I also want to heartily thank you for the many comments I have received from people that have followed my seminary journey via this blog.  It means so much to me to hear from each of you and know that I pray for you each day.

All of the universities were closed today to mark the celebration, so it was a free day.  I went to Mass this morning at St. Lawrence in Panisperna, the Station Church of the Day.  If you don’t know what the Station Churches are, look at one of the previous posts or look it up on Wikipedia.  It is a pretty cool tradition within the Church.  The church was small for the amount of people that squeezed in there, but it was amazing to celebrate Mass over the spot where St. Lawrence was martyred by being roasted alive on a grill.  The grill can still be seen in the Crypt of the church.  My father’s name is Larry, which is a derivation of Lawrence, so… “Happy ‘Station Church Feast Day’, Dad!”

After the Mass, I ate a nice breakfast with my two diocesan brothers at McDonald’s.  Unfortunately, they don’t have a breakfast menu, so I ate a Big Mac Meal at 8am.  What a wonderful way to start the day!  After breakfast, I walked to the Church of St. Peter in Chains (St. Pietro in Vincoli) for the first time and saw the chains that bound St. Peter while he was imprisoned in Rome.  The church is also famous for the statue of Moses, sculpted by Michelangelo.

After leaving the church, I started wondering around and stumbles upon the Coliseum.  I took a few pictures, but the seasonal rain began and within moments, sheets or rain were being dumped upon the city.  I barely made it into the Metro station before I was completely soaked.  It was a great morning to relax and spend some time in the Eternal City.

Lent started one week ago today and I can already tell that this Lent will be very special.  Over the last week, the faculty at the North American College approved to advance me to third theology and I also signed up for the Holy Land pilgrimage that will take place during the Christmas Break.  Things are going really well, but I have been really busy.  In addition to my apostolate at St. Peter’s Basilica, I have started training for another apostolate that will get going in the coming months.  I look forward to sharing more about it soon.

An ancient tradition in Rome is to participate in a pilgrimage throughout the City of Rome during the Season of Lent.  This pilgrimage is called the “Station Churches.”  Every morning, there is a Mass offered in a different station church and people from all over the city come them.  From what I understand, it is the North American College that has revived this ancient tradition and each year more people from the city come to the Masses.

This morning’s station church was Santa Maria Maggiore (St. Mary Major).  Below are some pictures I took during the Mass.

Last Sunday, I was instituted an Acolyte, along with the other fifty-two seminarians in my class.  The Mass was celebrated by Cardinal James Stafford and we were all excited to move to the final ministry before the Diaconate Ordination in October 2012.

The following is from the North American College’s website.

Fifty-three seminarians of the Pontifical North American College were instituted to the Ministry of Acolyte during the Sunday celebration of the Eucharist on March 6, 2011.

His Eminence James Francis Cardinal Stafford, Major Penitentiary Emeritus and former Archbishop of Denver, celebrated the Mass and instituted the new acolytes. After handing to each seminarian the gold paten used in the celebration of the Eucharist, the Cardinal said, “Take this vessel of bread for the celebration of the Eucharist. Make your lives worthy of your service at the table of the Lord and of his Church.”

In his homily, Cardinal Stafford explained, “The New Evangelization means reclaiming the visibility, the holiness of the Church. Your great challenge is the renewal of parish life…which is a community of believers and a community of forgiveness.”

These seminarians have now received both the ministry of Lector and Acolyte in anticipation of their diaconal ordinations and, God-willing, priestly ordination. As the rite indicates, an acolyte is charged with assisting at the celebration of the Eucharist, purifying the sacred vessels and when needed to assist with the distribution of Holy Communion.

Cardinal Stafford reminded the acolytes, “You have prayed that the door may be opened to you…I pray that you may live this privileged grace to be among the community of believers.”

This is Engelberg Abbey, the Benedictine Monastery that sent a few monks from Switzerland to establish Conception Abbey in Northwest Missouri.  I spent five days at this monastery after completing my exams at the Gregorian University.  It was a nice time to relax and to enjoy the beauty of central Switzerland.  The Abbey welcomes guests to come and stay at the monastery.  However, I also learned that they emphasize that they will not try to impress the “Catholic faith” on the guests.  I ended up spending my meals with mostly non-Christians that just wanted to stay at a cool place.  It was a strange experience.  There was one woman guest that was a great Catholic and she also helped translate some of the German conversations for me.  The Benedictine Motto is to “Welcome all as Christ.”  The monks at Engelberg could learn a few things from the monks at their daughter house in Missouri!  Don’t get me wrong, the place was beautiful, but it turned out not to be the best place to pray for five days.  If I ever go back, I will bring a few friends!

On February 11, 2011, Archbishop Paul S. Coakley was installed as the fourth Archbishop of Oklahoma City at one of the larger parishes in the diocese, St. John the Baptist.  All of the seminarians studying state-side were present at the Mass and Christopher and I were really fortunate to be able to watch a streaming broadcast of the Mass online.  I wish I could have been there because I have never seen such a large production at a Catholic function in Oklahoma!  EWTN broadcasted the Mass and they had multiple cameras and even a boom cam!  It was so cool to watch.  I knew so many people on the screen: priests, deacons, seminarians, and even a few lay families that I have met.  My parents were both present, but I never saw them on the broadcast…too bad!  Christopher’s father is a deacon and represented the deacons from the diocese during the Sign of Peace.  Christopher kept saying, “That’s my dad!  That’s my dad!”  We had a lot of fun, even if we were four thousand miles away.

