We have made it to Rome! I flew out of Boston yesterday at 3:30pm and flew to Philadelphia and then direct to Rome. Mr. and Mrs. Henning flew out of Manchester but we were on the same flight out of Philadelphia. We arrived in Rome at 8:45am local time (2:45am Eastern) and were met by Bro. Vincent Pelletier, FSC. Bro. Vincent is a Lasallian Christian Brother originally from Providence and he graciously offered to pick us up at the airport as we are staying at the Christian Brothers' Motherhouse in Rome. Our good friend Bro. John McMahon, FSC helped us with all the arrangements.
The Motherhouse is about a 35 minute walk from the Vatican. This is the "headquarters" for the Lasallian Christian Brothers and there is a hotel on the property (Casa La Salle), a church, and another building that houses the International Lasallian Center, a program for brothers who come here for renewal. Bro. Vincent's ministry is with the Internal Lasallian Center and we are staying in its building.
The property is absolutely stunning - the grounds are beautiful, the trees are tropical-esque and if you couldn't hear the cars, you would never know you were in a major city on a major road. My room is modest but very comfortable and homey- a bed, desk, and bathroom. Bro. Vincent is going to give us a tour of the property in about an hour and Mr. and Mrs. Henning and I are going to head down to the Vatican. We are meeting up with Father Andrew Nelson at 5pm as he picked up our tickets for the papal events this weekend. There are about 7 priests from the Diocese of Manchester on the trip as well as David Gagnon '11 who is a seminarian for the diocese.
I am going to go settle in and then head out. I will be blogging a lot so please do stay tuned.
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