The John-Henry Westen Show - On the ground updates from Rome about the coronavirus

00:00:00.000 Hello and welcome to this episode of the John Henry Weston Show where we're pleased to bring you a young person from the streets of Rome who has been in Rome for months now and has experienced the whole gamut from nothing going on here to complete lockdown of the country due to coronavirus. You're going to want to stay tuned.

00:00:30.000 Let's begin as we always do with the sight of the cross. In the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

00:00:50.560 Katerina Karanko, good to be with you. Welcome to the John Henry Weston Show.

00:00:54.440 Thank you for inviting me, John Henry. Appreciate it.

00:00:57.100 It's great to be with you and talk to you. You have sent us some amazing video, which we're going to play, of barren streets in Rome, one of the most popular cities in the world.

00:01:09.160 Daylight hours. We're not talking early morning here. We're talking actually when people get out of work.

00:01:14.280 Why don't you bring us through that? Bring us through what you've seen in the last few days.

00:01:18.220 So, there's been a great transition. First, everything was normal. If anything, the first thing we saw were tourists leaving.

00:01:28.940 So, it was just locals more than anything. So, it was still normal. People were out in the streets and doing their day-to-day routine.

00:01:37.460 And then, once the tourists started going little by little, we saw a lot less people out on the street.

00:01:44.540 And next thing you know, the government starts to get in and say, don't leave your house unless you have to.

00:01:50.180 Don't go to work unless you absolutely have to.

00:01:52.660 And you saw a little less people out on the streets, but people weren't taking it as seriously just because, you know, you're in one of these cities.

00:02:00.460 It's a massive city. You can't contain everybody.

00:02:03.480 And it's just been really strange because all of this really, like, the intensity of the situation started really Sunday evening.

00:02:12.280 Sunday was such a normal day. I went to mass like I always do.

00:02:15.880 We walked the streets. It was fine. Nobody was in this, like, quarantine mode.

00:02:20.160 And then, from one day to the next, it was just, boom.

00:02:24.260 Everything kind of went on lockdown within the... It's just so surreal, really.

00:02:30.020 It's just a few days ago, it was very normal. And now we're on lockdown.

00:02:36.780 Now, it's very interesting because Monday morning, I was speaking to Professor DeMatte and others in Rome.

00:02:43.300 And only the northern part of the country was locked down at that point.

00:02:46.940 And that evening came a complete lockdown of the country.

00:02:51.820 What transition did you see on the Monday?

00:02:55.360 So, I know that I went to work like a normal day.

00:02:58.980 Well, and we had a meeting.

00:03:01.440 We said, listen, because I take public transportation out there, it was important that I didn't take it by any means.

00:03:08.440 So, that was one of the regulations that they had.

00:03:10.680 So, because of this, they said, come at least twice a week.

00:03:14.700 And that was Monday.

00:03:16.240 And then, come yesterday evening, people were saying, don't go to work at all.

00:03:22.140 Just stay home.

00:03:23.260 And it's just been so bizarre.

00:03:25.700 Because today, I did go to work.

00:03:27.420 I didn't have to, but I did.

00:03:29.200 And I don't know.

00:03:31.500 It's just so weird to see these streets of Rome absolutely empty.

00:03:36.160 I've been in and out of Rome for the last five years.

00:03:39.280 And it's a tourist city.

00:03:40.740 This city is booming with tourists.

00:03:43.020 I've never seen the streets so empty.

00:03:44.960 I've been here even in low tourist season.

00:03:46.900 And you've never seen Rome like this.

00:03:49.460 It's almost apocalyptic.

00:03:52.120 It's crazy.

00:03:53.460 It's an incredible thing.

00:03:54.840 Anyone who's been to Rome or looks at a photo from Rome, anything, knows the streets are actually crowded.

00:03:59.260 They're not only crowded with cars, which they are, but they're crowded with people.

00:04:04.420 It's an unbelievable flow.

00:04:06.420 Think New York City at the very least.

00:04:09.160 Unbelievable.

00:04:09.560 Absolutely.

00:04:10.280 Absolutely.

00:04:11.580 So, now you've been there now through the whole week when the shutdown happened.

00:04:17.660 But you're still out on the streets.

00:04:20.220 And you had an incredible encounter this morning.

