Christmastide in Rome!

This Advent & Christmas season at St. Paul's and the JNRC has been at once busy, joyous, exciting fulfilling and more than a little bit exhausting! Instead of writing a long treatise about all the events (as seems to be my custom lately), I’ll mostly let the photos and videos speak for themselves. Enjoy!!

On December 12th, St. Paul's and the JNRC joyously hosted its third annual Christmas Bazaar to raise money for the Refugee Center. With the indomitable leadership of volunteer coordinator Daniela Morales and junior warden Yvette Manigold, about twelve fantastic booths raised a record sum to support our work with refugees by selling sweets, children's books, Christmas decorations, mulled wine and much more. Santa Claus (or "Babba Natale" as he's called in Italy) even made an appearance!

The Holiday Market - Photo Credit: Merritt Cluff

The very next day, we were blessed to celebrate the ordination of the Rev. Digna Mercedes Tutasig Tenorio to the Sacred Order of Priests! The new "La Reverenda Mercedes" as she is sometimes known has been a member of the St. Paul's community since she moved to Rome from Ecuador in the mid-1990's. After a very lengthy ordination process, we are thrilled that she will continue to serve the Communidad Latinoamericana at our church in a new capacity. On December 20th she celebrated her very first Eucharist and even received a standing ovation afterward! (You can read more about Rev. Mercedes' journey in my article in the church magazine)

Photo Credit: Luis & Maria Emilia Rodriguez

The Saturday before Christmas, about thirty members of St. Paul's traveled about 90 minutes north to the town of Orvieto, an beautiful shopping village in the mountains, to sing Christmas carols in the public square. In the shadow of their majestic cathedral and throughout the cobblestone streets, we joyously shared some American, Italian, German and even Danish classics that brought us perfectly into the holiday spirit. Check out the links here and here (If you're viewing this on a mobile device, the videos may not play properly.)

(Video credit: Rev. Francisco Alberca)

Heading into the final few days before the blessed Feast of the Nativity, St. Paul's & the JNRC hosted a marvelous lunch for nearly 300 refugee guests. Our master chef Nasim cooked a fantistic Afghan meal with rice and lamb, combined with the colorful and delicious oranges, veggies and sweet rolls! The whole Center was buzzing with Christmas spirit as each guest received a regalo ("gift") with toiletries, warm clothes, pens notebooks and all sorts of other goodies :). A great many of the refugees - the majority of whom are Muslim - even wished us a Buon Natale ("Merry Christmas"), and one even said Eid Muabarak (a traditional Islamic holiday greeting)!

The JNRC Christmas Lunch! Photo Credits: Austin Rios & Paola Sanchez

Finally, I had the extraordinary joy of hosting my Mom and our dear family friend Terri for about a week. They were able to attend a handful of the events above and I was absolutely thrilled to show them around this beautiful city. What an honor to take them both around on their first trip to Italy, and to introduce them to my housemates and friends here too! While I wasn't able to spend Christmas with most of my family in the States, just having my Mom in Rome with me meant the world. We had a minor hiccup in that my Christmas gifts didn't arrive from the USA until a few days after Christmas, but knowing the difficulties that our refugees face put everything into perspective. We also had beautiful Christmas Eve and Christmas Day masses at St. Paul's, although sadly I haven't yet found any pictures of them.

I hope and pray that your Christmas has been as absolutely wonderful as mine, and I wish you all a Buon Natale  and Buon Anno (Happy New Year!!)