Ash Wednesday at the Oratory

I started Lent in an interesting way. I went with my husband to the "town" of Ave Maria, east of Naples, Florida. It's a very "Catholic community." The 12:00 PM Mass at the Oratory was in Latin. It brought me back to my childhood. The Church was packed- some tourists, students from Ave Maria University, (which is directly across from the Oratory), professors, homeowners with children...an interesting mix of people. Afterwards in The Bean, the coffee house located across from The Oratory, a young girl who was working there said she loved living in the planned community of Ave Maria, with her family. Her sister attends the University. There are apparently a lot of families (about 200) who live there so far and they are large families. She said most families have six to eight children. So there are a lot of children and teens who live there, as a matter of fact when you think about it they out number the adults. Ave Maria is surrounded by farms and you need a car to get there, but it's definitely worth a visit if you're visiting the Naples or Fort Myers area. And as you would imagine everyone is very nice and helpful.
NJA