One of my best friends here took me for an excursion outside of Rome. A Dane and former Lutheran minister, he is in Italy studying to be a Catholic priest.
My friend Gregers is living in the English College in Rome, where he is staying while he studies for the priesthood. The college was built many years ago, during the Reformation, for English lads who wanted to become priests.
The college owns Palazzola–a villa about 20 miles outside of Rome–for retreats, sanctuary and silence. You can read more about this lovely setting, from my first trip there.
My friend invited me to spend part of the weekend at the Villa, where we watched videos — an English sitcom called “Yes, Minister” and “Tea with Mussolini”, drank Scotch, ate wonderful meals, attended a mass of only four people: my friend, myself and the two Sisters who run the Villa, and we hiked through the countryside overlooking the lake.
It was a very special weekend.
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