Rector’s Corner

Growing in Nazareth with St. Joseph

Our Holy Father Pope Francis has proclaimed this a year of devotion to St. Joseph. As there are no recordings of anything St. Joseph said, the believer is left pondering and reflecting upon the very hidden life of Christ’s childhood and adolescence in Nazareth. To Joseph was entrusted an amazing responsibility, and what a tremendous amount of influence St. Joseph would have had on our Lord. Our heavenly Father chose him to be the example of manhood to the Son of Man! How to teach the child and teenager Jesus? For while the sinless Jesus was not prone to sin, our understanding of the mystery of the Incarnation leads us to believe that Jesus not only learned directly from his Divine Person, but also from the ordinary process of human life and experiences: interactions and lessons, mistakes and victories, sadness and loss and joy. St. Luke assures us that Jesus grew in wisdom and stature. It was Joseph who taught Jesus how to work, how to be fair, how to treat others, how to pray. Remember, Jesus was enough like Joseph in his mannerisms and personality that everybody assumed him to be Joseph’s son by nature: “Is this not the carpenter’s son?” No doubt Jesus spoke like Joseph, used his turns of phrase, and shared the mannerisms he would have mimicked from Joseph. That is how a boy learns. For good or ill, we become our parents! And the image Christ taught us to use for speaking to our heavenly Father, “Abba,” was first understood by him to describe the tender love Joseph showed him when he was a child.

It is only appropriate that the Christian ask for the intercession and seek the example of Joseph—how much more for our community of men who seek to be spiritual fathers! Perhaps you might like to offer the prayer we offer each week in this year. Remember us to St. Joseph!

Thanks for your support!

Very Reverend Peter C. Harman, STD ’99 Rector

Dear St. Joseph, as you were entrusted with the care of the Holy Family, we beseech your intercession and ask for the grace to follow your example of devoted, chaste, and joyful love for the families to which we belong. Fill the Church with men as husbands and fathers who seek to live faithfully, lead families humbly, and form children lovingly. Grant our families, especially our fathers and brothers, these same graces. Bless our presbyterates and our brothers in this family of the North American College with the desire to be spiritual fathers after your own heart. Grant to all of us a devoted love of Jesus and Mary each day. Intercede for us to our one Father in heaven, that we be worthy of the trust given to us who seek to be conformed ever more deeply to the person of Jesus Christ, who is Savior and Lord forever and ever. AMEN.

a HOUSE ofPRAYER

ROMAN ECHOES 25TH YEAR

NAC FACTS

“To be formed in the spirit of the Gospel, the interior man needs to take special and faithful care of the interior spiritual life, centred principally on communion with Christ through the Mysteries celebrated in the course of the Liturgical Year, and nourished by personal prayer and meditation on the inspired Word. In silent prayer, which opens him to an authentic relationship with Christ, the seminarian becomes docile to the action of the Spirit, which gradually moulds him in the image of the Master.”

The Gift of the Priestly Vocation: Ratio Fundamentalis Institutionis Sacerdotalis, n. 42

Proclaiming the Living and Effective Word

MICHAEL NORIEGA ‘24, DIOCESE OF AUSTIN

One of the gifts of studying theology has been the opportunity to study Sacred Scripture. The Word of

God is indeed alive and should be proclaimed to all, a task which Jesus entrusted to the Apostles. The evening before our institution as lectors, our class prayed a holy hour with a guided meditation by Fr. Randy Soto, the Carl

J. Peter Chair of Homiletics here at the

College. What struck me most during this time of prayer and meditation was the missionary aspect of proclaiming the Word as lectors. Specifically, I was struck by Hebrews 4, “the Word of

God is living and effective.” The Word of God is not just for us but is also to be shared and proclaimed to all. When we proclaim the Word, we are not merely reading words on a page, but are proclaiming the living Word

Michael Noriega '24 (Austin) receives the lectionary from George Cardinal Pell as he is instituted as a lector.

The Class of 2023 poses for a group photo with Archbishop Jorge Patron Wong after being installed acolytes on March 7, 2021. of God to the world in order to bring others closer to Christ.

