Posted: December 23

Italian lights

(Rome) One of the Christmas highlights when I was growing up was the annual family trip to see the Christmas lights in the city. All seven children piled into the family car and we set off to visit the Italian neighborhoods in north Denver. Those were the folks who really understood how to string lights up. Of course, back then I had never heard of the Baroque period and had no sense of its motto, "Too much of a good thing is barely enough." But the Italians on the north side clearly understood the principle and adorned their homes in a riot of colored lights.

Now that I am actually living in Italy, I see the roots of that love of Christmas lights, but it is different here in Rome where you only see white lights. Naturally, there are a lot of them, but there is a certain restraint that gives Rome its own distinctive memory. If you go to Piazza Navonna, you will find color in profusion in all the stalls that sell Christmas gifts and doo-dads, and even more in the carousel that shares the center of the elegant piazza with Bernini's fountain. The long shopping streets in the center of the city, though, flaunt receding rows of lights that frame the roughly-surfaced streets and cause the black paving stones to glow in the night. There are no lights on the huge tree in Piazza San Pietro at the Vatican. Those lights won't be turned on until Christmas itself when the big manger scene will also be unveiled.

Life is slowing down at the Curia with many members of the community already departed for their home provinces. We had multiple Christmas parties during the last week so now all that is left is to take some time to relax and pray. Even more than most years, we need peace as new wars are breaking out even as old ones drag on. We are a people who walk in darkness even though we have seen a great light. We just need to accept that light and celebrate it. We could learn a lot from the Italians.