We are the theater people...

There's something very precious in the act of performing for other people.
 If done right, your heart will be open, vulnerable, and free to feel deeply.  It's like you've entered into a special dimension of reality that hasn't been discovered yet. It's a secret inside you that you are meant to tell when the exact right moment hits.

There's a silence of such loud anticipation from the audience as you stand backstage peeking through the curtains --as all old time professionals do, of course. You quietly speak with your fellow performers but all of you can feel the gentle excitement building in each others' hearts as the time for the start of the show grows closer. You smell hairspray and foundation. And you laugh because the guys, no matter how old, still complain about the make-up.

The director comes in and gives some notes, some kind words, and leaves with a prayer. You stretch. You warm your voice up in ways that would make the rest of the world think you were a dying chicken--not the theater world though.

You prepare yourself for your first scene: spiritually, physically, emotionally. You go over scenes, lines, emotional prep questions in your mind as you take in the crazy people around  you in the green room. It's funny---you remember them as their character for a few moments after each show run until life slips back into the regular drudgery and the life as an undercover superhero swiftly comes to a close...It remains only until the resounding last clap has drifted away. But the show run hasn't ended yet. You snap back to the present moment.

You listen for God's...err, the stage manager's cue that the house is open and you prepare your little heart to give itself away.

When you finally step on that stage you are transported to the place where your scene is. You have the precise relationships with the others on stage that make a story worth watching. It's time to stop crafting and molding and you start giving your finished creation (though you don't forget to get those notes if it's not your last show!)
You finish your scenes. You come off stage. Your heartbeat continues faster than usual and it'll stay that way for a while. Your mind and soul and being are lifted high. You see the same reactions in your fellow thespians. You then see your audience...The reason actors  come back again and again to the beautiful place called the stage.

The people smile, tackle hug, or express some sort of thanks and their hearts feel light; You can tell from where you're standing. It makes your heart light too.

The crowd starts to trickle away. You remember you're still dressed as your character, not yourself. It must be noted though, that during show week, your costume feels more like you than any regular clothing ever does.

You thank your audience. You change. You say goodnight and good job to those you've worked to share an alternate reality with. And you leave to go sleep and to calm your heart and hopefully to thank the Lord before the cycle starts all over again.

We are the theater people.
We are the crazy people.
We are the deep feelers, and therefore the overthinkers.
We are the creators.
We are the heart lifters.
We are a people that long to give the world the realness and the beauty it has forgotten.

We are the theater people.

Acting is not meant to be a selfish show of one's faked abilities, but instead, it is meant to be a diligently attempted creative process that allows one to fully give himself away to all the audience members desperately in need of all that theater can give: truth, beauty, reality, and love.

We are the theater people, and we. love. you.

Blessings,
Paula

A tale of an almost graduate

I remember in my youth as a first semester freshman in college, a friend casually mentioned "we only get 7 more semesters of this!" We laughed as we faked a freak out, not knowing how fast our college careers would fly by. 

I'm a month away from the beginning of the end of my days as a college student. Only two semesters left of living with best friends, taking "study breaks" to get ice cream, going to college dances, falling in and out of love with subjects, dream chasing like its my job, and just everyday normal college student shenanigans. 

I know it's a little early to be writing this post, after all, I have a whole YEAR left before I say good bye to my little undergraduate career. But something in me tells me I'll forget where I was right in this  pre-senior year moment when I cross that stage at graduation... and I don't want to forget. 

The thought of having one more year left to squeeze in all the events, classes, and new friendships I can is really scary to me. I WANT TO DO EVERYTHING. Why didn't I take Rhetoric when I had the chance? Should I have added a theo minor? What about a math minor? MATH PEOPLE MAKE ALL THE MONEY. Should I even bother making new friends? I run out of time just to have coffee with the old ones most of the time! 

These are the worries that fill the mind of the silly little girl in me. And those don't even cover the worries of the future AFTER graduation. My heart is currently being pulled in about 5 different directions as to what I should do when I graduate. I've prayed and I've talked and I've thought and I've  given up.  And in the process...I'm learning a few things.

I'm going to sound like a hippy, please bear with me though.

1) Go with the flow. Or rather, go with the Holy Spirit guided flow. 

I know, I know, we get told "just trust" quite a bit. And it ends up with us frustrated, lying on our beds, staring at the ceiling, hoping that someone will bring us caffeine because otherwise we aren't getting out of that bed for anything. 

