First I couldn’t get to sleep now I wake up very early. Like three a.m. early. So I said some prayers, read for a bit, then at six got up and had some breakfast with some of the scholars who were headed out for the annual Easter Monday walk to Emmaus. Despite my new walking stick, I wasn’t up for an eight mile hike. It was a beautiful idea though.

I also couldn’t go because my friend, the writer Rod Dreher is in town and he wanted to interview me for a new book he’s working on. We had a splendid couple of hours together. He is here for Eastern Orthodox Holy Week–which is this week. When I completed my time with him it was time to head to the Central Train station to meet our son Elias who was arriving from Thailand. He arrived safe and sound, but rather weary from having spent the night in an airport in Dubai.

He ate a Cadbury’s cream egg and an apple and off we went for the daily prayer procession around Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It was sweet to see him join in with all the prayers. Alison sometimes quips, “Dwight is religious enough for all of us.” Nice to see one of the younguns join in.

At 7:30 Vespers we spotted some Dominican sisters. Turns out they are three of the Ann Arbor Dominicans–teaching sisters here on retreat, so at dinner the Americans sat together laughing and talking church talk. “Have you been to this cathedral?” “No. What’s there?” “The relics of Saint Whatshisname.” and so forth and so on. Father Anthony from Cincinnati, Father Leo from Maryland, three sisters, Elias and me.

Elias filled up on supper, but I think he also filled up on church talk pretty quickly because he excused himself and headed down the road where we got him a room with the French Franciscan sisters.

What a small village the universal church is!