un giorno di lettere rosse {Nick plays for mass at St. Peter's Basilica}

this was truly a Sunday i will never forget! today, Nick had the opportunity to play the organ for a Sunday morning mass at St. Peter's. many thanks to our friend Josep, the first organist at the Basilica, who arranged for this. we met Josep prior to mass so that Nick could rehearse with the choir, showing our Vatican tesserae (cards) to the Swiss Guards so we could enter the basilica through the side and then taking the elevator up to the choir room. during the warm-up, the girls and i hung out in the office. i had to pinch myself seeing the sign for the 500-year-old Cappella Giulia (this is the choir that sings for most masses, except those celebrated by the pope, which are accompanied by the Sistine Chapel Choir).

Greta seemed to feel perfectly at ease behind this huge desk

when the musicians were all ready, we walked downstairs, through the sacristy, past the entrance to the Treasury Museum, and around to the Altar of the Chair at the very front of the church. every time Josep moved a barrier or opened a locked door to let us through, tourists and pilgrims tried to squeeze in, or at least looked like they were thinking about it! Greta told me she felt quite grown-up being able to walk through all the "secret passageways". and to be honest, i enjoyed it myself!

the mass itself was exceptionally beautiful. the readings and the homily were in Italian, of course, but all of the responses were sung in Latin. it's really an incredible experience to be surrounded by worshipers from all over the world, all singing the Sanctus in perfect unison. the true miracle of the mass is that the girls were so good throughout the entire thing! we were sitting just across from the choir stalls and the organ, so i think it helped that they could see more of what was going on. my threshold for intervening with them (whether by physically moving to the back or just giving them the mom eyes!) was much lower than usual because i didn't want any noise to distract Nick, and even still, they were great. i so appreciated being able to soak up the beautiful music and focus on the mass rather than morphing into a drill sergeant. 

when Nick began playing the recessional at the conclusion of mass, i had no shame and immediately brought the girls over to the choir stalls so they could see Daddy work his magic. quite a few other people came over to watch and take pictures or videos as well!

proud daughters!

 after mass, we walked to a nearby restaurant to meet up with Josep's wife and two boys for lunch, followed by gelato for the kids and caffe for the adults.

we are so grateful, again, to Josep for giving Nick this opportunity. and beyond that, we're overwhelmed with gratitude for God for all the little and big delights He has placed in our path!