In the diary that he meticulously wrote each day of his time in Rome, Eugene shares his excitement at being a pilgrim discovering this city for the first time. On his first full day in the city he describes an itinerary that he took that would have taken him at least three hours of walking.
Sunday, November 27: Went to Saint Peter’s. Attended the service in the chapel. All the Cardinals present, the Pope absent. The Blessed Sacrament carried in procession to the Pauline chapel for the adoration of the Forty Hours. The illumination of the chapel according to the design of…, with a huge number of candles. After dinner, visited the Church of the Trinita del Monti, met the Father Abbot of the Trappists , Saint Mary Major, Saint John Lateran, returned by way of the Coliseum and the Capitol.
Roman Diary, 27 November 1825, EO XVII
Yvon Beaudoin comments: “he was quickly captured by the richness of the churches, the majesty of the liturgical ceremonies at Saint Peter’s and the Sistine Chapel, the fervor of the Roman people and the Holy Year pilgrims, the beauty of the illuminations at the Forty-hours devotion, etc. Like a true southerner, he could not stop talking or, for lack of someone in whom to confide, recounting what he saw and experienced.” (Introduction, EO XVII, p. 15-16)
“A pilgrim is a wanderer with purpose.” Peace Pilgrim
One of the things I am so very grateful for is that Eugene shared what he experienced, he spoke it, preached it, wrote it. We have it with us today, to inspire and teach us, to show us ‘a’ way so that we might find our very own way. Eugene helping us still today to discover who we are. With St. Paul we have the many letters that he wrote, in fact we have the very Word of God, scriptures where we find our base, who we are as people of God and how we live. We come to realise who we are in others and how they share themselves. It is always so wonderfully comforting to find out who we are and our connectedness with others. I think of the artist feels compelled to draw and paint to create images, whose life is all about sharing what he/she sees and experiences. No different from musical composers and musicians whose works inspire and evoke images of life which tug at memories sometimes long suppressed and which give us life. Through all of these different ways we discover and are able to learn how to live out who we are.
This morning I googled the word pilgrim. A pilgrim is someone who is: a religious devotee who journeys to a shrine or sacred place. 2. One who embarks on a quest for something conceived of as sacred. 3. A traveler. We are all pilgrims in one way or another whether like St. Paul we go to foreign lands to preach, whether we travel to a different country and place as did Eugene to get the Constitution for a new congregation approved, whether we go as far as our own family or parish – we journey. Our very lives are in some ways a pilgrimage.
I am so grateful to Eugene for sharing his journey with all of us.