Reflections from Rome

Well, we’ve been here for over a month now. Our first midterm is looming on Monday. As dangerously easy as it is to lose oneself in the experience of Rome, and think more of visiting the Forum, or the Vatican, or that new favorite restaurant down by Chiesa Nuova, the thought of a midterm is the surest wakeup call to the primary focus of our life here at Bernardi: studiare.

Last Sunday was All Saints Day, and some of us went with Fr. Keating to Santa Sabina. There’s actually a little story about this trip up the Aventine. As a little background, Santa Sabina is a 5th century church on the Aventine hill. the international headquarters of the Dominican order. I have two older sisters who are both Dominican sisters in the Congregation of St. Cecilia centered in Nashville, TN. My oldest sister, Sr. Beatrice, celebrates her feast day on All Saints, so to be at the Dominican church par excellence for her feast day was a blessing. What made it even more beautiful lies in the significance of both the feast and my sister’s name. Beatrice comes from the Latin word beata, which means “blessed,” and refers to the communion of saints, through which the Church is unified through space and time. So despite the barriers of distance and disparity of experience, the Church is one. The feast of All Saints, all the “blessed,” highlights this reality. So to pray in Rome at S. Sabina for my sister in Tennessee on this feast day was for me a profound experience of the communion of saints.

I’m really looking forward to this weekend. All of us here at Bernardi are going on a silent retreat, led by Fr. Carola. The retreat center is actually right across from the Pope’s summer residence, Castel Gandolfo. It’s only about 15 miles outside of Rome, and to the southeast, which was surprising to me. I guess I had assumed that the Holy Father had a place “up north” as we say in Michigan. Anyway, there’s a lake in a volcanic crater beside the property, and we’ll also be able to see the Mediterranean past the Castel Gandolfo. It sounds beautiful.

Since we live in the heart of Rome, and the clatter of a major city is unavoidable, I welcome the opportunity to take time in silence, collect myself, and be better able to hear the voice of the Lord. We’ll be boarding the bus this afternoon, and coming back on Sunday. Which means that this is a crucial time for studying for that art history midterm on Monday. Pace e bene.

Posted by Daniel at 09:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here we are beginning the 2nd week of full classes. I’m beginning to find routine and rhythm, both of life at Bernardi, and studies at the Angelicum. We’ve had a recent cold spell, and this morning’s walk to class was quite chilly. Almost as though we’re back in St. Paul! It’s getting close to dinner time, as I write this. It’s interesting to observe how all of us have adjusted to the later dinner time of Italy. Restaurants here don’t typically open til 8pm, and our community dinners start between 7 and 8. Back home, I’m ready for dinner at 5, and if I haven’t eaten by 6:30, I’m absolutely famished. Yet here I am, quite content to wait for stew and potatoes at 7:30 tonight. Which reminds me, some very excellent students this semester have come up with a Tuesday night dinner event, known as Ca$h Money. Ca$h Money is the loose abbreviation for Casual Community Night, in which interested parties throw in a few bucks for a very chill meal, put on by students, cooked by students. Last week some 20 plus of us enjoyed some excellent pasta and chicken, and afterward several of us concluded the evening with a viewing of Gladiator. The irony is that Ca$h Money saves us all money, and we have a great meal, and wonderful fellowship. Who doesn’t want cash money, anyway?

I have a brief story to share, before I head down for stew and potatoes. Last Saturday afternoon we were over at the Vatican to pray the rosary for Africa with the Holy Father. It was beautiful to pray with Benedict XVI with and for Africa. Afterwards, led by Fr. Carola, we prayed vespers in the piazza. As we prayed, I looked up to St. Peter’s, towering over us all, and was struck both by the universality of the Church as well as her unity, her vastness as well as her nearness. The community that is being begun here at Bernardi, among the 30 students, 14 of whom are seminarians, is special. Fr. Carola has spoken about the uniqueness of our situation here, that we are able to live under the same roof as Jesus (we have a chapel downstairs), and how this Christocentricity (my word) is in fact the foundation and glue of our community. We are not 30 study abroad students who happen to be in the same house and same class, we are 30 students called to live, study, pray and recreate together, being formed by and helping form each other in this semester in Rome. This all kind of washed over me again as we prayed vespers. Community has its challenges, but I think I can say that the challenge of community life here at Bernardi is one that we are all glad to take up. I’ll end on that note. I can hear and smell the signs that dinner is very close. Better get down there. Salve.