00:04:23.100 Tell us about that, please.

00:04:24.840 So, one of my colleagues came to pick me up.

00:04:28.460 She asked me to meet her on the Tevere, the Tiber.

00:04:31.620 And since I'm so close to the Vatican, I said, sure, that's fine.

00:04:34.600 And on my walk over to the Via di Concilazione, which is the road that you can see the Vatican from, from Castel Sant'Angelo,

00:04:45.640 I was walking along the road.

00:04:47.740 And for me right now as a Catholic, I've been home for the last several days.

00:04:52.000 So, I haven't gone out much just out of precaution.

00:04:55.160 And I'm just thinking so much about priests.

00:04:58.940 You know, what are they doing right now?

00:05:00.300 And I just, I have a very particular devotion to the sign of the cross.

00:05:05.500 And just the potency of this sign of the cross alone.

00:05:08.980 And when I was walking in the streets today, there's just this whole hype.

00:05:11.900 You know, you hear all this stuff from the media.

00:05:13.840 And you just don't know what to think sometimes.

00:05:15.440 But one of the things that I was telling God is, like, please, you know, like, if you could spare me, spare me.

00:05:21.620 I just don't need to get sick or anything like this.

00:05:24.020 But I thought about it.

00:05:25.800 It would be such a beautiful thing to see a priest on my way, you know, just to get a benediction.

00:05:31.140 And strangely enough, I'm walking down the road and I see a priest in, how do you say, a cassock and a cape and his, I believe you call it Beretta, no?

00:05:42.660 Beretta, yeah.

00:05:43.300 Yeah.

00:05:43.820 And he was going to the homeless and he was speaking with them, giving them, and I just blew, I was smiling.

00:05:52.880 It was like there's nobody smiling on the streets.

00:05:54.800 I was so happy to see him.

00:05:56.700 I flagged him down.

00:05:57.720 I said, Father, Father, in Italian, I said, give me a blessing, please, I beg you.

00:06:01.600 And he gave me the blessing and I was so much more calm being out on the streets.

00:06:04.840 But it was so providential and it made me really happy to see priests out there, or at least him.

00:06:10.360 He gave me such a great deal of hope.

00:06:12.040 Yeah, often in these times, it's when things get really tough, as they say, that it's a tough get going.

00:06:18.560 And it's when the church is able to shine in a way that she really never can at any other time.

00:06:23.960 Because this time when sort of darkness seems to have descended upon Italy, these small acts of heroism and kindness by the church just shine like a beacon.

00:06:35.340 Absolutely.

00:06:35.820 So that's really, really amazing.

00:06:37.480 Now, what about restaurants and bars and things?

00:06:39.940 Are they still active at all?

00:06:42.040 Now, no.

00:06:44.740 Just literally two days ago, people see Italians have this tradition called aperitivo.

00:06:51.520 After work, they go out, they grab drinks.

00:06:54.100 And I believe, I'm so sorry, I can't get the dates right right now because everything has just been happening.

00:06:59.680 It's just one long day.

00:07:01.120 But there was a certain point where they said, you know, close restaurants and bars by 6 p.m.

00:07:06.680 So they don't have this aperitivo, so they avoid close contact.

00:07:10.600 But nobody was really listening.

00:07:12.780 People still did it.

00:07:13.680 And then finally, they really cracked down.

00:07:15.020 So this morning on my walk to work, normally you see lots of restaurants, like just opening up, bars, coffee shops, everything, and just nothing.

00:07:23.560 It's just so strange.

00:07:25.540 Yeah.

00:07:25.840 Yeah.

00:07:26.020 I mean, in Italy, people have to understand this is much more revolutionary than anywhere else in the world is happening.

00:07:35.440 Because the breakfast coffee and dolce, the breakfast coffee is just, it's like a sine qua non of Italy.

00:07:44.540 It's not like, it's not like America. 0.62

00:07:46.380 It's a traditional thing.

00:07:47.340 It's a very cultural thing that you do every morning.

00:07:50.240 And to not have it, I mean, they're having withdrawals.

00:07:52.660 I know they are.

00:07:53.440 Yeah, no.

00:07:54.480 Absolutely.

00:07:55.120 Well, here we are in the middle of Lent.

00:07:57.260 And this is quite the Lent, I would think, for Italy particularly.