On the morning of my institution, as I approached His Eminence George Cardinal Pell, there was a sense of awe and reverence in receiving the book of the Scriptures. I realized that this call is not simply for me, but a missionary call to proclaim God’s Word to the whole world, a world that needs the Word of God. The Word of God is living and effective, and we are his instruments in proclaiming it to others. Please continue to pray for us that we may be faithful servants in proclaiming the Word! n

The Great Responsibility of the Acolyte

DANIEL SCANLAN ‘23, DIOCESE OF VENICE IN FLORIDA

On March 7, 2021, my classmates and I had the great joy of being instituted as acolytes by Archbishop

Jorge Patron Wong, Secretary for

Seminaries of the Congregation for

Clergy. Practically speaking, those of us who have been instituted now have the responsibility to assist the priests and deacons of our community in carrying out their ministries, particularly in service to the liturgy. The ministry of acolyte comes with a great responsibility.

“Make your life worthy of your service at the table of the Lord and his Church.” As I reflect on these words from the Rite of Institution of Acolyte, I recognize that the service to which I have been called is not exclusively about the new responsibilities that I will undertake. Instead, it is about something more. Not only do we serve the Lord around the altar, but our whole lives must increasingly reflect the Lord we serve. Last year my classmates and I received the ministry of lector, which encouraged us, in proclaiming God’s Word, to meditate and immerse ourselves in Sacred Scripture. Now the Church has invited us to “live more fully by the Lord’s sacrifice and to be molded more perfectly in its likeness.” I pray that we may rise to the challenge to conform ourselves more intimately to Christ as we serve him not only in the liturgy, but also in every moment of our life. n

Weekends of Recollection

REV. MR. LUCAS LAROCHE ‘21, DIOCESE OF WORCESTER

The course of our year at the seminary is marked by a variety of cycles: the seasons, the academic year, and most importantly, the liturgical year of the

Church. As part of our observance of

Advent and Lent, the seminary offers a weekend of recollection during each of these seasons. During these weekends the seminary community hosts someone to preach to us and lead us in prayer in hopes of deepening our appreciation of the liturgical season.

This past year, we have been graced with two excellent speakers for these occasions: Fr. Simeon Leiva-Merikakis, a Trappist monk of Saint Joseph’s Abbey in Spencer, Massachusetts; and Abbot Primate Gregory Polan of the Order of Saint Benedict. Both of these speakers provided a lens through which we were invited to deepen our own prayer life and encounter Christ in a new way.

Fr. Simeon, who gave our Advent recollection, focused on the parable of the virgins and the bridegroom (Mt. 25). Fr. Simeon is a world-class exegete, and he walked us through these passages in a way that made the scriptures come alive. His goal was to make each of us recognize that Christ desires us and seeks us out; our responsibility is to respond to the love of Christ for us and to cling to him.

Abbot Primate Gregory Polan, OSB speaks to the community during the Lenten Day of Recollection. In Lent, Abbot Primate Gregory preached on contemplation and the Paschal Mystery, focusing on the Gospels from the first two Sundays of Lent. In doing so, he drew from his experience as a monk, priest, and abbot to speak how the glory of the Lord affects our lives.

The most striking thing, however, about these weekends of recollection is the silence: As a rule, strict silence is kept in the seminary throughout the weekend, to foster a deeper environment of prayer. This is always odd, given that the halls of our house usually echo with conversation, laughter, and discussion. Yet similar to fasting, we abstain from speaking for the sake of something better, as we focus on renewing our relationship with the Triune God.

This relationship is the foundation of the whole Christian life; your future priests depend on it to serve you well. Pray for us. We pray for you. n

ROMAN ECHOES 25TH YEAR

NAC FACTS

In both the Institution of Lectors and Acolyte, the person being instituted is handed an object associated with the ministry and given a charge. Lectors are handed a book of Scriptures, either a Bible or Lectionary and told: “Take this book of holy Scripture and be faithful in handing on the Word of God, so that it may grow strong in the hearts of his people.” Acolytes are handed a vessel of bread to be consecrated and told: “Take Students log in early in the morning for a Zoom seminar.this vessel of bread (wine) for the celebration of the Eucharist. Make your life worthy of your service at the table of the Lord and of his Church.”

The image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus adorning the side altar of the Immaculate Conception Chapel. The Immaculate Conception Chapel.

The Heart of Our House

JOSEPH FERME ’22, ARCHDIOCESE OF BOSTON

Since we are blessed with a variety of facilities on our campus, it would be no surprise to hear a varied list of “favorite places.” However, there is one place which is undoubtedly the heart of our home: the Immaculate Conception

Chapel (ICC). Here our community gathers every morning for Morning

Prayer and Mass, and again every evening for Evening Prayer, after a day full of various activities.

