Those who hadn't done so right after the Mass were now looking for a copy. And so I showed them where they were stored; they were welcome to take a copy with them (even with the mistakes in the book that I'd noticed already).

When I went over to the Hotel La Salle side of the complex (B Complex), lots of Brothers were there waiting for their rides to the airport. I stayed around that area for a while, talking to the Brothers and saying my goodbyes as they left to their own parts of the world. The atmosphere was quite collegial and familiar, since we'd gotten to know most of the other participants during the course of the last five weeks.

After breakfast with those who remained (about 30 or so at breakfast anyway), I began to put things away in the Main Chapel and the CIL Chapel (guitars, guitar stands, keyboard, candle stands, etc.). I also decided to take up the offer to make rooms in A Block available for participants who were staying on a few days after the Chapter (showers that work!!!). So now I'm in another room on the third floor of the Generalate, with a great big window looking out onto the chapel area. The room is right next to Br. Lorenzo's room and I trust that he's a quiet sleeper. In any case, it's only for three nights and then I'm off to California. It took three trips to get all of my stuff from one room to the other. It's amazing how man oy things one can accumulate in such a short time. I'll have to have them send some of it to me in boxes, especially all those gifts of books that were left at our places in the Aula Magna by various Districts. I would say, however, that the most appreciated gift was the 1 Gigabyte thumb-drive from ARLEP with the LA SALLE logo on it. Everyone using one of those drives for the rest of the Chapter, for translations, prayer programs, and everything in between.

After the noon meal, I went on a walk with Brs. Frank Burns, Robert Berger, and Lawrence Humphrey. We decided to go the Castel Sant' Angelo, taking the Metro stop to the Vatican and walking from there along the wall / passageway to the Castle. There's a direct line from the Vatican to the fortification because in the 15th (?) century it was used as an escape route for the pope and the Swiss guards when the Vatican was under attack. The wall with its battlements and connecting tunnel still stands. The place itself, or parts of it anyway, dates from the 2nd century.

I thought that we would see only a bunch of armory and lots of historical displays. Instead, there were some great paintings, including two by Carravagio, some sculptures, and a whole suits of rooms for the pope, one of them painted by Raphael. There was even a papal bathroom, complete with frescoes all around the shell-shaped bathtub. One thing was clear, beyond the artwork; these guys were tiny. Many of the doorways were made for folks under five feet tall. I don't know how tall the popes were but it's clear that the human population has grown taller since that time.

We walked and walked and went up and down steps all over the place. I got lost among all of the hallways and tunnels and corners and steps. But Frank pretty much knew where we were and led us to all of the main sights. From the top of the building, you got a terrific view of the panorama of Rome from a central location. The rain that fell intermittently didn't dampen our spirits a bit. We just pulled out our umbrellas when needed and enjoyed the experience.

After our visit to Castel Sant' Angelo we walked towards the Vatican, stopping in the various shops along the main road up St. Peter's. Even from a distance, we could see that a canonization had happened today - four new saints. Back at the Motherhouse for lunch, we had seen a large contingent from Malta (bishops, priests, and others) having dinner in the dining room that the Chapter had been using - we were given a smaller dining room for our smaller group - and found out about the canonization that happened today. The large banners for the saints hung from the balconies on the facade of St. Peter's, and the line to get into the church, even hours after the ceremony itself, went entirely around the piazza.

By the time we returned to the Motherhouse, it was 6:30 PM and there was just enough time to relax a bit before dinner was served. At dinner, I sat at the table with Michael Sanderl and his mother, who's just arrived to join him for some traveling in Italy. After dinner, Br. Alvaro and the "old" Councillors all came into the dining room to say goodbye to those who would be leaving tomorrow morning - a very nice gesture on their part. People at the table remarked on how Br. Alvaro especially has an acute sensitivity to others around him and does a great job of making them feel special and important (probably a good quality for a Superior General). Add that to the other qualities that he possesses and one could say that the Chapter made a wise choice.

After dinner, the decision was made to go to the gelato place next to McDonald's, just down the road. And so the evening came to a typical and good typically Italian conclusion. I also found the perfect combination of tastes in hazelnut and amaretto.

