The Modern Journal: A beautiful place....

I have been back from Rome for over 2 months now, and I still find myself thinking about this gorgeous city and country every day! This trip was one that we had been looking forward to and I can't believe it has come and gone! I can't really find one word that describes the trip of a lifetime!

Waiting for the time to pass for our flight

Coffee time!!!

Day #1 June 26, 2012
When we arrived in Rome we were a little less than desirable...we didn't get much sleep on the plane, we hadn't had a shower in about 36 hours, we were hot, and well not in the greatest mood! The tour guides swept us away from the airport straight to mass at the Basilica of Saint Paul outside the Walls...this basilica was absolutely gorgeous! We had mass and a tour of the church. We walked down the street a little ways and had lunch as a whole group. We were finally able to get to the hotel room at around 3pm...and I'm telling you that I was never so grateful for a shower and a nap. We had dinner as a family that night and headed to bed to prepare for our vacation to begin!! Now, since we were unable to shower until after we headed to the hotel, I didn't allow any pictures of me to be taken...so day #1 was a is a day of picture without people in them!!!!

St. Paul outside the Walls

The main alter at St. Paul outside the Walls

Day #2: June 27. 2012
We had a wake-up call of a bright and early 6am...uuugggg when that phone rang I thought to myself..."I thought I was on vacation!" We loaded up the buses and head to the Basilica of Saint Mary Major, where we had mass and a guided tour. From this church we walked to another called the Church of Saint Alphonsus that houses the original icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. What a beautiful church this was with the mosaics and statues. That afternoon we went to the catacombs outside the walls of Rome. It is a 7 mile underground cemetery which people are no longer buried in, but where in the past because it was not allowed to bury people in the walls of Rome. It was really interesting and actually nice and cool underground, compared to the 90 degree weather with out of this world humidity! This evening we were invited to the Ambassador of the Holy Seas house for a reception for the 4 US Archbishops that received their palliums the week we were there!

St. Mary Major

The main alter in St. Mary Major

Darren, Rex, & Dad waiting patiently for Roberto to gather the troops!

St. Mary Major

The chapel we had mass in at St. Mary Major (pictures weren't allowed to be taking inside the chapel

Tori & I outside St. Mary Major

Church of St. Alphonsus

Beautiful mosaic above the main alter in St. Alphonsus

Entrance to the catacombs

Family group picture outside the catacombs

Uncle Chuck addressing the group with the Ambassador and his wife

Tori & I at the ambassador reception

Family photo

The whole group

The Chaput's

Board meeting has begun!

Uncle Rex & I at the board meeting

Day #3: June 28, 2012

We had another wake up call at the butt crack of dawn...it was a great trip, but we were always have to make sure we were down in the lobby for the bus at a certain time. Today we headed to the Vatican and went on the Scavi tours. We got to tour the graves under St. Peter's Bascilica and got to see where St. Peter's was buried. It was amazing...and the different ways people were buried was very interesting! We then got to go upstairs to the see the Vatican...all I can say about this place was it is breathtaking. We went on a little shopping spree and my sisters and I got a cameo ring...just like my grandma Chaput bought in '97 when she was in Rome for my uncle's first pallium mass. After seeing the Vatican (we come back a different day with more time) we loaded the bus and went to see the Holy Stairs and had mass at St. John Lateran. Now the Vatican was a amazing and nothing could really compare to the beauty of it...but besides the Vatican my favorite church was St. John Lateran. It just seemed more modern and it was beautiful in it's own way. We didn't have time to climb the Holy Stairs the way most people climb them...on their knees one step at time with a prayer on each step, so we went around them and ended up in the chapel on top of them and had our own reflection time for a few minutes.

The Vatican

Drinking water fountain outside the Vactican

The Pieta statue....so beautiful up close!

Pope John Paul II's resting place

The main alter in the Vatican with a statue of St. Paul on the right side

Tori & I in St. Peter's square

St. Peter's Square

St. John Lateran

A chapel in St. John Lateran

This mosaic was above the alter of the chapel we had mass in and quite frankly it was the most amazing mosaic I saw the whole trip!

Mass at St. John Lateran

The statues in St. John Lateran were amazing!!!!

Aunt Jolene, Mom, Tori, & I in the bar at the hotel

Day 4: June 29, 2012

This was the day that was the biggest highlight of the trip and the reason we went to Rome. It was the Pallium mass with Pope Benedict. Our wake-up call was the earliest yet on this day with that phone ringing bright and early at 5:00 am. What an amazing day it was! We had mass with the pope and all the Archbishops around the world that were receiving their pallium. Tori & I were sitting with our parents, aunt & uncle, & Darren minding our own business when a guard walked right up to us and ushered us to a seat in the front row. We were within 20 ft. of the Pope when he came around and addressed the Sisters of Calcutta. I remember Tori saying as the mass was beginning that her heart was beating so fast and it was true for both of us...this was an experience of a lifetime to see the pope and attend mass that was said by him. After the mass we had a reception at the North American College with all the Archbishops from the US. We had dinner that night with the whole group of pilgrims that was amazing!!!

Good Morning St. Peter's Square!!! (it's 6:20 am)

I'm so glad we are all happy to get up at the butt crack of dawn!

Main alter at St. Peter's Basilica

Dome at St. Peter's

Guards and security guys were everywhere

Uncle Chuck processing into the mass

Pope Benedict

Pope Benedict saying mass

Uncle Chuck going up to receive his pallium

Addressing the Sister's of Calcutta

Leaving the mass

Pope Benedict addressed the people in St. Peter's Square due to it being a holiday...The Feast of St. Peter and St. Paul

Tori & I at the reception following the mass

Family photo at the reception...including my Dad's cousin MaryKay and her husband Don

Siblings!!!

Mom & Dad at dinner

Uncle Rex & Aunt Jolene

Day 5: June 30, 2012

Today we got to go back to Vatican City and to St. Peter's Basilica for a formal tour. We celebrated mass at the Alter of the Chair of St. Peter...it was a great celebration! After the guided tour of the basilica we were able to attend the Papal audience which was a private audience with the pope and all the archbishops and their groups that were in Rome for the pallium mass. After the papal audience, Tori, Darren, & I boarded the bus and headed to ancient Rome with a guided tour...I was not exactly looking forward to going to ancient Rome because it was sooooo hot that day and in the middle of the afternoon...in fact, I was wishing that I would have taken the other bus and went back to the hotel with my mom and dad...but after the tour with one the best guides ever, I stood there and it all hit me and the whole trip was all brought together and I had this feeling come over me that I can't explain...but at that moment I understood just exactly why I was there and the meaning of the trip meant so much more. After, a quick shower we headed to the Sistine Chapel...now this place was also amazing!! We had a private after-hours tour with the guide that took us to ancient Rome...and again she was phenomenal!!!

St. Peter's Square

The Alter of the Chair of St. Peter

St. Peter's Chair

The main alter at the entrance of the Basilica

Mom & Tori waiting for the Pope to make his entrance

Darren & Tori

Pope Benedict making his entrance into the Papal audience

Pope Benedict addressing the audience

Jolene and Dad waiting to meet the Pope

Ancient Rome

Tori & Darren in Ancient Rome

Tori & I in Ancient Rome

We were kind of fed up with the heat

Yup, we were done!

The last judgement in the Sistine Chapel

The alter at the Sistine Chapel

Archbishop Aquila enjoying the Sistine Chapel

Day 6: July 1, 2012

This day we had a day trip to Assisi! We visited the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels, the Basilica of St. Clare, and celebrated mass at the Basilica of St. Francis. We shopped around the city of Assisi a little bit then had lunch as a group! Assisi was such a beautiful city and since we knew that it was the last day we had in Italy it was hard to leave this quiet little city!