Encounters

I only knew Fr Marin and Joel among the people whom I travelled to Rome with. So the journey involved me getting to know my fellow-travellers. There was Benjamin Adrian, from Kuching, Malaysia, Leonard Chia and Alvin Tan from Singapore, and Benedict Ang and Gilbert Hamera from the Philippines. In addition to these, I met several interesting people during my two weeks in Italy.

Claudio was a taxi driver who picked us up at Rome's Fiumicino Airport (he was late). He had Chinese characters tattooed on his neck. Father Marin said that he heard Claudio utter words while driving which Father hadn't heard for a couple of decades. He scolded women drivers for being indecisive, drove over a curb. He also gave us one of the most memorable quotes of our trip. "I wish everywhere was like Vatican City. Inside everything is orderly, things are cheaper. Outside it's all shit"

Outside Hotel Colours with Claudio

On  the 26th, in the evening, we visited Collalto, a centre of Opus Dei for students and young professionals. We made a presentation about Singapore and Sarawak; Father Marin then gave a meditation (he talked about putting down our nets for the catch - obeying Christ - carrying out the apostolate); after Benediction we went out for dinner with some of the students. It was raining - rare for the month of June. It was a large crowd, so we didn't really get to talk to everybody. Seated near me was Jose Andreas, an architect from Spain. He struggled a bit to express himself in English - he said that learning Italian has made him forget his English (some other Spanish students studying in Italy also complained of this problem!) but it was nice chatting with him. Fabrizio was the only Italian in the group. He's studying philology. Then there was Alphonso who works as a journalist in the Vatican Information Services. That sounds like a job I'd love to have! After dinner we dropped by the centre once again, to collect our bags, and then we spent some time saying our goodbyes and exchanging email addresses. We had a surprisingly lot of things to talk about - and we reached our hotel very late that night.

Having dinner with the guys from Collalto

On the train to Assisi, on Sunday the 27th, we met Fr Dominic Lui from Hong Kong who has been studying in Rome for some time. He was heading back to Hong Kong in few weeks after a trip to Malta. Maybe we'll bump into him at World Youth Day in Madrid. He said he'll probably be asked to lead a group from his parish. Of course I don't know whether I'm going to Spain yet.

On the train we also met Christina Oh from Kuching, Malaysia. She was visiting Rome, by herself, and was also making a day trip to Assisi. She joined us for the day. We also made plans for her to meet up two days later for the Papal Mass - we had one extra ticket, which we gave her. So she joined us for the Mass of Sts. Peter and Paul, and spent the rest of Tuesday with us. She also joined Benjamin and me for the Papal Audience the next day. She said she'd bring us laksa the next time she came to Singapore.

With Christina and Fr Dominic Lui

In Assisi we came across a monk from Slovakia. He had given up everything and come to Assisi to live the life of St Francis. I found this a very memorable encounter. Here was someone striving after the original ideals of St Francis. Beautiful! Father Marin asked him to pray for us, and he asked for our prayers too. Keep him in your prayers - he's completely trusting in God for sustenance. God bless him!

Next there was an old Christian Brother, affiliated to the La Salle Brothers, from Australia. We met him while queuing to enter the Basilica of St Paul for Vespers on the 28th. I don't know his name - it was mostly Joel and Benedict who talked with him. I just listened on-and-off. He knows the person in charge of the issuing tickets for papal events in Rome and so has been to lots of such events with the Pope, including the recent concert sponsored by Patriarch Krill of Moscow in honour of Pope Benedict XVI.

The owner of the Chinese restaurant we had dinner at after Vespers was a Catholic. She spoke only Chinese and Italian. Father Marin gave her a prayer card of St Josemaria and I asked Father to pass her a Miraculous Medal from me too.

While queuing up at the Vatican Basilica the next morning for the Mass of Sts. Peter and Paul we chat with some of the nuns who were queuing up along with us.

This old nun said that people from Opus Dei are "molto determinato" - very determined. Haha.

