My Path to Rome 2005
By Helvi Moore

On Easter Sunday, my husband announced that he had a little surprise planned to celebrate his fiftieth birthday and the 25th anniversary of my reception into Holy Mother Church: we were going on pilgrimage to Rome!

My mind racing as I calculated where we would be in the church calendar on those four days, I jumped for joy when I realised that we would arrive on Divine Mercy Sunday. There were so many intentions for which I longed to implore the Divine Mercy, not least of which was the conversion of my terminally ill father across the Atlantic. Little did I imagine the momentous events that would unfold in Rome, as we prepared to make our way to the Eternal City.

On the Thursday of the Easter Octave, the news began to break of the Holy Father’s failing health and on the eve of our departure we learned of his death. There was now a sudden urgency to get to Rome and a moment of panic, on my part, that our accommodation might be appropriated by a dignitary whose need was greater. In the event, all was fine and I had the added joy of discovering that my husband had booked a room in the convent adjoining the Ukrainian church, near the Coliseum (I have developed a soft spot for Ukrainians since I became acquainted with the delightful consecrated laymen of that nation who are members of Miles Jesu).

As we arrived, incense from the adjacent church wafted through the foyer of the convent and we were immediately greeted by an Eastern Rite Uniate priest from Detroit. This was not the only time in our stay that I was struck by the breadth and depth – the universality and timelessness – of the Church that I was called to enter 25 years ago. In fact, as the days of our brief visit progressed, a cruciform image began to take shape in my mind, in which the horizontal (global/spatial) and vertical (temporal/eternal) nature of the Church converged in an almost mystical way – a convergence which, I am sure, occurs only in Rome.

Mourning pilgrims began to flood the streets, many praying the Rosary as they walked, and we became aware of the dozens of languages being spoken. Poles, Philippinos, Americans, Brazilians, Japanese, New Zealanders, Ugandans, men and women from every corner of the globe; all were coming to take leave of their Santa Papa. As Archbishop Vincent Nichols so aptly remarked in his commentary during the BBC coverage of the Holy Father’s funeral, the “rich variety of His disciples” was clear for all to see. It is a sure sign of the miraculous nature of the One True Church that, from its origin in one tiny room in Palestine over 2000 years ago, it has touched every nation and culture.

Even more exhilarating was the spectacle of hundreds of thousands of young people flocking to St. Peter’s Square. In Great Britain we rarely have the opportunity to see how young, vibrant and alive our Church really is (and how it must have been here at one time in the land of Our Lady’s Dowry). Young nuns and monks in habits of black, brown, white, blue, cream and grey; young seminarians and priests in flowing black soutaines; hundreds of young backpackers and many young families – crowds of young faces all radiating a hope, joy and love that was simply overwhelming.

As we prayed in Latin the Litany of Saints during the ceremony of the transferral of the Holy Father’s body from the Apostolic Palace to St. Peter’s, those same young, radiant faces implored the intercession of the saints and martyrs of the early Church, even more alive in heaven than we here on earth. With St. Augustine I extolled the wonder of the gift that is the Mystical Body: “…O Beauty ever ancient, ever new…” On Monday, 4th April, almost 25 years to the day since I was received into the Church, I was able to take leave of the spiritual father who had nurtured my faith and with whom I felt a special connection. What an “amazing grace” it was to be in Rome during that moment in salvation history. Indeed, what an amazing grace it was and is to be called by God to the Faith. In his poignant funeral homily, Cardinal Ratzinger cited the passage from Scripture which captured the Holy Father’s life and pontificate, and which should stir the hearts of all Catholics: “You did not choose me, but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last” (John 15:16).

Let us seize this moment of grace and follow the Holy Father’s call: Duc in Altum – Cast out into the deep! The spiritual waters of the British Isles are teeming with life. Our witness of hope can bring that life to shore. One of the most profound ways to experience this is at this year’s international Path to Rome conference being held in November in London. I encourage you, one and all, to come and see!

Helvi Moore was received into the Church on 5th April 1980 in Rome at the Basilica of St. Peter by His Holiness John Paul II. Helvi and her husband Ralph are members of Miles Jesu-Continuity from Bishop’s Stortford.