But that's not trust. Talking our worries into the ground is not trust. Going with the Holy Spirit guided flow involves planning what we need to take the next steps, and trusting that as long as we keep walking, the H.S. will open the doors for us to walk through. 

There's nothing wrong with planning, we need to plan a lot of things out. 

But for almost college grads? Pick an option, walk towards it, and open yourself up to walk through the doors that just seem to flow. This applies to the friendships that start your senior year AND any after graduation plans. The Lord doesn't work through unrest, he works through peace. 

2) Remember that the unknown is a beautiful thing. 

When you don't know which passion you'll be following next year, but you still say "use me God"... you're in the right spot. This time of unknown can be a beautiful place to grow. 

 

3) Give a "perfect effort" as that famous high school football coach once said. 

You don't have to be a perfect friend, a perfect student, and know perfectly what your future will entail. Because... ummm that's not going to happen. But you should strive to try in everything to do the best you can, with a humble acceptance of our limitations. 

It is such a blessing to be in the numbered few that have gotten a college education, I don't want to waste it in worry. 

Dear future Paula,  

I hope you lived a beautiful senior year, making decisions based on love and faith, and trusting that when you leave in May, you are exactly where you are supposed to be. *

The Handmaid's Example

“Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” (Luke 1:38)  Imagine you are 14 years old. You are doing the same thing you are doing every day, perhaps you are outside taking a quiet walk. Suddenly, a huge angel appears to you. He tells you not to be afraid. He tells you that you are going to become pregnant with the Son of God. You have never been with a man though. But the angel tells you this is what God wants. You say yes, simply because it is what God wants. You do not need any other reason. You accept all that the yes means. This is what Mary, the Mother of God, did 2000 years ago. From that yes the course of history and the course of our lives were forever changed.

On this feast of the Annunciation, I want to meditate on Mary’s trust in God and how we can learn from her.

We walk through life with a pile of worries on our hearts. A range from the smallest to the largest of concerns is what consumes our minds. We hear “trust God” over and over again in Church, from our friends, and when we read any Christian literature these days. It has gotten pounded into our heads since we were little, at least the words have. It just seems so cheesy when we hear the words coming out of our mouths now.  But why does it feel so overused? Why does it feel so strange to tell our friends to trust? It is because we don’t have that trust. We’re frustrated when we hear it because we haven’t reached a point of trust yet. We feel awkward when we tell a friend to trust in God because we ourselves do not know what it means to trust.

Let today be a renewal of trust though. Let Mary be an example. She had free will and she chose God’s will. I firmly believe that our lives will be totally peaceful if we learn to let go of the tight grasp we try to have on our lives. We do not realize how much more difficult our lives are when we hold tightly to our own will and worries. Let us again think of the words “let it be done to me” that are said in the gospel. Mary does not say “I will do this, this, and this. Then I will know I am doing God’s will because I am powering through it with all of MY might.” No. She is simply receiving. She is simply allowing God to work through her, to mold her, and to use her. She has opened her hands to receive all that God wants to do with her. With her trusting hands open to receive God’s blessings, there is no room left to cling tightly to her own will.  This is the model for trusting we should follow.  Stand with your hands open today. Tell God you are letting go. Ask Momma Mary to wrap you in her arms and push you towards her Son. And watch the peace that will come from following our beautiful Mother’s example.

“Am I not here, I, who am your Mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Am I not the source of your joy? Are you not in the hollow of my mantle, in the crossing of my arms? Do you need anything more? Let nothing else worry you, disturb you.” ~Our Lady of Guadalupe

Broken and beautiful

Thoughts crashing. Pain rising. Hearts breaking. Minds screaming.

Broken. Broken. Broken.

Does it ever end? We ask ourselves this every time we get out of bed. We struggle to have any thoughts at all in the morning, let alone a joyous one, as we make our way to our coffee makers.

We look at our phones. We see the smiling faces.

Smiles. Happiness. Cheesy quotes. Christian thankfulness. Laughter. Perfect. Perfection.

Our minds fight to understand this dissonance caused by the influx of information that shouts at us: YOUR LIFE SUCKS and everyone else's is perfect. YOU ARE A MESS and everyone else has their life together. YOU ARE BROKEN AND WEAK and everyone else is stronger than Hercules.  YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE WITH DOUBTS and everyone else would think you're insane if you admitted it.  You are B R O K E N...and everyone else is whole.