The exam period at the Gregorian University was three weeks long this year.  The exams started at the beginning of February and finished on February 20^th.  I was fortunate enough to be able to take my exams early and I took a five-day retreat at a Benedictine Abbey in Engelberg, Switerland.  The monastery is tucked away in the Swiss Alps and is completely surrounded by them.  I was shocked at how massive the mountains there were around the valley town of Engelberg.  It was beautiful!  The monastery was also very nice.  I had a room that overlooked the door to the Porter’s Office and a large, snow-covered garden.  I ate very well and enjoyed some quiet time with God.  It is amazing how much of a difference it makes to be able to find time to clear away all of the cares and worries in life and just rest in the peace of Christ.  That is what I did.

I did take one day away from my retreat to join two of my classmates for snow skiing on Mt. Titlis, one of the most popular ski resorts in central Switzerland.  For the day, I actually skied on a glacier way above the tree-line.  It was pretty cool.  The best part is that I was able to ski from the top ski lift of Trubsee, all the way down to the valley floor.  The top of the mountain is 3, 283 m (10,770 ft.), so it was a large altitude difference.  It was a lot of fun, but my ski boots were too tight and left bruises all around my calves and shins.  I guess I should have requested a different pair of boots!

Finally, I am excited to report that I have a new camera lens.  I am sure you will see new pictures on here soon.  I have been trying to figure out the best way to organize my website and also use photos, video, etc.  Hopefully, I will think of something soon.  However, keep checking over the next couple weeks.  I will see what I can come up for my website!

The Christmas Break was long this year.  I was out of school for three weeks and traveled a lot.  I began the break at Aviano Air Base in Northwestern Italy.  I was asked to organize a trip for any interested seminarians from the North American College to explore the possibility of serving as a military chaplain in the U.S. Air Force.  Thanks to many people involved, the trip was a great success and allowed us to spend five days with the many courageous men, women, and families stationed at Aviano Air Base.  After the official trip was completed, I remained at Aviano Air Base through Christmas to help with the Christmas Masses and to spend a few extra days with the great Catholic priest that is currently stationed at Aviano.

The following week took me to Cork, Ireland.  I spent last Christmas in Cork and really wanted to return to spend some quiet time in a great Irish town.  I traveled there with two of my friends and met up with five other seminarians from the North American College who were also staying there.  It was a great week to relax and enjoy some quiet time.

I ended the vacation in Paris, France, with the pastor of my home parish, the pastor I will be assigned to work with this summer, and a graduate student from the University of Oklahoma that is currently the music director of my parish.  The three of us had a great time touring the City of Lights.  This was my first trip to Paris, but it now ranks as one of my favorites.  There is something really cool about looking at the Eiffel Tower with my own eyes!  I also really enjoyed wondering around the Louvre Museum and seeing Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa.  I look forward to visiting Paris again soon!

Brian Buettner and Fr Joesph Jacobi at Miraculous Medal Chapel in Paris

For now, I am back at the college and currently recovering from the flu.  I should be back up to normal by the end of the week, but prayers are always welcome!  I hope to be able to update the webpage more often, but my number one priority will always be priestly formation.  You would all be shocked by how busy things are here, but it keeps things exciting and makes the time fly by quickly.  Anyway, now I am just rambling.  God Bless!

The end of November also marks the conclusion of Fr. Philip Creider’s stay at the North American College’s Institute for Continuing Theological Education.  The sabbatical program is a great opportunity for priests from all of the United States, Canada, and Australia to come to Rome and experience the universal Church.  In addition to attending talks and presentations by different expert theologians, they also travel to the Holy Land and participate in many pilgrimages both within the City of Rome and throughout Italy.  Fr. Creider is a priest from the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and recently retired from the United States Navy after a long career serving the men and women in many branches of the United States Armed Forces.  He is a great man and a model of the priesthood for all of the seminarians that have met him during his time in Rome.  We, the Catholics of Oklahoma City, are very blessed to have Fr. Creider return to the Archdiocese this Thanksgiving.  He will be spending a few months at St. Gregory’s Abbey in Shawnee, Oklahoma and then will probably receive his parish assignment in June.  Please keep Fr. Creider in your prayers as he returns home a true American and Catholic hero.

Finally, I ask for continued prayers for another priest from the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, Fr. Kirk Larkin.  After a hard-fought battle with cancer, Fr. Larkin has discontinued the chemotherapy program in order to truly enjoy the last months of his life.  He is a wonderful priest and has impressed everyone in the Archdiocese, especially the seminarians, with his joy-filled attitude as he prepares to begin his eternal life in Heaven.  Please keep him and all of his family and friends in your prayers over the next few months.  It might be a good idea to pray for the Intercession of Fr. Stanley Rother, a priest and martyr from the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City that was killed in Guatemala and whose cause for Sainthood is currently being investigated by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints.