Saturday, March 23, 2024
This morning I woke up and read this:
You may have noticed that many new temples have been announced in recent years, bringing temples ever closer to members. Paradoxically, as temples become more accessible, it may be easier for us to become more casual about temple attendance. When temples are distant, we plan our time and resources to travel to the temple to worship there. We prioritize these journeys.
With a temple close at hand, it can be easy to let little things get in the way of attending, saying to ourselves, “Well, I’ll just go another time.” Living close to a temple does bring greater flexibility in scheduling time in the temple, but that very flexibility can make it easier to take the temple for granted. When we do, we “miss the mark,” undervaluing the opportunity to draw closer to the Savior in His holy house. Our commitment to attend should be at least as strong when the temple is nearby as when it is distant.
Dale G. Renlund. Jesus Christ is the Treasue
I think this points out one of the benefits of pilgrimage and sacred travel, which is that when you make a journey to a sacred place -- especially a difficult one -- you appreciate that place so much more. You pay more attention to the details of the experience. You notice the smell of a place. You remember the faces of the people you meet. I think one of the great challenges of modern life -- even modern life in the church -- is that we don’t appreciate the things that come easy. And most things come so easily to us.
It was a good thought to start the day.
We got a later start than usual, and we enjoyed our Italian pastry breakfast (generously provided by Lisa and Delwyn) a little too long. And before we knew it we were rushing out the door knowing we would have only a few minutes to get our train at the station. If ever we wanted a train to be delayed, it was today.
When we pulled up to the station in Padua, I sent Kimball and Ian to check what platform we were on and if the train was delayed. And thankfully, it was.
It was another of the thousand tender mercies we have seen on this trip.
Before I leave Vicenza, I want to say how grateful Betty and I are for Lisa and Delwyn and Lela for letting us stay in their house. Like Dinah and Dave in Paris, or Grant and Emma in London, they don’t know us at all. And they didn’t just open their home, they really took care of us. We had a wonderful time with them and only wish we could have stayed longer.
The train ride to Rome was pretty uneventful, but that’s how I like them.
Rome itself is another story.
In Rome we had arranged to stay in the church of Saint Eusebius, which is one of the oldest Christian churches in Rome. It’s right by the Termini bus station. We were able to do this thanks to our friends Anna and Lorenzo -- who both work at Hillsdale College and are native Italians. Lorenzo knew Don Maurizio, the priest at Saint Eusebius, and he was the one who contacted him and arranged for our stay.
So we walked from the train station to the church, and then we just buzzed in. Maurizio came out, and he was accompanied by another priest, Don Paolo, who is Italian but also speaks Spanish (Maurizio doesn’t speak Spanish or English, and we don’t speak Italian). They were both so kind and warm, and they showed us where we could stay. It was in some school rooms where they teach the kids catechism in the upstairs and back of the church. There were no beds, but we have sleeping pads and bags, so we were OK. There was a bathroom with a shower. It wasn’t fancy, but it was definitely an experience we will never forget.
Staying in the church gave us a great opportunity to talk with the kids about why we are doing this whole thing. Up until now this trip has been mostly about visiting LDS temples, but starting here, things are going to get really Catholic. The question has come up many times: why are we, a Latter-Day Saint family, doing this super Catholic pilgrimage? The best answer I know comes from Brigham Young:
It is our duty and calling, as ministers of the same salvation and Gospel, to gather every item of truth and reject every error. Whether a truth be found with professed infidels, or with the Universalists, or the Church of Rome, or the Methodists, the Church of England, the Presbyterians, the Baptists, the Quakers, the Shakers, or any other of the various and numerous different sects and parties, all of whom have more or less truth, it is the business of the Elders of this Church (Jesus, their Elder Brother, being at their head) to gather up all the truths in the world pertaining to life and salvation, to the Gospel we preach, … to the sciences, and to philosophy, wherever it may be found in every nation, kindred, tongue, and people and bring it to Zion (DBY, 248).
We are here to seek out goodness, truth, and beauty. And there is much to be found in the Catholic Church. Of course, I believe that a restoration of the gospel was necessary, and that it happened through Joseph Smith, but for centuries, the Catholic Church kept Christianity alive. I’m grateful for that, and I have learned so much that has enriched my own faith as I have spent time learning about Catholicism. And I look forward to learning even more.
After we dropped our bags and got settled a bit, we went for a walk down to the Colosseum and the Roman forum -- stopping for pizza along the way.
I’ve seen Roman theaters and amphitheaters and bridges and temples and aqueducts in Spain, but never anything on this scale. It’s the kind of thing that leaves you without words -- like looking at Zion or Yosemite or Iguazú for the first time. There is just no way for the mind to take it all in, to calculate the age and significance of it all.
On the way back we stopped so River and Ian could play in a park, and then we headed home -- but not before stopping at what they say is the best and oldest gelateria (ice cream shop) in Rome: Gelateria Fassia. It was kind of an intense experience. There was a long line out the door of people. Then the first thing that happens is you get to a register and you have to order the size of ice cream you want. From there you go to the counter where they have at least a couple dozen flavors, but they aren’t marked, so you don’t know what you are looking at. You have to look at a sign that has the flavors listed, but they are all in Italian, and they aren’t all clear. All the while you know there is a huge line of people behind you, so you just kind of go for it. Thankfully, it’s some of the best ice cream I’ve ever had. The pistachio was super creamy, and had a really dull green color -- more olive than mint. It wasn’t anything like the pistachio ice cream in the States (which I also really like).
The portions were generous, and they topped everything with a generous portion of nata (whipped cream), which is super smooth and not nearly as sweet as our whipped cream.
It was a really good day.