To call this sacred place the heart of our home is more than just cliché, because it truly does give life to everything else we do. Each morning at our chapel we are filled with life by the Eucharist and renewed to go forth to classes, studies, and apostolic work. If these activities did not all flow from the chapel, they would be lifeless indeed. After the day’s work, we return, perhaps having spent much of what we had received, and again we are filled up, given life, and renewed.

Such life comes not from a collection of bricks and marble, but from the One who transforms a building into a real gate of heaven and makes of us living stones. Being fed each day with our Daily Bread and lifting up hearts, minds, and voices in the daily prayer of the Liturgy of the Hours is how God fills us up, gives us life, and renews us. From where I sit in the ICC, I am constantly reminded of this true source of life. Above the nearby side altar is an image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Our Lord is pointing to his Heart, to this fount from which we draw. As one enters the ICC, it would be difficult to not immediately notice another image, the large mosaic of Our Lady. In the heart of our house we are reminded of two hearts, ever united. Here, Mary and her Immaculate Heart go about the true work of formation, that of helping our hearts to be made like the heart of her Son. n

Stained glass windows and relics of Saints John Paul II and Mother Teresa of Calcutta, found in the John Paul II Chapel. The depiction of the Good Shepherd found on the door of the tabernacle in the Good Shepherd Chapel.

“Lord, I Am Not Worthy.”

DAVID LEE ’24, DIOCESE OF NASHVILLE

Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof” (Mt. 8:8). These familiar words of the Roman centurion describe how I felt upon ,, learning, as a college freshman, that there was a chapel in my dorm at the

University of Notre Dame. I would literally be living under the same roof as Jesus! It was like having a house with a personal basketball gym or a movie theater, but this was a humbling luxury on a whole new level.

Seminary life has once again afforded me this luxury of sharing the same roof as Jesus, yet now there is not only one but four chapels where I have the gift of visiting the Eucharistic Lord, present in the tabernacle. In addition to our main Immaculate Conception Chapel, there are three other chapels frequented by seminarians for personal prayer on a daily basis.

The North American Martyrs Chapel features stained-glass windows depicting scenes from the lives of the Jesuits missionaries who served the Native Americans; it is currently home to our weekly Byzantine liturgy. There is also the Good Shepherd Chapel with its simple wooden pews and a tabernacle depicting Christ as the Good Shepherd. The last and most frequented of the three is the Saint John Paul II Chapel, which contains relics of both John Paul II and Mother Teresa, each of whom made a visit to the College.

These chapels offer seminarians many opportunities for “hidden” moments of prayer before the beginning of a more “public” priestly ministry. This opportunity is an invitation to be a disciple who learns at the feet of Jesus before being sent out as his ambassadors. These hidden moments of prayer help foster a more intimate relationship with the Lord so that we may be more perfectly conformed to Christ and prepare ourselves for a calling of which we are so unworthy. n

VOICES OF NAC

During the year of St. Joseph, what lesson can you learn from St. Joseph regarding future ministry and fatherhood?

St. Joseph calls me to embrace the hiddenness of authentic fatherhood, a hiddenness which does not hesitate to break forth and show itself when called upon, but which nevertheless does not seek out attention and spectacles. His is a fatherhood of utter fidelity. The past year has challenged me to commit to the first battle which occurs in our hearts every day. With this first victory in place, Christ may reign more fully in the world.

Ryan Asher ‘24

Archdiocese of Detroit

I have always found Saint Joseph to be a courageous figure. What I have learned from St. Joseph in prayer is that fatherhood and spiritual fatherhood need three key things: compassion, trust, and flexibility. These three aspects are crucial for ministry and spiritual fatherhood: compassion in our dealings with others; trust in the Lord and his plan for us; and the flexibility to adapt, knowing that his will must be done, not ours. Be compassionate. Trust in God. Let his plan be my plan.

Rev. William Banowsky ‘19

Archdiocese of Oklahoma City

When almost everyone went home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I was one of the remnant who spent the entire lockdown within the four walls of the College. Like, St. Joseph I had to learn how to trust God with everything. This experience did not come very easily. Before the pandemic, I had my hopes and dreams, especially looking towards my ordination to the priesthood, but then everything had to be put on hold due to the pandemic. Many people have asked me, how did you survive? For me it was a combination of many things: trying each day to let go of my own will and trusting God; the support of my brothers who remained at the College; and the goodwill of the College for providing us a safe environment with access to the sacraments. The abundance of time provided by the pandemic was for me a great opportunity to really recount my many blessings.