This is what we hear; this is what we tell ourselves. It is good to share our joys but that is not what people do. People mask their sorrows by sharing false perfections. "MY LIFE IS PERFECT" we scream from our facebooks. The practice of sharing our joys to uplift others has turned into a mantra of: "don't you dare mention brokenness, I wouldn't know".

What a sad thing that we no longer know how to really see the other people in our lives. It's a paradox. We know the brokenness in ourselves, but we don't share it. We forget that others are human, and therefore we forget that they are silent about their brokenness too. Facebook, twitter, instagram, pinterest, snapchat...they consume our life and they are what is filling our souls. They show us the beauty of all our friends, the special moments in a life, and laughter of a night. But what they can never show us is a whole person. Because a whole person is not a constant stream of happys.

A whole person is messy. A whole person is broken. A whole person is weak. A whole person cries out because he cannot do it anymore. We know this. We know this deep in our soul because we have to fight daily to not give up. There are both ups and downs to life of course, but every day we see our  brokenness manifest itself in one way or another. But as soon as we feel we are the only one that has this brokenness, we feel alone. And the more we see the false perfections projected everywhere, the more alone we feel. The more alone we feel, the more we share our own false perfections. And then the more others around us feel alone. It is is a vicious, vicious circle.


But breaking the circle is not something that is out of reach for us. Know that you are not alone on this journey. Know that your weakness is something beautiful. Know that you can share in others brokenness because you are broken too.  The communion of persons is something deeply rooted in ourselves. Rejoice with others in their joys and mourn with others in their sadness. But do not forget the beauty of a real live soul: The beauty of brokenness, not the beauty of a screen.

Do not forget the most beautiful brokenness of all: the cross.

"[Christ's] power is made perfect in weakness." 2 Cor. 12:9
"Love endures ALL things."  1 Cor. 13:7
"In my deepest wound, I saw Your glory, and it dazzled me." ~ St. Augustine


***Inspired by life and also by articles written on theyoungcatholicwoman.com

   There are people everywhere, in every state of life, with as many different stories and problems as snowflakes in a snowstorm.  But there is something that the human in all of us shares in…suffering. Pain is no stranger to a college student with a broken heart, a husband in a nursing home with a sick wife, a little girl who won’t sleep because she lost her teddy bear, and all stories in between. It’s funny though. We make comparisons about our suffering. We look at others and we wonder how well their lives are really going. We get nosy. When we see that their suffering is worse than ours, we feel relieved that we don’t have it as bad as it could possibly be. When we see someone that is suffering less (in our eyes) than us, we get frustrated. Why does God give ME this cross and let them have a burden which is so much lighter?

If you ever feel this way, stop.

Stop.

Stop.

Please.

We do not know the extent of the pain someone is feeling. We will never understand that. Only God knows how hard someone’s journey is. We only know ourselves.  We do not know what they do not reveal. Even if someone does reveal their most intimate sufferings to you, you still will never experience the pain that rests in their heart.  We should share in their pain and try to love them as best as we can. Regardless of if their problems seem bigger or smaller than our own. The pain turns into hope when we rest all the suffering at the foot of the Cross. Jesus is calling you to lay all of your hurt, pain, brokenness, and suffering down at His feet. And then He calls you to help your brothers and sisters in Him do the same.  Keep calm and love on.

“Cast all your cares on Him because He cares for you.” 1 Peter  5:7

“Courage, dear heart.” C.S. Lewis

Blessings,

~Paula

Sanctity

This blog post is really going to be preaching at myself. Because I need a lecture. Desperately.

So bear with me.

 St. Joan of Arc won battles, Bl. Mother Teresa helped the poorest of the poor, St. Thomas Aquinas wrote beautiful theological texts.... what do all of these have in common?  They are examples of awe inspiring saints and the actions that the grace of God allowed them to perform. 

What else do they have in common? They get overlooked as flukes by the rest of the world. As if it was all just one big accident that these feats were accomplished. It is so very easy to distance ourselves from the saints. We look at what they did and we think we can never be where they are. They are beautiful examples of what God can do in our lives, but sometimes it's just too scary to handle. 