00:08:02.440 A couple of things on that score.

00:08:04.480 So here we are in the middle of Lent.

00:08:07.940 I know you're a very, you're someone very connected to our Lord.

00:08:12.640 And tell us, first of all, about what you've seen in other people, about is there any greater openness to the spiritual life right now because you're in a time like this?

00:08:24.120 I mean, are you talking about personal experience or other people that we're seeing?

00:08:28.480 Other people that you're seeing.

00:08:30.020 Well, we're not seeing too many people.

00:08:31.960 I mean, like I said, the last few days I've been home.

00:08:33.680 But I have had connections with other people.

00:08:36.760 And before they crack down yesterday evening, just don't leave at all, period.

00:08:42.280 Unless you're in one of those jobs, like a hospital, like don't leave.

00:08:45.580 Before that, you had, you know, certain people having the mass meeting for it, which was really beautiful.

00:08:51.760 I mean, priests are so brave.

00:08:53.500 You know, they invite the faithful to come.

00:08:55.400 But at this point, if you walk on the street, the police will stop you and say, where are you going?

00:08:59.940 And unless you say you're getting groceries, going to the pharmacy or seeing the doctor, you can get fined right now or even arrested, potentially.

00:09:09.940 Wow.

00:09:10.560 Okay.

00:09:11.000 So what about your own spiritual life?

00:09:12.940 What has this done to you?

00:09:14.640 What has this, you know, you've had this progression from nothing at all to a little bit of concern to complete lockdown.

00:09:22.100 Where has this taken you spiritually?

00:09:23.480 Well, I have to say, when the whole thing about coronavirus entered Italy, all you heard was like the death rates, right?

00:09:34.940 And people are getting affected and people are dying from it, right?

00:09:39.260 And then I'm here in Italy and they're saying this is the country most affected.

00:09:42.560 And when it first started becoming real here, the immediate thought was momento mori, you know, remember death.

00:09:51.840 And I didn't know so much about it.

00:09:54.280 I wasn't doing my homework necessarily.

00:09:56.140 But all I knew was that in that moment, I said I could die very real.

00:09:59.960 Like I've always liked this momento mori.

00:10:01.960 I've thought about it all the time.

00:10:03.060 But it became so much more real when I'm in a country that's red right now, just like the hot zone. 0.65

00:10:08.960 And I really said I genuinely need to prepare to die.

00:10:13.560 If God, you know, I may be a little extreme, but it was so beautiful because I took it so much more severely.

00:10:19.220 Death became something like I need to ensure that like I'm in a state of grace, that I've gone to confession, that I've received the Eucharist, that I'm constantly asking for the spiritual communion and asking for our lady's protection.

00:10:31.140 And, you know, the sacramentals are something so important to have, holy water, the blessed souls, all these things.

00:10:39.300 It helps you spiritually.

00:10:41.780 It makes it more difficult to not have the Mass right now, definitely, especially that I go every single day.

00:10:47.320 It's something that's my stronghold, it's my constant.

00:10:49.880 And to not have that right now definitely is rough.

00:10:54.300 But it makes me clutch even tighter to the rosary, you know, saying the full rosary, the full three decades, as indicated by St. Louis de Montfort.

00:11:05.280 And in that way, it's strengthening us.

00:11:07.240 And also, I mean, just here in my own household, I don't necessarily even have to leave to, you know, practice charity.

00:11:14.520 I mean, being here in the same area as your flatmates, you can practice charity in that way, too.

00:11:20.700 Just being friends, being family, loving each other, cooking for each other, cleaning.

00:11:24.440 You know, my flatmate was really sick at the beginning of this week.

00:11:28.800 And, you know, we all thought maybe she has the virus, you know.

00:11:31.460 But then we discovered that you can only, one of the symptoms is just coughing and you don't typically have mucus.

00:11:40.180 And she was blowing her nose the whole time. 0.88

00:11:41.920 So we were like, okay, we're safe.

00:11:43.900 But still, it was a little bit of a scare before we knew that.

00:11:46.760 But it was hard.

00:11:48.100 You know, I would walk into her, you know, I bought her medicine. 0.67

00:11:51.140 I went onto the streets to do that.

00:11:52.780 And it really does help increase the charity in one's spiritual life, for sure.