Now all I've got to do is get myself organized for the trip on Wednesday. But there's time so I'm not too worried. Tomorrow, I'll go with Br. Leonardo to the Vatican later in the morning in order to tag along while he does some errands and to also to go to the photography office to see if I can track down the photos taken on September 17, 1987, at 7 PM. I'll let you know why later.
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More photos from today at http://picasaweb.google.com/gvangrie/ItalyJune3

June 2 - Last Day of the Chapter

This was the last day of the 44th General Chapter which, despite all protestations to the contrary by certain members who shall remain nameless, was judged as meaningful and successful by the vast majority of those who attended.

The day started with the perennial shower mystery - why is there absolutely no hot water? When you turn to the knob completely over, it's as if you turned it off... nothing comes out. After five minutes I decided to reschedule my personal duties until later in the day. It was either that or try to wash under a shower that was such by wishful thinking only.

After doing some quick early morning work in the "office" I went to the 7 AM prayer service (in language groups). Since I came in exactly at 7 AM, I didn't know if anyone had started the service. The Brothers were in there quietly praying; so I joined them. Twenty minutes of silence later I wondered if all this was on purpose or if someone simply hadn't signed up for this prayer service and we were just winging it. Finally, one of the Brother spoke and invited people to mention something that they would bring with them from the Chapter, and it went on from there. An interesting half hour with the Brothers, to be sure.

During breakfast, I spoke with Br. Georges Absi about an idea that he'd pitched to me a couple a days ago concerning a thanksgiving prayer that the French group had used in which a prayer was said according to each of the Chapter them groups after which an antiphon was sung. I asked him if he could still do something like that for the morning prayer in the Aula Magna and he began to arrange it right away. With most other Brothers, you would run into reluctance, opposition, or complaint that you'd asked too late. With these guys, if they thought that something could be done, they went ahead and started the process. We had about 30 minutes to go and they were ready when the session began at 8:30 AM. For this last prayer, I had two sections, each of which I introduced. In the first was this thanksgiving prayer, said in French but translated into the other languages (one of the advantages of having prayer in the Aula Magna) with the sung antiphon in between. For the second part I showed the "To Be Lasallian" video by Scott Gibbs as a summary of what it is that we are about here. The thing worked fine until about 15 seconds from the end when the music video came to an abrupt ending - full stop and silence. Such an ending doesn't make for a good transition, but I made the best of it and finished the prayer as I could.

This last session included the final consideration of several reports and then went into the thank-you litany. Each of the support staff groups was recognized and thanked. Especially impressive was the large group of translators that worked throughout the Chapter. There must have been twenty of more people involved. As one person said, there seem to be about as many people working behind the scenes of a Chapter as are in it. That's probably true. Freddy and I were recognized also, of course, and given a beautiful bronze medallion of De La Salle.

While these sorts of closing things went on into the next session, I spent my time getting the candles ready for the closing Eucharist and commissioning ceremony this evening. The candles were done, but the labels hadn't yet been made. I went to Br. Jose Antonio Warletta, who is the one who creates all the logos and booklets, etc. here, asking him for help. He jumped right in and worked with me for about an hour until we had a good label that incorporated both the Chapter logo and the "umbrella" theme - Being Brothers today: open eyes, burning hearts. We just took the last piece of that in the three languages and put it on the label.

Once the labels were printed I found out that the package of printing paper was itself mislabeled. This was not pull-off adhesive printer paper, just heavy-weight glossy paper. So we looked around for a solution and decided that double-stick tape was our best bet for getting the labels onto the glass of the candle jars. Careful cutting and sticking later saw the completion of the project.

During most of lunch I was busy getting the chapel set up for the evening Mass and for the choir practice at 2 PM. It was an hour-long practice, and we went over everything for the evening's activities, including the commission service. A new song "Jesus Christ, You are My Life" was introduced as the opening song, and we seemed to get it down pretty well after a few tries. The great thing about this choir, beyond the fact that they sound fantastic, is that they respond well to invitations for input regarding how to approach certain songs, the number of verses, etc.