Posted by Daniel at 04:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Buona sera! I sit here on a Wednesday evening, finally winding down after a rather hectic day. It’s fall in Rome, and I’m enjoying my 6th day here in the Eternal City. My name is Dan Clarke, a sophomore and double major in Catholic Studies and philosophy at UST. This fall, along with 28 other Catholic Studies students, I’ll be immersing myself in a semester of study, prayer, fellowship and culture here in the Eternal City.

I’m sitting on our beautiful rooftop terrace here at Bernardi, from which I can see the magnificent dome of St. Peter’s, only a short 20 minute walk away. It has been a very busy first few days. But let me begin from the beginning. Two friends and I flew in on Monday/Tuesday, arriving in Rome around 11am on Tuesday. We then caught a 2pm train up to Alessandria, in Piemonte (NW Italy), where we had arranged to stay with a friend of Fr. Keating’s who runs a bed & breakfast. Our 6+ hour train ride took us up along the jaw-dropping beautiful western coast of Italy. We reached La Rocca, the bed & breakfast, (which was actually in Vignale, a 45 car ride outside Alessandria) a little before 10pm, after nearly 18 straight hours of travel.

Vignale is in wine country, and our host, Tracey (a UST alumna), owns a small vineyard, and we three actually got to help with the wine making. Not a lot, but we helped clean up the cantina, and when there was a minor crisis because the acidity level was too high, we stood in and helped move the yet unfermented wine from one massive holder to another. We tasted the wine, too, which was cool. It was very sweet, like an amazingly fresh grape juice. All chemical free, too, I might add.

The town was beautiful, and rather quaint. It was perched on a hill, with the church -- S. Bartolommeo -- at the top. The streets are very narrow, the houses very old yet well-kept and charming, and the view from the hilltop out over the surrounding country (all vineyards and small, similar towns) is stunning. It was truly amazing that these streets and houses, the townspeople and (in many ways) their way of life, has been passed on from centuries before, and there we were, three young Catholic Studies undergrads from the States experiencing it. The whole trip, which lasted from Tuesday night until Friday morning, was truly special. On our last night in Vignale, we splashed out a bit and went to the nice ristorantes in town, La Trattoria Panoramica. I ordered one of the nicer wines of the region and our main course was delicious meat ravioli, with a pumpkin sauce. It was amazing -- who would’ve thought that pumpkin and ravioli could work? All in all, a wonderful meal and the perfect bookend to a relaxing 3 day jaunt in Piemonte.

The next morning we caught our train into Roma, and got in around 4. The night of our arrival in Rome through yesterday has been jam-packed with orientation, registration, events and introductions. Since getting in on Friday, I’ve already visited St. Peter’s twice; went to an audience with the Holy Father (fifth row!); begun classes at the Angelicum; had a visit from Archbishop Neinstedt; toured and registered with the Gregorian library (more on that later); gotten lost multiple times (not a bad thing); and seen the inside of an amazing 16th century monastery that used to belong to French nuns. Tomorrow night we’ll be going to an ordination of several deacons at St. Peter’s, as well as a tour of the Catacombs with Dr. Lev (for our art and architecture class), and on Saturday we’re joining other university students in praying a rosary with the Holy Father for Africa.

I hope to write more soon, especially about our upcoming visit to the Catacombs and the Vatican Museums with Dr. Lev. As tiring and intense as this first week has proven to be, I‘ve come to realize just how blessed and fortunate I am to be here, studying and living in Roma. Buona sera, e pace.

Posted by Daniel at 09:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Goodbye to Rome and goodbye to Bernardi. We will never again be together as a group in Rome, but we will always be a group! We are the Spring 09ers! As I sit in the back of the plane, surrounded by English whispers, I am beginning to realize that it is finally time to go back to what was once familiar.