00:11:58.940 This is the thing.

00:12:00.100 I think for most Catholics who are practicing their faith, they recognize that death is the portal or the entryway to heaven.

00:12:07.980 And so it becomes a very different consideration.

00:12:10.860 It's make me right, Lord.

00:12:12.240 This is what I'm actually living for.

00:12:14.520 My whole life is geared toward this point, you know.

00:12:18.960 And so it's not something to be afraid of.

00:12:22.540 It's something to look forward to in a way.

00:12:25.020 And it kind of a weird, I guess it's weird to say that.

00:12:27.220 But it is true. 0.90

00:12:28.820 And that reaction of yours of, okay, here it is.

00:12:32.060 Here it could be.

00:12:33.820 Make sure I'm ready.

00:12:34.580 Yes, but you're also ready to meet your savor, meet your greatest love for whom you've lived your whole life, whom you desire more than anything else.

00:12:44.900 Precisely.

00:12:45.560 And I mean, maybe when I was telling this to my mom, who's across the world, she wasn't too happy to hear that.

00:12:51.900 Mom, if I die, you know, I'm fine.

00:12:54.760 You know, I beat my makeup.

00:12:56.320 But, you know, I know you have to take precautions.

00:12:58.920 Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

00:13:00.900 Before our loved ones, it's very hard.

00:13:02.400 But I think that the amazing hope that's in us right now, I think in so many Catholics, you can have this incredible hope.

00:13:12.840 And especially at these times that it translates, that it exudes, that it really shines forth.

00:13:17.220 So I'm really hoping, you know, even in this video, you're right in the center of it right now.

00:13:26.540 I'm 10 feet away from the Vatican.

00:13:29.060 I'm right in the center of Rome.

00:13:31.360 Absolutely.

00:13:32.880 So it's also interesting, though, that Italy is hit so hard.

00:13:38.080 And, you know, the church traditionally has always looked at such things as chastisement and as punishment or wake-up call from God, which is actually an act of mercy.

00:13:52.260 Because the worst possible thing would be to, you know, let us go in our own devices and have us all go off to hell without a blip, without recognizing.

00:14:00.880 But when a calamity like this shows up, people think about God again, people examine their consciences, am I right with God?

00:14:08.420 So in a way, this can be seen as real mercy.

00:14:10.680 Yeah, absolutely.

00:14:12.100 And it's really interesting to see that kind of panning out at the moment.

00:14:21.060 Yeah, it really is a grace.

00:14:23.700 And I thought about this, too.

00:14:25.080 I said, you know, if you're one of those people that gets a virus here, you know, don't think of it like as an injustice.

00:14:32.120 If anything, offer it up for your sins, offer it up for others.

00:14:35.600 I mean, it's nothing that cannot receive merit or that God won't give you the graces to supersede.

00:14:42.360 So in a sense, I don't want to get it.

00:14:44.520 But if I do, in the case that I do, you know, I will not fear.

00:14:48.100 You know, it's something that can be good at the end.

00:14:51.020 Yeah, yeah.

00:14:52.380 Now, it's very interesting that Italy is hit so hard.

00:14:56.640 Italy, of course, the seat of where the Vatican is.

00:15:00.240 And there's a lot of consternation, a lot of confusion in the faith coming from there.

00:15:05.260 And so, you know, our Lord, when he was speaking to the apostles, talked about severe punishments, especially for those who mislead the faithful.

00:15:14.880 And it is an unbelievable misleading of the faithful that's been going on right from the heart of Italy, the heart of the Vatican in these last number of years.

00:15:26.480 And so, you know, God willing, a wake up call also to the Vatican to say, hey, it's time to get things back in order.

00:15:35.120 Yeah, there's been a couple videos going viral recently of priests actually here in Italy, not in Rome yet.

00:15:43.300 But there have been priests going around with the monstrance or, you know, blessing people with holy water, having a statue of Our Lady.

00:15:51.860 I think there was one priest who was in a helicopter, you know, with the monstrance and a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary, you know, blessing all of Italy.

00:15:59.860 And these are the priests that I look at right now. And I say, thank God for you. Thank God for you, for standing up, for the faith, for giving, for being the shepherd that God is answering you or calling you to be.

