Santo Spirito

Pope leading the Angelus Prayer

Crowd Praying the Angelus

(Sunday 2/10) Sunday morning we all walked to a church called "Santo Spirito" over by the Vatican.  We were all anxious to finally be attending an English Mass where we could fully participate!  In fact, a few of us served in mass and we plan on being very involved in the coming months.  The priest there is very joyful and enthusiastic and all about the New Evangelization!  The sisters there were from St. Faustina's order and welcomed us graciously.  Afterwards, we walked to Vatican Square to pray the Angelus with Papa Bene.  As everyone gathered in the square, we met a nice guy who was studying in Barcelona.  Regardless of his different faith background, he was thrilled once the Pope appeared in his window and anxiously yelled, "I love you Papa!"  It was so uplifting to see people from everywhere shouting for joy and a man who fills us with hope for the Church.  Little did we know that this was the last time we'd see the Pope before the big news hit us the next day...

BEST DAY EVER

Friday (2/8)
Just when I think Rome can't get any more exciting, it does!

Excited for the Scavi Tour!

Slanted stairs up to Vatican Dome

Rome and Vatican City

This morning we met at St. Peters to get an exclusive Scavi tour of the bottom of the Vatican.  While waiting through security, we talked and made friends with the Swiss guards.  Our guide took us down underground where the original rooms of the City were once above ground.  She talked to us all about the history and usage of each of the rooms and showed us amazing frescos.  Then she took us to the climax of the tour: Peters grave marked by a lamp you peer at through a hole in the stone wall.  Following this, she took us to the place where the altar would be, and there showed us the actual bone remains of Peter, found on the altar just a short distance from where he was crucified upside down in St. Peter's square.  What more evidence is there of Peter being the rock of the Church?  Afterwards, our tour guide left us and we walked around the amazingly beautiful basement of the Vatican where there  is a hallway where all the popes are buried on either side.  There was so much to look at!  From the bottom of the Vatican to the top of the city, a few of us paid a few Euro to climb hundreds of sloping steps to the very top of the Vatican Dome overlooking the city.  I don't feel so bad that I still get lost here because from above, the city still looks so big and confusing!  I took a picture of Vatican city from above and realized it is exactly identical to the picture that is on the face of my credit card!  How cool!  The rest of the afternoon a few of us relaxed and ate some lunch in the warm sun, observing some skateboarders and happened upon the "Piazza Navona (supposedly the most beautiful Piazza in Rome)--filled with artisans and fountains.  After grabbing some gelato, we headed to class.  Fridays we are supposed to do service, so Fr. Justin led our group past the colosseum to the Mother house of the Missionaries of Charity...the same house where Mother Teresa lived, worked, and eventually died.  We were able to see the room where she died in the house.  In there, nothing is touched since her death.  Even the calendar on the wall is still set on the date that she died.  We were also given the opportunity to pray in the chapel she prayed in, and we were able to talk with Sister Alaina, who personally knew Mother Teresa for 20 years until her death, about stories of her life and mission.  The whole time I couldn't take my eyes or attention off of Sister Alaina.  Sitting in the same room as Mother Teresa prayed and attended mass in, and speaking to a close friend of hers was indescribable and quickly became my favorite part of my Rome adventure so far.  It was so cool to hear about Mother Teresa and her love for chocolate, her mischievous but loving side, and her relationship with Pope John Paul II.  When asked what was a piece of advice Mother would say to her, Sister Alaina replied, "Give to God what he takes, and take from God what he gives."

Mother Teresa's bed where she died

Afterwards, the whole group went out to dinner and shared some great wine, pasta, and conversation.  A few of us were feeling adventurous and walked to a nearby Irish pub, "Scholars" to get some beer and be in a lively atmosphere!  After a long walk home my body collapsed from the busy yet incredibly fufilling day.

The Catacombs

Thursday (2/7)
After class and shopping around a little bit, our "Church and Culture" class met to take the bus over to the Catacombs of Priscilla.  The public transportation alone was an adventure in itself!  Only half of our group fit on the bus, and we were literally squished standing with a person up on every inch of you.  In fact, we were so squished up against the door that when the bus stopped and the door opened, we broke one of the doors because we couldn't move out of the way; and yet, 2 italian men thought they would still try to squeeze in!  The teacher wasn't with us because she was with the other half of the group, so we had to guess which stop to get off on and wait for the rest of the group.  As soon as we met up, we had to get on another  bus to make it the rest of the way!  The catacombs themselves were dark and damp and really cool.  You could see the dugouts in the wall where they placed the bodies, and even some tiny bone fragments.  We also saw original frescos that artists would paint down there that told the story of salvation and life.  The most transformative painting was the first ever recorded painting of the Madonna and Child painted next to one of the tombs, thousands of years old.  We were left to fend for ourselves to get back to Bernardi and lone behold, we took the tram going the wrong direction, the group got split up, and we had to get off at an unknown location.  But we all worked together and made it back safely to campus!  The girls met with the Sisters for our weekly formation.  We talked about being flexible and open to the new life God is giving you here.  I received a card that said, "Learn from St. Therese to depend on God alone and serve him with a wholly pure and detached heart.  Then, like her, you will be able to say: 'I do not regret that I have given myself up to love.'" ~St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross.  To continue the girls night, we went out to dinner, grabbed some gelato, and started a much-needed massage train in our hallway :)