The time after the practice is mostly a blur. There were many things to do before the Mass: check with Rodolfo about playing the organ (changes were made during the choir practice); see if the Councillors - past and present - were around so that I could let them know about the commissioning ceremony; finalize the programs that Sr. Margaret was putting together (hopefully in time for the Mass); get the candles situated in an artful way in front of the chapel; practice the music; reserve the first row for the procession people; check with Vincenzo about the sacristy; check with Freddy about the offertory procession; and on and on. The difference between five weeks ago and now, as I think I've mentioned, is that it's more of a "flow" now. I don't get as perturbed by last-minute changes of glitches. You just go with it and adapt as needed. I hope that that means that I'm NOT a liturgist, since most liturgists I know would not be as flexible.

In any case, the time for Mass arrived and I spent some time explaining to the Councillors what the plans for the commissioning service after communion were all about, quickly putting together a step-by-step guideline for them. This is what happened: Br. Superior came to the front of the altar and Michael French led the congregation in a "Thanks We Give" chant, naming each of the former Councillors, who each came up to be thanked by Br. Superior. When all were present, the congregation applauded them and they returned to their seats. Then the same song was used to call up the new Councillors. Once these were in the sanctuary, Br. Superior read a short selection from DLS's meditations and this was followed by a "commissioning" of the Brothers. The Councillors, Vicar, and Superior, held out their hands in blessing while reciting a section from Ephesians that was a sort of commissioning prayer. Then they each received a candle (THE candles that we'd been working on weeks ago) which they carried out in procession - while Br. Alvaro brought the 44th General Chapter staff with which we had started this whole thing. The closing song was "We are marching in the light of God..." It all seemed to be very effective.

One highlight for all of us was a post-Communion song by Br. Gerard, the young Visitor from Venezuela. His magnificent voice, combined with his very accomplished guitar playing and the choice of the song were truly inspiring, memorable, and moving. It will remain with me for quite a while. The celebrant was Fr. Pascual Chavez, the Superior General of the Salesians. He had a fine, quiet presence and seemed quite accommodating, glancing over at me at all the right moments in order to make sure that we would now go to correct place in the plans - something that I really appreciated. He was also a good friend of Br. Alvaro, which made for a very comfortable relationship during the Mass.

During the Mass, which was the anticipated Mass for Trinity Sunday, we also renewed our vows by language groups, and the Guadulapana Sisters renewed their vows as well. This is the traditional day on which we do so and it was a special occasion to be able to do it as a Chapter.

At the social following the Mass there were lots of comments about the liturgy and how it touched people, which of course was very gratifying since that's the point of all this effort. People genuinely seemed to appreciate the efforts that the whole Liturgy committee put into the prayer activities of the Chapter.

Dinner was a long and joyous affair. By the time the cake and champagne were ready to come out, various tables were already singing a number of international favorites (Guantanamera, Auld Lang Syne, Waltzing Matilda, Santa Lucia, etc. - you get the idea). Everyone seemed to be enjoying the camaraderie that had been created during these last five weeks. Some Brothers had already left for their homelands and others will leave very early tomorrow morning, and so there were many heartfelt goodbyes among the group. It was as if they knew that they might not see some of these true Brothers again, but they had been happy to have been able to spend a number of weeks in their company. I know that these were my sentiments.

Afterwards and through the afternoon, various Brothers were finalizing plans for their after-Chapter activities, booking train trips and the like on their way back. Some Brothers are going right back to work, others are taking the opportunity to visit the Brothers in other counties "on the way" back home.

And so the Chapter comes to a close and now the real work begins - implementing it among the Brothers. That will be a longer process than five weeks. But this is good beginning.

I'll keep the blog going until I return to the States on June 6th. For now, however, it's enough.
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More picture from today at http://picasaweb.google.com/gvangrie/ItalyJune2

June 1 - One Day Until the End

Today was the penultimate day of the Chapter. There were no sessions in the Aula Magna. Instead, the concentration was on meetings of the various Regions, both independently and with the new Councillors.