I wanted to talk about another type of saint though. The type of saint that found Christ in the little things. A saint that learned that being a saint was  something that all are called to.  A saint that knew that being called to be a saint is the same thing as being called to be entwined with love itself. St. Thérèse of Lisieux. (I'm sure all of the saints that I mentioned above, and all saint in general know all these things... but St.  Thérèse  by her life and writings, explains this in a very simple and beautiful way that I'm learning to love) 

I've been learning more about her recently and she is so very precious. It is still a temptation to look at her life and dismiss it as an accident of one sweet child who happened to stumble upon sanctity. But ignoring that temptation,  it is very encouraging to look at her little way of loving  and to learn that little things bring about great things too. Sanctity isn't just for the people who accomplish world changing things for God's plan. It is also for those who trust Him and love Him in everything.  Even things like choosing a smile instead of a harsh word towards someone that annoys us.

And you can do that. You can love Him in everything. And I can do that. We all can do it. I promise. It scares the heck out of me, but  God sends His grace when we call upon Him--It's not us. It's NOT us. It's Him. 

Whether we are called to change the world one Summa written or one hug given at a time, He sends the grace we need. 

YOU. YEA YOU. Are called to be saint. YEA YOU ARE. And you know what? That's not some vague, maybe, sort-of calling.  And it's NOT some terrible, rule-filled for the sake of rules, unhappy, mess of a path. It's simply a  deep, loud, crazy, beautiful message written on your heart. Because becoming a saint is learning to let God love you. Rest in His love. Breathe in His love. And understand that He wants you to rest in Him forever. So change your hearts and minds towards Him.

"Cast all your cares on Him, because He cares for you." 1 Peter 5:7

"I must become a saint, my Jesus expects it." ~St. Bernadette

Peace,

Paula

Roma

                 I had a brilliant plan to blog every week that I was in Europe. Thaaaaat didn't work out so well. (I'm currently blogging from a Panera in home-sweet-home Maryland.)  So, my next best plan is to write out something akin to a summary of the semester post. I'm not really sure  that's completely possible... But there were so many beautiful things that happened and so many blessings poured out that I'm going to at least attempt to share about them.  God's love was in the ups, downs, middles, everythings, and simple nothings of this semester. I hope I get across in this even the slightest glimpse of what this semester meant to me and I hope it brings joy to those reading along.

Rome is like every city you've ever been to and nothing like every city you've ever been to...all at the same time. You've got your graffiti, you've got your smoggy air, your smelly buses, and your camera vetted tourists. But you've also got sisters and priests appearing around every street corner, getting to watch the amusing antics of 50 purse vendors running away from cops every other day, people playing accordions on the subway, and coffee taking the place of water in any Italian's diet(---so therefore, your little studying abroad self's diet). It took me probably til I was about to leave to really say I was comfortable with the city and comfortable finding my way around. (Although it only took me a few days to get annoyed by the ACTUAL tourists... ..something I was never...cause please, I belonged in my Roma from day one) That's how life works I suppose.  It was amazing to be walking and then all of a sudden come across the Pantheon...or the Colosseum. And the amount of stunningly beautiful churches in Rome is absolutely mind blowing.
Now...Pasta is everywhere. Gelato is everywhere. And coffee is everywhere. I'm ok with all of those things though, so it was all good. Oh, and Romans love their dogs. I didn't see that many families, I guess just the nature of living in a city. But there were many...many dogs. There were tiny smart cars everywhere, umbrella vendors appearing out of nowhere when it started to rain, and pictures of Mary on many of the apartment buildings. Oh and there was St. Peter's 5 minutes away from where we lived. Rome is a city with a life and mind of its own.