Papa Bene

(Wednesday 2/6)

Pope Benedict XVI

This morning we walked briskly in our skirts and dresses to St. Peters to grab good seats for an exclusive Papal Audience which takes place in an auditorium next to St. Peters.  We were told that when our group name is announced it is customary to give a cheer, wave, or song.  We decided we were going to sing the "Salve Regina", which is a song very dear to the Pope.  I didn't know it yet and it is all in Latin so I spent the next couple of hours trying to learn it, only to find out 10 minutes before it started that it was too long and we were going to be singing "Immaculate Mary" instead.  Oh well.  I was seated right on the Aisle and there was great suspense in the room to see if the Pope was going to walk down the Aisle or come in from the stage.  Crowds of school children were having a "cheer off" and screaming to each other "Viva Papa! (Long live the Pope!)"  It was very cute and inspiring to see people from every language all here to see the shepherd, the one Jesus has chosen to lead his church during this time.  The room was filled with a sense of hope.  When Papa Bene walked on stage waving the room erupted into cheers.  To be in the presence of such a holy man filled me with a sense of great humility.  He spoke a message to each one of us presented there in about 8 different languages. Sometimes the groups would start singing while he was trying to speak but instead of getting annoyed, he waved at them with a gracious smile on his face as if he has never heard any of it before. He then led us all in prayer.  It was wonderful and I look forward to seeing him more this semester!

Head of John the Baptist

   After class, on the way back we stopped in a couple of churches (that looked just like a wall with a gate on the outside).  One of them was the most beautiful one I've seen so far, "Isanti Apostoles".  it was filled with glass chandeliers and oil paintings with gold trim.  In front of the Altar there were stairs leading down into a tomb where the Apostles who followed Jesus, James the Lesser and Philip, are buried.  The 2nd church we went in held the head (skull) of John the Baptist.  This one really hit me to be so close to a man who prepared the way for Jesus...and it is right on the walk back to our home!  How spectacular, that there are numerous opportunities for close encounters with Christ here.  Also on the walk back we walked through the Piazza Del Popolo where Carnvial festivities are taking place!  I can't wait to see when they are having more events.

The Walking Kicks In

St. Charles Borromeo's Heart

(Tuesday 2/5) This morning my body finally took into account how many miles I've been walking everyday....ow.  But the best remedy is to power-through and enjoy every part of the experience so I wasn't about to let a few sore muscles keep me from walking to St. Peters for morning mass.  We celebrated it in one of the gorgeous side chapels of the Vatican.  The whole mass was in Italian but the cool thing about the Catholic mass is that it's universal so I was able to follow along.  After mass we walked to the Angelicum for class.  I didn't know if it was correct etiquette to bring your tea/coffee cups into class with you, but when the lady at the 'bar' wasn't looking I grabbed the tea pot and my tea cup and headed to Italian.  In between classes, we walked to the Spanish steps where tricky vendors gave us flowers and made us believe they were free (but of course, they wanted the guys to pay for us "beautiful bellas"...darn.)  After class we walked into a church that held the heart of St. Charles Borromeo in it.  That night, many of us girls decided to grab stuff from the market and make dinner in the Bernardi kitchen.  It was a blast!  We prepared Tuscany Soup (recipe via Olive Garden) and salad while singing along to disney songs and enjoying each others company.

Welcome to School!

Arriving at school!

lounging in between class at the Ang.

Garden at the Angelicum

This morning (Monday), Thanos, our program director, thought it would be fun that instead of leading our whole group over to the Angelicum (where we take our classes), he would split us up in groups and we have to try to find the way ourselves.  It's 2 miles away of walking, with multiple routes, and this is the first time we were "unleashed" into the city by ourselves so....good luck!  Amidst power walking and trying to read invisible street signs, I didn't have much time to pay attention to the shops and beautiful buildings around me.  But I did notice on our walk that we were able to pass the Spanish Steps, the church that holds St. Borromeo's heart, the  Trevi Fountain, the main shopping strip, Piazza De Popolo, St. Peters Square, and other beautiful monuments.  Just imagine, I get to walk this route to and from school everyday!  Our group ended up getting there first and I was awed by how beautiful the school is.  First, there are courtyards in the middle of the school complete with fountains, orange and lemon trees, benches, and sun shining through the roofless estate.  Thanos treated us to caffe at the "bar" next to our classroom and showed us the garden we can study in during our free time.