My experience in Rome is not merely something that I will look back on as a fond memory. It is an experience that is now a part of me and my fellow Bernardians. We will go on with our lives, but certainly a day will not pass that we will not find ourselves referencing or momentarily thinking about our time in Rome. As Fr. Giertych said to many of us on our way out the door, "don't forget what you have learned here." I suppose that would be a logical thing to say at the end of every class. But we knew that he meant something more. What we learned in Rome was not simply information and a new skill set. It is a way of life. I am so grateful to have been a part of the Catholic Studies in Rome semester, Spring 2009. There are too many graces to count and too many people to thank! To all who have had a hand in the program, thank you from the bottom of my heart!!! Thanks be to God!!!

Posted by Katie at 09:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

For every day that passes, it gets harder and harder to think about writing a blog. Actually, this update has taken me well over a week from start to finish. How do you put a day in the life of an American study abroad student in Rome into a few paragraphs? Especially when every week is full of a new adventure completely unlike the ones before! I can attempt to work backwards and recap the graces of this experience, but like Easter, words cannot begin to do it justice. This time around, I’m going to illustrate a day (or a week) in the life of a Spring ’09er at Bernardi. …

When the morning comes, wake up and head downstairs to the chapel or to the surprisingly noisy basement dining room for a cup of coffee, some Special K and choco-flakes cereal, and the choice fruit of the day. I don’t know if it is the Bernardi dining room or the Spring ’09 clan, but there seems to be a lot of laughing and storytelling in the early morning! Over breakfast, consider the time and decide the route to school: walk the 40 minutes or find a bus on the way. Off to class! Most likely, you choose option one. You will find yourself walking past the Piazza del Popolo, the Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountain, the Gregorian University and finally the Angelicum. The "Ang" is our final destination, on the top of a short but steep hill. The feeling of achievement after reaching the top of the hill hasn’t faded yet— walking through the doors to the open-aired courtyard is just as exciting now as it was day one back in February!

Time for class. At break time, grab a quick cappuccino at the bar and use the remainder of your 15 minute break for chatting and socializing in the courtyard with classmates. If it’s Monday or Tuesday, you’ll have time to grab a panini, pasta or pizza for lunch and rest in the Ang garden. The other days of the week are a bit more open. You’ll have time to check out another must-see destination, catch up on homework, picnic in the park or, even better, relax on the Bernardi terrace!

Back home, Wednesday was hump day. Here, Wednesday is community day! The day is generally free – some of us cut vegetables for the Missionaries of Charity, some of us work in the garden and build furniture for the Little Sisters of the Lamb and others attend the papal audience. Often, a few people will initiate a game of Ultimate Frisbee, football (or futbol) in Villa Borghese park.

No matter the events of the week, the peak of the week is, without fail, Wednesday night community night: 5:30 adoration, 6:30 mass, 7:30 discussion, 8:15 dinner. We all gather, 32 students, 6 members of the chaplaincy and a handful of guests for a formal night of prayer, bonding and good eats! It is our time of the week together as a full community — something truly unique to the study abroad experience!

As the week comes to a close, whether Thursday or Saturday, off you go! Tour the city or take a day trip to the coast. Find a new Italian destination or maybe even a transcontinental cheap flight! Two weeks ago, I took a glorious pilgrimage to Padua and Venice — two very different places but gorgeous in their own right! Padua was perfectly peaceful and full of devotions to St. Anthony of Padua. We woke up to the quiet rustle of people, attended mass in the Basilica of St. Anthony, meandered through the markets and visited the famous Scrovegnie Chapel with Giotto’s wall frescos. It was a refreshing oasis in its finest!

We then took a quick train trip and a riverboat “bus” to our apartment in Venice. The city is like nothing you have ever seen before! It’s a maze of side streets and mini-bridges connecting the major ports to the tourist destinations. We quickly located the famous San Marco – it was a giant piazza with an unmistakably gorgeous basilica. Apparently the rest of the population had the same instincts we did. Venice is a widely known tourist destination. The only native Italians I saw were the polo-wearing sun-tanned river taxi drivers and the gondola rowers. Last weekend, I enjoyed the less popular sights of Rome. In the lush Vatican Gardens and the huge park on the Juniculum hill, I was participating in the weekend life of a Roman. Now, I am on a nice Eurostar train to Milan, in route to the beautiful Lake Como on the border of Switzerland! I have been blessed!