00:16:10.700 And really, in the last couple of days, just thinking about this a lot more, I realize now that I don't think one of my flatmates, she keeps saying, you know, we need to go out, we need to do all these things.

00:16:23.560 And she just feels guilty just being at home, you know, not helping. But at the end of the day, we realize this is more so, I think, a test for priests, a test for them, for the bishops, for cardinals, for the Pope.

00:16:40.960 I mean, God is calling them to step up to the plate, to do what their holy offices has given them the graces to do.

00:16:48.440 God has given them consecrated hands. Like, those priests that have gone out with the monstrance, with holy water, God bless them, and God will reward them.

00:16:56.680 Seeing this priest today, this morning, gave me so much hope, you know.

00:17:00.520 And I know one of the other priests, one of the Carabinieri, which is like the police, the high force of the police here, he asked the priest, you know, what are you doing?

00:17:09.000 Like, why are you in the streets? And he goes, I'm working.

00:17:11.420 And that was a justifiable enough reason to be out there. And the Carabinieri couldn't do anything, because he's a priest, you know, he's doing his role as a priest.

00:17:19.660 And for me, it said so much. It said so much.

00:17:23.200 You know, he's being a priest, a testimony in itself speaks so much.

00:17:28.420 Thank God there's still some witness like that.

00:17:30.320 Now, Katerina, if you don't mind, I'd like to get in just to a little bit of your own history.

00:17:34.940 You have a fascinating faith history.

00:17:37.820 If you don't mind sharing with us a little bit about how you got to be where you are, how your faith got to be so very strong.

00:17:45.920 I think that would be great.

00:17:48.400 Sure.

00:17:50.140 So I had the opportunity to study abroad in Rome about five years ago.

00:17:56.360 And at that time, you know, I was Catholic, definitely culturally Catholic.

00:18:02.220 I went to San Imas every day in university.

00:18:05.360 I was praying the daily rosary, which was good.

00:18:08.100 And I thought I was like a really terrific Catholic and stuff like that.

00:18:12.120 But I always felt like there was something kind of missing, just kind of this void, which is so strange to me.

00:18:18.800 Like, I know God was real.

00:18:20.300 I know he was present, but I just it was really hard to feel him sometimes.

00:18:24.480 And I know it should just be a feeling.

00:18:26.240 But I kept asking him, you know, the desire is really strong when you want to know God.

00:18:30.340 And sometimes he will give you the opportunity to do that.

00:18:33.380 And during the time frame that I was in Rome, I wasn't particularly named Katerina by any saint.

00:18:42.540 I don't have a patron necessarily.

00:18:44.540 So I came to Rome and I said, any of the saint Catharines, I want one of you to pick me as my patron.

00:18:53.040 I want I want a patron.

00:18:55.180 And I was walking the streets of Rome on my own.

00:18:58.660 And one day I bump into this piazza and there's a statue of an elephant with an obelisk,

00:19:04.180 which I had seen when I was 11 years old on my first trip to Europe with my family.

00:19:09.440 And I just remember being in that piazza for ages.

00:19:12.800 And then I turned to my right and I realized there was a church in there.

00:19:15.960 And I walked into this church.

00:19:17.840 Santa Maria Sopre Minerva is the name.

00:19:20.540 And lo and behold, there is a saint, a saint's tomb there on the altar.

00:19:28.700 And it's Saint Catherine of Siena.

00:19:30.460 So I'm thrilled.

00:19:31.300 I said, finally, a saint found me.

00:19:33.060 She's my patron.

00:19:33.840 And to give thanks, I went to Siena, to her hometown, where the relic of her head is located,

00:19:40.320 despite her body being in Rome.

00:19:42.360 So I went to Siena to give thanks.

00:19:44.960 And on the train back to Rome, I happened to meet some young adult traditional Catholics.

00:19:51.820 And they said, hey, like, why don't you come to a Latin mass with us?

00:19:55.260 And I said, oh, that would be cool.

00:19:56.980 I'm pretty interested in Latin, I guess.

00:19:59.120 Sure, I'll go with you.

00:20:00.700 And I didn't know what I was getting into at the time.

00:20:03.200 I just remember they gave me the dress.

00:20:05.280 I went there that morning and I walked in.

00:20:08.000 And the first thing I noticed were a sea of veils.