We had a couple of hours before class started and a few of us went to visit the "Wedding Cake" building as we call it (it's really the fancy schmancy tomb of the unknown soldier) because it's so ornate and extravagant and white.  We were able to get up on top and view the whole city!  We discovered the Colosseum was only a couple of blocks away from our school!  It was so great to get some fresh air and get out into the city.

Wedding Cake (tomb)

We jumped right into our Art History class and it was so cool that our professor would say "oh and this is about 100 yards away from here..." instead of looking at these amazing artworks and dismissing them as far away somewhere in Europe.  It makes me want to go out and see these amazing works that are right outside my door!

View of City, Angelicum/Colosseum

My friends and I were on a mission that night to eat at an authentic Italian restaurant FINALLY.  We didn't have to work very hard to try to figure out Italian because our waiter picked us out right away and translated the whole menu for us, which will be very helpful for ordering in the future.  We each had different plates and shared, drank wonderful white wine, and even had cheescake!  Since we were sitting outside on the street, vendors kept coming up to us trying to sell us things and would run away when the manager poked his head out of the restaraunt.  It was wonderful to finally have a night of freedom, a true Italian hot meal, and share laughter at how far we have to go to truly understand the Italian culture.

When in Rome...

"When in Minnesota, do what the Minnesotans do" started sitting on the runway in the airplane, where frigid temperatures and a spontaneous blizzard caused the engine to fail, the fuel to deplete, and trucks to come to de-ice the plane.  This made me only more anxious to fly away!  After 3 hours, we finally departed behind schedule to Amsterdam.  Luckily, we had a long layover scheduled so we had just enough time to go through quick security (where I happened to be a popular suspect as I was searched thoroughly and asked numerous questions...."no officer, that's just water I swear"), and walk right through the gate onto the next plane.  Unfortunately, I hadn't really slept on either plane ride so the bus ride over to Bernardi Campus in Rome--where I was supposed to be enjoying the view--turned into a 30 minute snooz.  

The afternoon was filled with orientation activities, mass and dinner.  I had just showered and was in my PJ's and was ready to crawl into bed, but I couldn't resist when a few girls asked me to go for a walk around the neighborhood and get a first taste of Gelato!  That was the first time I realized I didn't know any Italian.  But luckily, body language can go a long way and soon I was devouring a carmel delight!  It wasn't until 30 minutes into our walk that we realized the 7 of us were just "tagging along" and had no idea where we were going.  It was during our back tracking that I began to realize that I was not in Minnesota anymore.  I learned some important things:

1) All the cars here are mini but it doesn't make them any less frightening.  Around the big Piazza they drive fast, there are no lanes, they don't signal, and if you look at a car, they assume you see them and are giving them permission to go forward. I had more confidence about crossing, though, when I saw a dad with a baby stroller just book it across the street without looking.

2) Our "Minnesota nice" ways of smiling at passerby's has quite a bit of different connotation here.  It could mean either you're 'coming on' to them...or, you're another one of those weird people who may not be mentally healthy... 

3) Not very important, but the trees here even look different--they look like broccoli.  And they have palm trees!  

Outside of the Vatican (click to enlarge)

Inside of the Vatican (I'll take a better pic)

The next morning we had more orientation until 4pm, and then we took our first walk over to St. Peters square to see the Vatican.  I'm sure I'll be adding better pictures later, but it was pretty to see the Vatican with the pink sky and with the Christmas nativity and lights still up in the square.  We were told to keep our heads down and then look up once we entered the center of the Vatican so we could take it all in with our first glance.  My first glance left me speechless.  It is so beautiful and every inch of that place is filled with statues and figurines of holy people I hadn't even heard of.  One fact that Fr. Justin (who is our chaplain) told us, was the Vatican is built so that when you walk in, you don't feel as small as you should compared to how big the Vatican really is.  This is because of its architecture.  The pillars you see surrounding the Vatican are HUGE and make you feel really small, but if these were used to hold up the Vatican and give us that same feeling, they would need to use TONS of those big pillars to fill the place!  In reality, a human can fit in the letter "O" in the words written on the tops of the walls!

We were able to enjoy our first community night dinner complete with pasta, pork, salad, potatoes, birthday cake, and wine!  I'm not sure if I believe that Americans are the only ones who eat alot...