Rev. Mr. Martin Okwudiba ‘20

Archdiocese of Philadelphia

“During the hidden years in Nazareth, Jesus learned at the school of Joseph to do the will of the Father. That will was to be his daily food (cf. Jn 4:34). Even at the most difficult moment of his life, in Gethsemane, Jesus chose to do the Father’s will rather than his own . . . All this makes it clear that ‘Saint Joseph was called by God to serve the person and mission of Jesus directly through the exercise of his fatherhood’ and that in this way, ‘he cooperated in the fullness of time in the great mystery of salvation and is truly a minister of salvation.’” Pope Francis, Patris Corde

Throughout my childhood, I was often reminded of the importance of my actions by the popular expression “actions speak louder than words.” I believe that this is exemplified in the life of St. Joseph. Despite there being no recorded words from him in Sacred Scripture, St. Joseph exemplified a loving and obedient trust in the Father’s plan by promptly acting in accord with it. It is through his fidelity and love that St. Joseph was made able to participate in the unique role of being the father of Jesus and the protector of the Holy Family. St. Joseph serves as a perfect model for me, as a future priest, of intently listening and humbly following the will of God.

Kelby Tingle ‘23

Diocese of Shreveport

I have always been inspired by St. Joseph’s response when he encounters God’s plan for him through his dreams. Matthew’s Gospel says: “and he rose and did as the Lord commanded.” He acts simply and whole-heartedly, no questions, no contingency plan, no holding on to his previous ideas. This desire to do God’s will and to place it before all else in his life is the foundation of St. Joseph’s mission and a model for us to follow as we also seek to cooperate in the mystery of salvation.

Rev. Mr. Joseph Townsend ‘21

Diocese of Arlington

St. Joseph is a model for us of what it means to follow God’s lead in our lives and future ministries, and to do so without the sluggishness of hardened hearts. This is what Scripture tells us of St. Joseph, who was a just man, who, without hesitation, did as God told him.

Wade Trainor ‘22

Diocese of Paterson

a HOUSE ofFELLOWSHIP

FELLOWSHIP

ROMAN ECHOES 25TH YEAR

NAC FACTS

“In the Church, which is ‘the home and the school of communion’ and which ‘derives its unity from the unity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,’ the priest is called to be a ‘man of communion.’ Consequently, the bonds that are created in the seminary between formators and seminarians, and between the seminarians themselves, must be marked by a sense of fatherhood and fraternity. In fact, fraternity is fostered through spiritual growth, which requires a constant effort to overcome various forms of individualism. A fraternal relationship ‘cannot just be left to chance, to fortuitous circumstances,’ but is rather a conscious choice and an ongoing challenge.”

The Gift of the Priestly Vocation: Ratio Fundamentalis Institutionis Sacerdotalis, n. 52

Diaconal Identity and Service

REV. MR. MICHAEL WANTA ’21, DIOCESE OF MADISON

At my diaconal ordination, my bishop said, “Receive the

Gospel of Christ, whose herald you have become.

Believe what you read, teach what you believe, and practice what you teach.” I was made a herald of the

Gospel, and I found that I grew in my relationship with God by living out of this identity. Prayer naturally became other-centered as I prayed over the readings before preaching, in order to communicate God’s message.

The priesthood is not simply fulfilling a function, but is an identity. Since action follows being, if we want our actions to bear good fruit, we must first pay attention to who we are. This is true for all Christians, who before doing good works should recognize their dignity as children of God and cooperators with his grace. It applies also to priests, whose years in seminary include not only learning skills but going away with the Lord, who has called them to himself.

This priority of being has become especially clear now in the life of the College, when many of the exterior actions of our apostolates—campus ministry, service to the poor, guiding pilgrimages to holy sites—have been suspended. Since there are fewer opportunities to serve others outside the seminary, we turn our attention to our own community by encouraging each other, keeping our spirits high and our attention fixed on the Lord. Before preaching to the world, we must preach to each other and to ourselves. Moreover, we must allow Christ to

Rev. Mr. Michael Wanta '21 (Madison) leads the members of his hall in Evening Prayer during Tuesday Night Hall Prayer.

preach to us in silence and the simple events of the day, in prayer, study, fraternity, and leisure.