So that was the city life. (And I talked a bit more about that in my first post I posted-- that was supposed to be one of many--- if you want to go back and read it :p) But besides the city itself, it was really the people that God sent this semester that made this trip the biggest blessing....Firstly, I'd like to send a big shout and thank you to Father Scott and Deacon Taylor and Josh!  They came every week so we could have a holy hour (and confessions from Father) and they brought so much joy and peace to our group...I'm so grateful for all they did for us this semester and for all the laughter they brought every time they were with us.  I'd also like to talk about our super fantastically amazing RD for a second now... Miss Corinne. She is one of the most loveable and giving people I have ever met. I am so grateful for all that she did for our whole group. Between planning our smaller pilgrimages and trip to Poland, she still found time to help us with little things and make us all fall on the floor laughing with her crazy and silly self all at the same time. (Example: the day we all pretended we could actually legitimately African dance ... inspired by Corinne. Hopefully...uhhh...  that video never goes anywhere). Annddd I can't talk about inspiring people without including our RAs: Miss Erin and Mr. Henry.  I'm pretty sure those two both have a little ray of sunshine that they bring around with them everywhere. They would probablyyyy deny that. Ya know, cause they've got their problems: Erin's meanness which I've explained to her is similar to butterflies hitting people, and Henry's sassiness on about the same level of meanness. Butttt on a serious note, they shouldn't deny the joy they brought to all of us... They shouldn't because it's true. These two self-sacrificing people showed our group what it means to really be joyful followers of Christ. (We were the founders of the Happy Bear club... tis a grand club... you should ask me about it sometime. Or just come up and shout "Happy Bear!" as loudly as possible when you see me. Either is acceptable) Annnnddd I'm super de duper uber grateful that they stated getting us all to pray the Liturgy of the Hours with them recently...some favorite memories and Jesus time right there that will hopefully continue... (yes,yes I am a holy roller who asked for a breviary for her birthday because of those two...shhhh don't tell anyone)

All the kids of the program were blessings too. I want to send a huge thank you for the silliness, caring, love and friendship that all the students in the program this semester showed me and everyone else. There were SO many little things that brought such joy to my heart over the last 3 months thanks to all of them.  Some of my absolute favorite memories were from the impromptu jam sessions and dances we had in our tiny little common room at the residence, VIP wine&pizza nights with guest speakers, playing the cup game wayyyy too many times after dinner, and taking random trips to gelaterias or the 30cent pastry shop... Oh, and bar beato. Can't forget bar beato. Corinne, and some of the other girls in the program would make coffee in our common room and we'd pay a few cents and the money would go to a pregnancy center. Speaking of loved shown, the sweetest little old Italian man, who runs a cafe right by the residence we lived at, would donate pastries for free so we could use them to make money for bar beato. So kind.

There were SO many other people who came into mine and everyone else's lives just briefly for the semester who  were amazing blessings. There was the bus drive in Pollone who let about 10 of us ride for free. There was the Missionaries of Charity ,who some of us got to work with a few times over the semester, who showed us what real love was. There were the men at the Missionaries of Charity houses who also showed us just as much  and more love as we thought we were going to show them. (I remember some of them saying over and over again to us as we left one night: "God bless you!!!") There was the Italian lady who worked at the bread shop down the street from our residence who said she had never managed to get to St. Peter's in her whole time there. (St. Peter's was down the street from us). I'm not really sure why she hadn't gotten to go, probably just from too much work. But her working there didn't keep her from being overly generous. She, on more than one occasion, threw in lots of free stuff for our group when we bought dinner there. There was Claire who by an act of God's providence I got to meet.  She was a consecrated virgin, who was one of the kindest and realest people I have ever met.  There was the Assaf family (Mr. Assaf is the head of the program), who showed us huge amounts of love and generosity in many different ways.There were the host families we stayed with when we went to Poland, who fed us and housed us. There was our tour guide when we went to Auschwitz who wanted to make sure we understood how grateful we need to be for our lives. There were two beautiful students in Prague who showed us around Prague and helped us get housing when we were there for two nights.  There were the many many people who worked at all the gelato shops I went to that put up with me asking them to pick flavors for me.  There was SO much love shown throughout the whole semester that I can't even really fathom it.

