because my heart is in Rome...

Let's just say I'm a little bit tired of "Ordinary Time"--that is, the time between Easter and Advent/Christmas.

It's been SEVEN MONTHS since Easter! SEVEN! (Well, technically, *almost* seven)
I've watched the seasons go by--spring, summer, fall--and still no Christmas.

Is it quite obvious yet? I have Christmas fever.

And I'm homesick for Easter.

But yesterday was the Feast of the Dedication of St. John Lateran in Rome (the mother church). I found myself researching it when I *should* have been doing school; this basilica has been around since the Emperor Constantine (I know--I thought I was done with this guy), and it's *gorgeous*!

I'm not sure when this was drawn, but isn't it so cool to think of this basilica standing there through all the ages, for thousands of years? Although I believe it had to be rebuilt around the 1600's, it's the same church.

Time for a field trip? I think yes.

Guess what? My birthday this year (the 20th) falls on the Feast of Christ the King--the feast in which we celebrate Christ's royalty. It's the last Sunday of the liturgical year....which meeeeans....that the Sunday right after is the 1st Sunday of Advent!

I'm hangin' onto that thought right now 'cause I'm practically *starving* for the smell of incense, the Advent candles, the beautiful music, the purple vestments...

I'm counting on the Christmas Midnight Mass to keep me alive until the Easter Vigil next April.
But I have a friend who, of course, has to torture me by sending me videos of songs we'll be singing before the midnight mass.
"Sing lullaby! Lullaby, is the babe awaking?
Sing lullaby! Hush, do not stir the Infant King, dreaming of Easter, gladsome morning; conquering death, its bondage breaking...
sing lullaby."

My school workload is really starting to get heavy, but it's hard to keep my mind on school...

...when my heart is in Rome.