Our imitation of Jesus has taken on a Nazarene character, as online classes and lockdowns have calmed the often-frantic busyness of life and challenged us to reflect on how we participate in community life, which has been intensified. Before his own public ministry, Jesus grew in wisdom and knowledge within the life of the Holy Family. The same opportunity has been extended to us: to encounter God here and now, in the way he chooses. The good that Jesus wants us to do is often better than the good that we have thought up ourselves. Now, when the opportunity to exercise my diaconal ministry in the apostolate has been limited, I have a new opportunity to enter into God’s silence. Assisting at Mass and preaching have become much more precious as their periodic exercise is interspersed with waiting. Service in the house, even in little things, is touched by the greater awareness that I am called to serve the People of God. And prayer always remains intercessory. Opening my arms outstretched when leading the Liturgy of the Hours has become a powerful reminder that, even when alone, I am praying in the name of and for the Church, and indeed for the whole world. n

Serving Our Sick Neighbors

MAURICIO PORTILLO ’22, DIOCESE OF ARLINGTON

Similar to many families worldwide, our spiritual family here at the seminary has also experienced one of the unexpected outcomes that this pandemic has brought: the opportunity to serve those close to us who have fallen ill. Back in the fall, there was a period of time when some members of the community fell ill to the coronavirus.

As a result, our infirmarian team (a group of seminarians who deliver food to those who are sick) was overwhelmed as the sick list increased. More volunteers were needed, so I became a part of the new team, from which I learned two important lessons. First, I realized that in order to serve, I do not need to actively go “out,” so to speak, to care for others. My actions can simply involve a word of kindness or a positive comment. What matters is the love with which we do it. As Mother Teresa famously said on the occasion of her reception of the Noble Prize, “Love begins at home, and it is not how much we do, but how much love we put in the action that we do.” After this experience, I am more convinced that love of neighbor, literally those who live around me, often calls for a greater exercise of love.

Secondly, I learned that our love of neighbor is measured by our love for God. The Gospel passage that resounded in my heart during my service as an infirmarian was Matthew 25:31-46, which includes the verse, “Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.” I believe one of the most challenging aspects of Christianity to understand is the universal character of the Incarnation. That is, Jesus, the eternal Son of God, actually identifies with every person. Therefore, what we say and do to others, we, in turn, say and do to Jesus himself. In the end, what must move us to serve others, especially those who live close to us, is the fact that we all are members of Christ’s Body, and therefore members of the same family of God. n

Mauricio Portillo '22 (Arlington - left) and the other second and third year men who serve as house infirmarians gather for a photo after Sunday Mass. As Mother Teresa famously said on the occasion of her reception of the Noble Prize, “Love begins at home, and it is not how much we do, but how much love we put in the action that we do.”

ROMAN ECHOES 25TH YEAR

NAC FACTS

Beginning in second year, seminarians are given a “house job” which contributes to the well-functioning of the community. There are many different types of house jobs. Some seminarians work in the area of liturgy as sacristans, masters of ceremonies, or organists, while others work at KNAC or the student lounge.. There are also seminarians who work in the library, assist with hospitality and guests, and maintain the Students log in early in the morning for a Zoom seminar.student kitchen. Serving on the editorial staff of Roman Echoes is also a house job!

NAC

Christmas at “Home”

ZACH JONES ’22, DIOCESE OF SIOUX CITY

Rev. Ronald Barusefski (Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Passaic) and members of 2nd Central residence hall dress up to show off their western-themed hall during the annual hall decorating contest.

During a normal Christmas break at the College, the number of countries visited by the men of the community would almost certainly be in double digits. Many would scatter throughout the European continent to celebrate the Nativity of our Lord in some of the world’s most beautiful and historic cities; some of the clergy would travel

“across the pond” to spend the break in their respective dioceses; and still others would travel to the Holy

Land on Fr. Brendan Hurley, S.J.’s annual pilgrimage.

But as was the case all over the world, this was not an ordinary Christmas: the COVID-19 pandemic kept us much closer to home, and a vast majority of the community remained on campus throughout the break. This extraordinary situation, however, only served as a catalyst for the creative forces of many of the seminarians and priests to bring about a historic and unforgettable Christmas.