Two weeks left. I have really learned the meaning of the phrase “bitter-sweet.” I anticipate that our closing weeks in Rome will be full of tears of happiness in one eye and tears of sadness in the other.... but more on that later.

Thanks for your continual support for us in Rome! I speak for everyone when I say that we cannot wait to share the graces of our semester with our friends and families back home.

Katie

Things to note:

-We have taken an art history course from a professor who may be seen on the history channel and we have shared dinner with the papal master of ceremonies who will most likely be seen standing beside the Holy Father in all papal events. Enough said.
-It is quite possible to use an entire Papermate ball point pen. Weeks of European lecture classes has increased the mortality rate of my pens by 200% since January.
-Beware: after 3.5 months of living in a community, you will no doubt adopt quirky mannerisms, regional dialects, and unique phrases of your housemates. (The hand motion, “shootskis,” “FACT,” “Va Bene,” “Oh Milanta!”.... to name a few.)
- I love Bernardi.

Posted by Katie at 08:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My curser is blinking on the screen in front of my face, and it is certainly not because I have nothing to say. I have too much to say! Words cannot capture Holy Week in Rome, in the heart of the church, and in our home away from home. But I owe it to you to try.

For three days we were focused completely on the preparation and celebration of Easter. The final preparation in Rome (after a full season of Lent), consisted of the Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday papal masses. As Bernardi and company, with visiting friends and families, we made our way to St. Peter’s to beat the crowds and celebrate the Triduum with the Holy Father at the center of the Church. That’s no small thing! Three hours of anticipation to the moment of gate opening, a chaotic gate-jumping rush to get in, and an hour of seat-grabbing, waiting in the St. Peter’s Basilica, and there we were. Though I am painting a picture of total chaos, Good Friday mass was anything but chaotic. In this solemn feast, I had a direct view of Pope Benedict and the altar. It would be impossible to be distracted by the people when you are within the most incredible structure on earth in the face of the pope. I wouldn’t exactly boast about my ability to sit still in an instance, but in those few hours, I was almost frozen! Well, I do admit to a slight distraction from the celebration when I held my long arms above the crowd to catch a video of our very own Luke reading the English Prayer of the Faithful. We were so proud to have a member of our little community represent the English speaking peoples of the world in front of the pope- what a blessing! And it’s only Friday. We had a similar experience for the Easter Vigil Mass on Saturday, but it was in no way the same. The Mass began in darkness. As the procession began, light slowly spread from candle to candle until the magnificent basilica above our heads was illuminated with an under glow of candle light. Beautiful! There is really no way to describe it. To make it better, Stephanie read the final reading before the gospel. Yet again, the people in St. Peter’s, the Cardinals and the Pope, and everyone tuned in on EWTN heard the Word from the voice of a Bernardian! Walking out of the doors that night, I felt a true feeling of celebration in the air, and especially in our group. We met at the obelisk and congratulated Stephanie with cheers and singing... have you ever been hurried out of the Vatican by security guards?!? We were. We made our way, speedily, to the nearest gelato shop to indulge in our first ever Easter treat. The night ended at different times for everyone, but it is safe to say that a good number was up to welcome the sun with morning prayer at 6:00 on the terrace. It was a full basement celebration with singing, dancing, laughing, and pure Easter joy!!!

Easter Sunday was probably one of the most memorable moments of the semester. Head-up by lead chefs, Victoria and birthday girl Marissa, we put together our very own Easter feast. It was community at it’s finest, in attendance were all of the Bernardians in town for the weekend, a few extra families, and Fr. Carola! While the ladies cooked inside and set the tables with Easter chocolates and a pot-luck of our favorite desserts, some of the boys managed the grill outside (which included a sampling of summer tunes and tossing around of the football). Lunch was delicious and truly joyful! I cannot count how many “this is wonderful”, “isn’t it great to be together”, and “good job, chefs!” I heard over the course of the meal! It was nothing other than a celebration. We followed up our meal with a quiet in-house Mass much unlike the three before. I personally benefitted from the chance to really reflect on how incredible it was to have spent Easter week in Rome with Pope Benedict. As if the day wasn’t perfect enough, we sent out the sun with a large group game of football and world cup soccer. It was a great day, only to be followed by another adventurous week of travels.