The day began with our last language group liturgy. The English group had what might be called a "casual" Mass, with us sitting in our CIL Chapel with a small altar. We pretty much sat throughout the Mass, which included a shared homily. The Gospel was about the cursing of the fig tree, and the most interesting comment for me came from Br. Anton de Roeper who said that he noticed that the fig tree outside of the kitchen was producing fruit from its new branches, not from the older more established branches, as had been the case in the past. I took this as a metaphor for what was happening in the Institute, and a good commentary on the future envisioned by this Chapter.

While the various Regions were meeting, I kept working on the program for tomorrow. Lots of details involved in something like that, and although it's a chore, by now I'm sort of relaxed about the whole thing and take things in stride. This was tested about an hour ago when I found out that our celebrant had prepared his homily on the readings of Trinity Sunday. (It's deja vu all over again.) This was exactly what I had feared, and it's the reason I had asked a while back that he be contacted to make sure he had the right readings. But I was assured that he had the right readings and all was fine. Not true. And now that it's the last minutes, WE again have to change to accommodate the homily. So the last hour has been spent changing the readings at the Mass from the ones I had chosen (according to our Exodus theme, etc.) to the ones of the day, which are far less significant for the occasion. But I don't have much choice. Although I'm disappointed, I'm not really surprised.. Just sort of sad that it all happened again despite my best efforts to avoid exactly this problem. Also, the readers for the liturgy, who will be doing it in Portuguese and an African language have to hunt down the new reference in time for the Mass. It just shakes everything up and is not very comfortable. But, as I said, by this time I'm less worried about it than I would have been five weeks ago. Go with the flow seems to work - something to do with Providence.

This afternoon, Br. Gerard Rummery gave a presentation on the online Lasallian Leadership course that his District has developed and one where he's had a great amount of input and influence. It's a marvelous program, allowing Lasallians anywhere to gain credit, knowledge, and real appreciation for our heritage through an online medium. It's definitely the way to go, and I hope that it grows by leaps and bounds.

At 5 PM we had our large group pictures. Throughout the day, Br. Roch had been taking pictures of the various regional groups. This would be the large group one. He had worked hard to find somewhere other than the front steps to take the pictures. Everyone takes pictures on the front steps. They have got to be the most photographed front steps in the Lasallian world. Instead, we used the grassy area between some of the building, which made for a much better shot, especially since he took the picture from a higher elevation. When we began the process, it drizzled for a while and threatened to rain, but soon things cleared up and we had a nice overcast sky that would remove any harsh shadows that direct sunlight often causes in pictures.

This evening, the USA/Toronto Region had a dinner in one of the smaller dining rooms to honor Bill Mann as he finished as Vicar General and moved back to his District on the East Coast (Long-Island New-England District). We also honored Br. Miguel Campos, although he couldn't stay the whole evening since the Spanish Brothers were having some kind of dinner as well. Br. Alvaro joined us for the social and then left for the other celebration. At the end of dinner, there were some very fine words from VBr. Tom Johnston, the new Vicar General, about the influence that Bill has had both here and beyond. And Bill of course spoke quite eloquently and sincerely about his experiences here and looking forward to, in effect, being without a job for a while after 25 years of hard work. He said that he was happy with the fact that he did everything that he was able to do while here in Rome, and that he did it as well as he was able to do it. He had no regrets.

After the dinner I returned to my "office" to finish up my work for the day. But, the best-laid plans of mice and men... And so I've had to do those last-minute changes to the program for tomorrow. But perhaps that's all as it should be. I know that I'll live longer if I don't worry about the things that I cannot change, change the things I can, and have the wisdom to know the difference between the two (Yes, somebody else said that first).

One thing that I do know is that after tomorrow I don't want to prepare, help prepare, think about preparing, vaguely reflect about preparing, or be asked, cajoled, ordered, or persuaded to prepare another liturgy for quite a while, if not longer. I'm taking a liturgical hiatus, which will probably be good for my soul.
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More pictures from today at http://picasaweb.google.com/gvangrie/ItalyJune1