As soon as we learned that Christmas would be “in-house,” seminarians began to organize various activities and opportunities for fraternity. We had our annual Christmas party hosted by the third-year class, complete with hundreds of homemade cookies and a live band playing Christmas carols. There was a football game played on Christmas day, affectionately given the title, "The Babbo Natale Bowl" (the Italian name for Santa Claus). There was even a full-fledged Bavarian Christmas market with sausage, funnel cakes, mulled wine, and much more, organized by several men from the house. This is not to mention the countless smaller gatherings amongst friends which took place daily, like watching Christmas movies, cooking meals together, and playing board games. Most importantly, we were able to celebrate the great solemnities of this season together, with devout prayer and beautiful liturgies.

Among all the chaos and uncertainty in the world, it was nice to be “home” for Christmas. n

Christmas Market

JAMES FANGMEYER, JR. ’24, ARCHDIOCESE OF WASHINGTON

Tyler Underhill '24 (Evansville) looks with displeasure at the long line for hot cocoa refills.

Since we could not go out this Christmas, we brought our own Christmas market to the College. On the evening of

December 23rd, the market was complete with warm drinks, glowing lights, and a jolly atmosphere. We hosted this first-of-its-kind event in the student lounge and portico outside.

It was designed to look and feel like an outdoor Christmas market, with stands offering various hot foods and voices buzzing in the crowd. Seminarians and priests relaxed in Christmas anticipation on a cold Roman night.

Some of our most talented musicians also covered Christmas classics. With the lounge rearranged and re-lit to offer a snug coffee-house feel, friends settled down to listen as they savored a cup of Fr. Randy Soto’s homemade soup or tasted a slice of apple strudel. Grooves and smooth voices floated out of the lounge onto the ears of listeners outside. The open mic portion of the night was fun and surprising: we heard poetry, a cappella voices, and a piano duet. I recited Linus’ monologue from A Charlie Brown Christmas, which quotes Luke 2:8-14. That scene in the movie always moved me as a child: “That’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown!” This year, Fr. Ken Malley, one of the College’s spiritual directors, has been teaching me a lot about Jesus “in his twenties, at Nazareth.” This image helps me keep my priorities in order. My priority this Christmas, my first away from home, was to celebrate Jesus’ birth. No Christmas celebration is complete without gifts. Volunteering to organize entertainment at the Christmas Market was my opportunity to celebrate by giving a small gift back to the College. I made greater friendships with men through the challenges and gained a lot of confidence in my ability to lead and serve our community.

Although I missed my family back at home over the holidays, it was truly a blessed and joyful season, and the College never felt more like home. n

Jacob Livecchi '23 (Toledo) and Samuel Anderson '23 (Fort Wayne-South Bend) serve funnel cake.

Communal Christmas Liturgies at the College

REV. VINCENT FERRER BAGAN, O.P., DIRECTOR OF LITURGICAL MUSIC

As the school year began and the pandemic was under control in Italy, I am sure that many of us presumed we would be traveling during the Christmas break. As the pandemic situation worsened and the Italian government imposed travel restrictions in October and November—and as the Vatican announced that the Christmas Masses at St. Peter’s Basilica would not be open to the public—it became clear that the best course of action was to revive the long-dormant tradition of a full communal celebration of the

Lord’s Nativity here at the College.

Though I was not expecting to be here for Christmas, the celebrations of

Christmas with my own Dominican community for the past ten years provided ample preparation for the moment: I was familiar with a historical variety of pieces from the

Christmas repertoire for men’s voices and also had a few of my own compositions. The seminarians were eager to make the best of a changed situation, and most of the choir members volunteered to sing at the

Christmas liturgies. As we have been doing all year, the choir size was limited so that the singers could remain at a distance from one another, but, between the two Masses and solemn Evening Prayer II, everyone who wanted to sing was able to sing for at least one or two of the liturgies.

Before the Mass during the Night, our musical prelude provided an opportunity for everyone to sing their favorite Christmas carols. Given the angelic presence in the Gospel for that Mass, we sang “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” as well as the Mass of the Angels (Gregorian Mass VIII). Tollite hostias from Camille Saint-Saëns’s Christmas oratorio includes the Laetentur caeli offertory text for that Mass, and our motet after communion was Morten Lauridsen’s beautiful setting of O magnum mysterium, which seemed to be a musical highlight for many.

