But his stay in the Eternal City, at this time more than ever before the focus of all religious truth, as well as the object of all human expectancy, had not been uneventful.  Very much against his will he preached one of the sermons of the course given during the octave of the Epiphany, in the Church of San Andrea della Valle, and later on another, on an important occasion, in place of Archbishop Spalding, who had fallen ill.  Much of his time he spent with the American bishops and the distinguished priests who were with them; he renewed the old-time friendships of his stay in Rome twelve years before, seeing a good deal of Archbishop Connolly, of Halifax, N. S.; he made new friends, too, among whom he names especially Mrs. Craven, the author of the Recit d’une Soeur; and he formed acquaintance with leading men and women of all nationalities.

“There is not a day passes,” he wrote home, “that I do not make the acquaintance of persons of great importance, or acquire the knowledge of matters equally important for me to know; and I gain more in a day than one could in years at other times.  For we may say that the intelligence, the science and sanctity of the Church are now gathered into this one city.  Yet my heart is in my work at home.”

He had two private audiences with Pius IX., which, though of course brief, were very interesting; the Pope remembered him, and expressed his interest in him and his work in America.  The following extracts from letters to his brother George, written very soon after reaching Rome, recall an old friend: 

“I do not know whether I told you of my interview with Cardinal Barnabo.  He received me literally with open arms.  After an hour’s conversation on several matters he ended by saying:  ’The affection and esteem which I had for you when you were here before has been increased by your labors since then, and my door is always open for you, and I shall always be glad to see you.’  He entertains a high idea of the importance of The Catholic World."

“I had a most pleasant interview a few evenings since with Cardinal Barnabo,” he writes in April, 1870, shortly before leaving.  “Among other things he said:  ’You ought to be grateful to God for three reasons:  first, He drew you out of heresy; second, He saved you from shipwreck in Rome; third, He has given you talents, etc., to do great things for His Church in your country.’  He takes great interest in the Paulists.”

Not alone in Rome did he meet with friends, but what follows, written home in December, 1869, tells that his name and his vocation had been made familiar to many observant persons in Europe: 

“It surprises me to find my name familiar everywhere I have been on my travels.  But magazines, newspapers, telegrams, and what-not have turned the world into a whispering gallery.  But the less a man is known to men the more he knows of God; so it seems to me, as a rule.  Yet great activity may flow as a consequence of intimate union with Him whom theologians call Actus Purissimus. From the fact of his being known, I entertain no better idea of Father Hecker than I ever did; and could I get him again in the United States, he will be more devoted than ever to his work.”