Roma in the Springtime

Roma was born on April 21st, 2001. I was at Mass on a Saturday morning when she let me know she was on her way.  After we received the Eucharist, I  gently let my husband know we were headed to the hospital. Then I phoned my friend Samantha, who was going to be present for the birth of my second child. When Roma was baptized, Sam became her Godmother; a loving friend who passed into heaven three years and a half years ago.  Before she died, I asked her to pray for me when she got to heaven, for the special intention of being the mother of young women reaching adulthood. I’m counting on Sam's promise to do so – more so this week than ever before.

The city of Roma was founded on April 21st in about 753 BC.  We didn’t know that though when we had our daughter. We liked the name, and it is also a family name. My spouse’s great-grandfather – Roman - traveled to New Zealand as a young boy with his family from Moravia at the time of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire.  Not to mention, the city holds a special place in our hearts as the geographical center of the Church in the world.

Roma leaves me on Monday, with her sisters. They depart to the UK for a new life. In April, Roma will turn twenty-one years old. I won’t be with her, but her sisters will be, and they will celebrate together. There is only place she wants to be that day. She wants to be in Roma for her twenty-first birthday on April 21st. I hope it pans out as plans; I really hope my girls are in Roma in the springtime.

I visited Rome fifteen years ago. It was May and it was hot. I was a pilgrim with a degree in Art History, which was a compatible combination – most of the time. It was Pentecost, and I was spoilt for choice that day. I could have attended Pantheon Rose Petal Shower. Instead, with my sister, I visited the Vatican Museums (for free on the last Sunday of the month). I was so thrilled to be in the Sistine Chapel.  In fact, I was so excited in fact, that I realized I had missed Raphael’s Stanzas, so I circled around to spend time with my favorite Renaissance painter.  I was so enthralled with the magnificant Raphael paintings that when it hit me that it was nearly noon, I had to make a run for it to catch the Pope’s Pentecost address. The shortest way back to St Peter’s was a speedy walk through the Sistine Chapel and out the back door. I could not believe that I was speed walking through this masterpiece of art, architecture, and history but I was not going to miss seeing Pope Benedict XVI.

I have heard that springtime is a great time to visit Roma. Of course, I wish that I could go back with my girls. I always thought that I would one day. It isn’t to be, but in this, my final week with them before they leave us, what pleasure I am getting from planning this hopeful trip with them. Girls, I have some thoughts; you need to know how to see the Scavi tour (you must book in advance), make sure you see all four Major Basilicas and please girls – don’t forget to go to Santa Maria del Popolo to see the Caravaggio paintings. The church was closed for repairs when I was there – you can go there for me and say a prayer for me while you are there. Go to Santa Maria Della Vittoria and let Bernini’s representation of St Teresa in Ecstasy impress you with a deeper love for that saint for the rest of your lives.   Finally, when you go to see Bernini’s Trevi Fountain, the folklore tells us that you will return to Roma one day if you throw in a coin. I threw in a coin fifteen years ago, perhaps my time to return is just around the corner or maybe it will be a vicarious trip through the eyes of my daughter on her birthday in the city that shares her name.