At the Mass during the Day, it was a particular joy for me that we began with the introit chant, Puer natus est nobis, which has become a staple of my own Christmas experience over the last decade. This led into perhaps the more customary Christmas entrance today: “O Come, All Ye Faithful,” complete with two trumpeters. At the offertory, we sang my setting of the appointed text, “Thine Are the Heavens” (which, because we had sung it almost every year for the past ten years, my Dominican brothers jokingly refer to as a “Christmas classic”) as well as my arrangement of “Good Christian Men, Rejoice,” and we turned eastward for the motet after communion, the hauntingly beautiful Spaseniye sodelal by Pavel Chesnokov.

Though it was not the Christmas celebration we were expecting, it was a joyful and prayerful experience for us to be together at Christmas, and to be able to worship the Lord in his Nativity through the beauty of music, which helped us to lift up our hearts, along with all of those for whom we pray, to the Lord, who was born to save us. n

Poinsettias adorn the reredos of the Immaculate Conception Chapel during our Christmas liturgies.

The Origin Story of the Babbo Natale Bowl

REV. MR. JOSEPH WHITE ‘21, ARCHDIOCESE OF GALVESTON-HOUSTON

This past Christmas, the College had its first ever Christmas Day football game. Normally, the holidays provide the seminarians with the opportunity to travel outside of

Rome and encounter other cities and cultures. However, given the restrictions due to the pandemic, the great majority of students remained at the College for Christmas. The restrictions were especially disappointing for those of us who had hopes of returning to our respective dioceses to serve as deacons in a parish for the Christmas liturgies. In order to change our focus from these disappointments to something more positive, I decided to take advantage of the opportunity.

The idea of having a football game stemmed from the fact that we were unable to play the traditional Spaghetti Bowl, which is held annually during Thanksgiving.

In order to distinguish this game from the Spaghetti Bowl, I decided to invert the traditional teams: instead of the New Men playing against the Old Men, the deacons and student priests (clerics) played against the rest of the seminary (non-clerics). This inversion gave the advantage to the non-clerics,

Matthew Pearson '22 (Madison) throws a pass during the non-clerics' win over the clerics.

who had a greater selection of players to complete their roster.

Finally, we decided to name this Christmas Day football game the “Babbo Natale Bowl.” Babbo Natale is the Italian term for Santa Claus; which, in its literal translation, means, “Father Christmas.” This name proved to be fitting, since it brought a certain Christmas cheer to the house. This event gave me something to look forward to in the midst of holiday restrictions. The game itself also proved exciting. It was a close match-up that came down to the last minute, in which the non-clerics walked away with the victory. Ultimately, the Babbo Natale Bowl gave us all an opportunity to grow together in excitement and fun on this exceptional Christmas. n

ROMAN ECHOES 25TH YEAR

NAC FACTS

The Campo Sportivo is one of the most frequented spots on the NAC campus. You will often find pick-up soccer games, ultimate frisbee, flag football, or bocce being played on the sports field. There are also annual games that take place such as the Spaghetti Bowl, the inter-university softball game, and the ultimate frisbee tournament between the various classes.

New Year’s Eve 2020 at NAC

JOSEPH LAPEYROUSE '23, DIOCESE OF HOUMA-THIBODAUX

In spite of the difficulties that came in 2020, the final hours of the year proved to be a time of great fraternity and graces in Rome. At the

College this past New Year’s Eve, we were blessed with the opportunity to have the seminary come together for a night of trivia, live music, and a viewing of Rome’s fireworks from the rooftop of the College. For me in particular, I was able to play guitar for my class band named

“PNAC! At the Disco,” and a song with another College band named “NAC MEGABAND,” which included a rotation of musicians from every class.

When I entered seminary, I never would have thought I would end up playing in a rock band, yet I had the blessing of being able to play for the community in the last moments of the year. This opportunity truly helped me to grow in my friendships and forge new ones. Moreover, this experience demonstrated, in a concrete way, how unified we had become as a seminary community in the midst of the ongoing pandemic.

Reflecting on this occasion, I cannot help but be grateful for where God has placed me at this moment in time, and how he is forming me through the friendships I have here at the College. Closing the year together with my brother seminarians has made me appreciate more deeply the opportunities afforded to me here in Rome. n

Members of the various New Year's Eve bands join together for a group photo.