A Filipino nun sharing pulverone with us! :

On the 30th evening, I was strolling about in Florence and went into a souvenir shop. Inside I bought a few postcards and other souvenirs and while waiting for the owner to tally the bill, I was admiring a small statue of Dante. The owner told me that Dante was her favourite author - and I showed her my copy of Dante's Purgatory which I was reading at the time.

On the 3rd of July, I was taking the train from Florence to Milan. Seated beside me and directly in front of me were two American girls. As the journey began, the one in seated in front of me took out a copy of  the Magnificat. After some time, she and her companion begam talking about a young relative back home, and how quickly he was growing up. The girl in front brought up a movie - Babies - which I had heard of from the Catholic blogs. From what she was saying, it was evident that she was a good Catholic - with a very "Catholic" love for family, children and life. They began discussing the issue of family size and she said that she wouldn't plan how many children she'd have - she'd accept as many as God gives her. The other girl seemed a bit skeptical about this and her friend did admit that of course one should be prudent too. When there was a lull in the conversation I asked if they both were Catholic. The girl seated beside me said yes, they were - and that she had noticed the book I was reading (Forty Dreams of St. John Bosco). They were sisters from Los Angeles. The elder, Karen - who was seated in front of me - is studying in Connecticut. They were in Florence for classes - and were now travelling to Nice and Paris. They'd been to Rome and see the Holy Father at the Sunday Angelus and thought I was very lucky to have attended the Papal Mass. I gave them each a Miraculous Medal which had been blessed by the Pope - Karen wore hers at once!

In Turin, on the 4th of July, I spent several hours at the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians, the headquarters of Don Bosco's Salesians. I met an Indian Salesian who had just arrived in Turin (I think for further studies). I wanted to have Masses offered for mine, my family's and friends' needs. After failing to make the secretary understand what I wanted, I just went into the church thinking I'd just drop the Mass offering into a box instead, and just there, inside the side entrance to the church, I saw a little office where we could request for Masses to be offered. There was an elderly Italian priest inside. I first tried to communicate in Italian, and then realised he could speak perfect English. Turns out he has lived in Sri Lanka for 12 years. He knew Mt Lavania (near where I live) and the Galle Road. He ended up hearing my confession too! I took his name down saying I'd pray for him - hopefully he'll pray for me too! His name is Fr Joseph Giaime.

In addition to these unplanned encounters, there were some planned meetings too.

Father Valerian Cheong, CSS Chaplain for the first few years I was in NUS. It's been an year since he went to Rome to do his licentiate in Scripture Studies, but it seems longer. He's missed in Singapore and in CSS!

We also met Damien Lim, a Singaporean member of Opus Dei, studying at the University of the Holy Cross. He'll be ordained as a deacon in November and will eventually be the first Singaporean priest of Opus Dei:

In Milan, on the 3rd of July, I met Clara, a dear friend from high school. Haven't seen her for 6 years! It was so nice to meet her again. She came down from Lausanne, Switzerland where she's studying. She's going to be a doctor very soon!

Also there were some "celebrity" sightings:

Monsignor Guido Marini, Pope Benedict's Master of Pontifical Liturgical Celebrations. I saw him quite a few times on the 28th and 29th:

At St Paul's, before Vespers

As we entered St Peter's before the Mass of Sts. Peter and Paul

Directing the last-minute preparations for the Mass

Tarcisio Bertone, S.D.B., Cardinal Secretary of State and Camerlengo. One of the most powerful men in the Vatican:

 Monsignor Georg Gänswein, the Pope's personal secretary:

Monsignor Francesco Camaldo, Guido Marini's assistant. He has served under Pope John Paul II as well, so is a very familiar face:

Walter Cardinal Kasper, President Emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity:

Archbishop Raymond Burke, Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, previously Archbishop of St. Louis:

Antonio Cardinal Cañizares Llovera. He's the Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. Nicknamed "Little Ratzinger".

And of course Il Papa!

But the Holy Father deserves a blogpost all for himself!