Only the Holy Spirit could have planned it that, upon entering our first church in Rome, a priest would invite us to enjoy a private mass with him. And only the Holy Spirit could have planned it that we would experience our first mass there with brand new friends beside us!
You see, on our way to Saint Susanna's, we ran into Becky and Tom! Passionate Catholics, these two had recently graduated from college in Florida and were on their way to World Youth Day in Madrid, Spain with a stop over in Rome first. :)
Like us, they wondered where the Holy Father would be giving his address the next day, and--when we bumped into them on a street corner--they joined forces with us to navigate the Italian street signs to Saint Susanna's.
Mass in Saint Susanna's was beautiful, in English, and touching. None of us expected Father to suggest mass to us and invite us onto the altar with him.
After mass, we parted ways with Becky and Tom. Little did we know that the Holy Spirit would have us meet up the next day...and the day after that!