Our trip to Poland was probably one of the highlights of the whole semester. We went to Warsaw, Krakow, Czestochowa, the city JP 2 is from, Auschwitz, the city Maximilian Kolbe lived in, and saw so many other amazing things too. While Roma will always have a special place in my heart, Poland is a place I want to go back and live forever....No exaggeration.  The people had so much faith. At one point we went to stations of the cross that were walking stations, I think in Warsaw. We went to the most amazing Palm Sunday procession I've ever seen  in Krakow(there was Polish music and fire dancing... enough said) and then mass afterwards at a beautiful basilica. It was one of the most touching things I've ever experienced. You really could feel the people on fire for their faith in that city and really everywhere in the country. We also got to visit the Divine Mercy shrine and learn more about St. Faustina. One of the sisters there gave a little talk to us. She was pretty amazing. She talked about how St. Faustina fell in love with Jesus.
We went to mass at a church Maximilian Kolbe and some other men had built in another city. There was an amazing priest ever there who said mass for us. He spoke of how Jesus had really appeared to him once and he spoke of his encounter with Him. He spoke of how we need love in our lives desperately. He reminded us of what St. Paul said about how if we don't have love we are nothing. Love is the only language that we need. We had the opportunity to visit Auschwitz. It was one of the most eye-opening and saddening things that I have ever seen. Our tour guide made sure that we understood that we must never let those people go forgotten. They had dignity and we must always remember them. We go to see the cell of St. Maximilian Kolbe where he died after he took the place of another man in the starvation cell. That is what true love really means. That was beautiful to see that light in the darkness.
We also ended up getting to spend a day in the Czech Republic, on our way home from Poland. There were so many people there who showered kindness on us too. People made sure we had a place to stay and showed us around to special places in Prague. We met the most amazing people on that trip that I don't think I will ever forget.

Then we came back to Rome and amazing things were about to happen. I have to tell you about Easter and the Canonization. Easter was beautiful.I got to go to the Easter vigil inside St. Peter's and then the mass outside St. Peter's on Easter day. What a huge gift that was. And it was so amazing to get to see Papa Francesco so many times! Easter day we all had an amazing time at the villa where the program has had their campus in the past. It's a little outside the city. It's a good thing that it wasn't where we stayed this semester though, or I would never have gone into the city. That campus was stunning.  There were trees and flowers and an open field. It was lovely. It was the first Easter I've ever been without my family, but it was a filled with friends, laughter and happiness.

Annnnnddd goodness gracious. The canonization was absolutely insane. It was the week after Easter. Our group by the grace of God, was in the right place at the right time. We had been wandering around the millions of people squished everywhere in the city the night before the canonization, trying to figure out where to camp out.Anddd at around 11:30 we were standing right by where the crowd started moving towards St. Peter's. We followed the crowd and then got swept in. We were squished into standing room only for about 8 hours. Most of us took turns sitting. We napped, we prayed, we sang, we laughed, we took 5 minute power naps, we got grumpy,  we went a little crazy at points. The crowd would move a few feet every hour or so. It was quite the strange sensation to move only because a million other people are moving around you. At around 7am though, by Mama Mary's intercession and the grace of God we got pushed right into St. Peter's square. We were right next to people who had been in line since 2pm the day before and 9pm...when we had only accidentally stumbled into line on that street at 11:30pm....wow... God is good. Then the canonization mass was beautiful...the sun came out for part of it. JP2 and John 23rd wanted to make sure there was at least a little sunshine. :) There was such joy when Pope Francis named them official saints! The priests came out to distribute communion with yellow colored umbrellas and they all marched down the square all in a row. It was a beautiful sight, especially since we were farther back in the square and I wasn't sure we were going to get communion. It was so special that we did get to receive communion though! Not going to lie though, I think I fell asleep during part of the readings... only for a second or two though. ;)  Also... sleep is a beautiful thing. I don't think I've ever been more grateful for sleep than the night of the canonization. (Fell asleep at 5pm on Sunday... woke up at 6:15am on Monday...like a pro.)

The last few days were kind of a blur. Went on a few adventures. Met up with some Domincan sisters on one little side trip. Got to visit Nettuno, where St. Maria Goretti is from one of the last days. Walked around the city by myself on my very last day. Said goodbye to everyone who was left whilst eating gelato.
Annnnddd then said  my goodbyes to Roma.

I feel like I've just woken up from a dream, ever since I've been home. It was one of the most amazing trips I've ever had. It was definitely hard at some points, don't get me wrong.. But it was all such a blessing..every single second of it. I cannot believe I got to see and experience everything that I did. It's crazy. Absolutely crazy. But a good crazy. :) This little summary can't really begin to cover the 3 months...but I hope I was able to share at least partly the blessing that this semester was. Thank you Jesus for all that you have shown us all this semester. Annddd I will now leave you with a quote from one of the books we read this semester (....or rather, were supposed to have read) that I think summarizes the feeling of all who get to enjoy the beauty and peace of Roma.
 "And joy pervades her quiet heart." ~from the Aeneid.

If you stuck with me this whole time... I thank you :)
Ciao!
Blessings,
~Paula