00:20:10.940 I mean, all these women with veils. 1.00

00:20:12.520 And I was so taken back by this.

00:20:15.420 It was such a beautiful devotion.

00:20:17.600 And I found a place to sit.

00:20:19.220 I didn't see any of these people.

00:20:20.600 But I sat down on my own.

00:20:22.320 And in Italian, I asked the gentleman next to me.

00:20:25.240 I was just looking around, trying to take in everything.

00:20:27.940 And I said, why is there a cushion on the altar, like right before that rail?

00:20:32.420 And he says, oh, it's because they receive on their knees and on the tongue only.

00:20:36.820 I thought, wow, that's incredibly beautiful.

00:20:38.960 Like, what a reverent thing to do.

00:20:41.700 And I looked to my right.

00:20:43.040 And, you know, there's all these people standing alongside the church.

00:20:45.280 And there's a couple spots left open.

00:20:46.760 I said, why are they standing there?

00:20:48.640 He says, they're in line for confession.

00:20:50.400 I said, oh, but, you know, mass is going to start.

00:20:52.220 And he says, no, no.

00:20:53.360 We have confessions all the way up until almost the consecration I've needed.

00:20:58.280 We have enough priests.

00:20:59.260 I said, wow, that's really crazy.

00:21:01.120 And I put two and two together.

00:21:02.460 I said, if I want to receive on my knees and the tongue for the first time, I really need 0.64

00:21:06.680 to go to confession.

00:21:07.700 I should.

00:21:08.980 And I remember I was really embarrassed to stand up because I didn't have a veil.

00:21:12.940 I didn't want to call attention to myself.

00:21:14.640 But I remember that in my prayer, I thought, oh, no, maybe it's the devil that doesn't want

00:21:20.280 me to receive Christ in a reverent way on my knees and on the tongue.

00:21:23.660 So I said, there's no way he's going to win.

00:21:25.740 And so I got up, I went in line and in this church, the confession was, like I said, on

00:21:31.080 the right hand side.

00:21:32.520 And it's the altar is perfectly visible.

00:21:35.060 And the moment that I was on my knees and said, bless me, Father, for I have sinned.

00:21:40.560 And I looked on the altar and the priest was elevating the host right before a crucifix.

00:21:47.060 And something hit me in that moment, just like a lightning bolt, because up until that

00:21:52.080 point, I thought the mass was genuinely a commemoration of the Last Supper.

00:21:56.120 I was 19.

00:21:57.640 And in that moment, seeing the Eucharist before the host and saying those words, bless me,

00:22:02.940 Father, for I have sinned.

00:22:03.820 It occurred to me that it's a sacrifice.

00:22:06.380 Here I am on my knees, confessing the sins that I have committed.

00:22:11.240 And there he is, my king on the altar, dying for them.

00:22:15.000 And I began to weep.

00:22:17.000 I just cried.

00:22:18.240 I couldn't tell you what I understood in that moment, but it was such a grace.

00:22:21.820 And I recognized that it was such a grace.

00:22:23.400 And for the first time I received on the tongue and on my knees, and I haven't done anything

00:22:28.020 else since.

00:22:29.600 That's all I do now.

00:22:30.640 It is such a beautiful grace and act of reverence that it's only due and just, you know?

00:22:35.680 Mm-hmm.

00:22:37.060 So that was one of the really incredible things that I had here in Rome.

00:22:41.900 Amazing.

00:22:42.900 Amazing.

00:22:43.760 Our Lord has truly touched you and sought you out.

00:22:47.840 And I'm sure he wants to do that for everyone, but we have to be open.

00:22:52.400 Open to that.

00:22:53.940 No, absolutely.

00:22:54.760 And desire.

00:22:55.480 Desire is such, I think, an important role.

00:22:58.220 You have to desire God.

00:22:59.200 And, you know, a priest once told me, the saints, the Virgin Mary, God is like a light

00:23:04.020 switch.

00:23:05.000 The light's not going to turn on unless you flip the switch.

00:23:07.920 Yeah.

00:23:08.080 So, you know.

00:23:09.880 Yeah.

00:23:10.780 Yeah.

00:23:11.260 Now, Katerina, do you want to talk about getting home?

00:23:16.040 Or are you, we can cut this out if you'd rather not?

00:23:19.920 No, it's fine.

00:23:21.240 Okay.

00:23:21.420 My mom has been trying to get me out of Italy for the last two weeks or asking me to leave,

00:23:26.160 but I just haven't been in a position to at the moment.

00:23:29.820 But now that the whole country has been, you know, in red, she's just, she's a lot more word.

00:23:37.260 And she says, you just don't have family there.

00:23:38.840 She wants me to be close to family.

00:23:40.360 So it was just way too expensive to go home right away to change the flight sooner.

00:23:45.240 So I'm going to Germany.

00:23:47.200 My boyfriend and his family are there and they're so open to having me there.

00:23:51.320 So I will be there until my flight back to the U.S.

00:23:55.100 So at least I'm in family.

00:23:57.760 Yeah.

00:23:58.000 Yeah.

00:23:58.740 Yeah.

00:23:59.060 Your home is in Texas, but you've been in Italy and all over the place.

00:24:05.260 But, well, God bless you.

00:24:07.480 Let's pray.

00:24:08.300 We'll be praying.

00:24:09.000 A lot of the viewers will be praying that you make a safe journey.

00:24:12.280 Well, thank you so much.

00:24:13.380 Your conviction that you're not afraid or overly afraid, if you will, of death is very enlightening.

00:24:21.940 I think it's really inspiring.

00:24:24.120 Thank you.

00:24:24.640 Thank you.

00:24:25.200 And it's, Memento Mori is such a beautiful thing.

00:24:29.000 And I just always, the words of St. Alphonsus are always in mind, you know, the thought of death, judgment, heaven, and hell.

00:24:37.060 And they really are beautiful meditations because for the first time I was really, I really thought death might be at my door.

00:24:44.220 And all of a sudden it became this whole, you know, reflection on Memento Mori became very real for a moment.

00:24:50.400 And it really makes you not want to be in sin.

00:24:54.340 You just, you, I can't stress that enough.

00:24:56.960 And the confessional, I mean, a lot of my major sort of experiences in the faith have been in the confessional.

00:25:03.720 So I think it's something, it's a sacrament that is so underutilized.

00:25:07.720 I encourage people all the time to pray your rosaries and go to confession as often as possible.

00:25:13.240 And a lot of people respond, they're, oh, I'm so embarrassed, I can't, couldn't go, wouldn't want, you know, the priest knows my parents or something.

00:25:22.540 No, no, it's not his place to say anything.

00:25:26.500 It's, I mean, I can't tell you, when you really think about it, like in that moment when I was in that church in Rome, in the Latin Mass, on my knees, you know, it became, it really became clear how much an act of humility is confession.

00:25:38.680 And how, and I recognize why the devil hates it so much.

00:25:43.220 I mean, like humility is a virtue that we see so often in the Virgin Mary.

00:25:47.260 And it's so important.

00:25:49.420 It's one of the most important virtues.

00:25:51.440 Yeah.

00:25:51.880 In addition to obedience.

00:25:53.540 Right, right.

00:25:54.680 Yes.

00:25:55.380 Beautiful.

00:25:56.280 Well, Katerina, thank you so much for being with us in this episode of The Jogging The Rest in Show.

00:26:00.460 We wish you Godspeed and your journey home.

00:26:03.360 And we'll be praying for you.

00:26:06.740 Thank you very much.

00:26:07.700 I appreciate it.

00:26:09.000 And the rest of the world is also in our prayers.

00:26:11.760 I know this is just a wave in Italy right now.

00:26:13.860 Chances are.

00:26:14.500 It's going to be spreading around too.

00:26:16.020 So just hang on to your rosaries.

00:26:18.920 Go to confession.

00:26:20.000 And we should be praying for each other at this time.

00:26:23.340 Amen.

00:26:24.340 God bless you.

00:26:25.640 Thank you.

00:26:26.100 God bless all of you.

00:26:27.020 We'll see you next time.

00:26:29.860 Hello, this is John Henry Weston.

00:26:31.440 I'd like to invite you to subscribe to the John Henry Weston Show YouTube channel if you haven't already done so.

00:26:37.700 There you will find all the past episodes and much more.

00:26:41.380 Thanks again for watching.

00:26:42.940 And may God bless you.

The John-Henry Westen Show - March 13, 2020

On the ground updates from Rome about the coronavirus

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