I will have to send out a full update on the second week of spring break in a later blog. For now, we are all busy in the midst of multiple papers and quizzes. Here’s to the fourth quarter of our semester!

Thank you to everyone for your thoughts and prayers. Be assured that we are offering ours to you at home also!

Ciao Ciao,
Katie

Things to note:
-Bring thick-soled shoes, a limited amount of baggage, a rosary, a snack, and patience to all papal events. You would be surprised how quickly a 2-3 hour wait and a good seat can turn a papal Mass crowd into a reverent MOB.
-It is possible to grill a delicious meal with limited Italian meat options.
-Gelato tastes significantly more delectable after 40 days of Lent.

Posted by Katie at 09:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Speaking of slowing down the hands of time, I am now reporting from April 9th, a full 20 days since my last update. The Bernardi community is reuniting from a week of travels for the excitement of a blessed Holy Week in Rome. I cannot yet imagine the magnificence of spending this week in the eternal city, but hopefully in a few days the experience will earn some words to help describe it! Look for an update to come!

These past few weeks have been nothing like the weeks before. In short, it has been a family-meeting and Europe-traveling good time. After a few weeks traveling by plane, train, and automobile in foreign lands, I have a new appreciation for the phrase, “the one thing you can plan, is that things will not go as planned.” True. My most recent traveling experience in Prague, Czech Republic, could not be a better testament to that statement. But in all truth (just like in Subiaco), everything turned out for the better! Every day, actually every hour, Laura and I wondered how it could get better... and sure enough... it did!

There seems to be a pattern of adjusting to a new culture. First, you stumble around town in awe of the beauty of the city and the richness of the culture. Then, you pick up your map and read up on Rick Steve’s guide to prioritize the major sites of the city. Plan on finding them, but realize that you probably won't. Or at least when you planned to find them! Instead, you will probably encounter a new hidden gem that you didn’t expect finding, and that is what makes it exciting! Soon, through time and repetition, you begin to identify personally with these popular destinations. In Prague, the singing and dancing of the Easter festival and the hourly chime of the Astronomical Clock in Old Town Square transformed from an incredible photo-op to a meeting place for our new fellow traveling friends. In our first visit to the square, 3 hours was not enough time to sit, observe the gothic architecture, people watch, and take in the festival with all our senses. By the end, the clock was the first step to a fun social evening on the town with friends. Though certainly tourists of the city, we were yet a part of a smaller community of English-speaking student travelers searching for a cultural and social experience! In stead of recycling the “where did you go to high school” and “what are you studying” questions, you ask the “where have you been in the world” and “where are you going next”! It’s a different world! I am still deciding if it is the check list of world famous monuments and places, the letting go of control/ comfort zones and surrendering to uncertainty, or the social experience that makes me love traveling so much. I do know, however, that I have a serious case of the travel bug!

Good news, world! Though I’d love to see all of you, I’m going to have to return home to lovely Minnesota at some point. Hopefully someday I can make my way across the border again. For now, I am thankful for my time here, and I look forward to the chance to share my experience abroad with my family and friends back home! Luckily, I have been blessed with the chance to share a week of the Bernardi experience with my family (or 4/8ths of them) already. And I am not alone. Time with visiting families has been a special treat for the Bernardi community- although Wednesday night community night has undergone some transformation with the over-capacity of guests! As we say, “we’re all family here” :)

On my week with the family, I played the role of tour guide, spoiled daughter, and lucky big sister. We visited major cites and enjoyed full Italian meals (and of course the youngest member of the Lahti family requested more than enough gelato outings... thanks Anna!). We celebrated the successful completion of the Rome Marathon by Bernardians and extended Bernardians: Nicole and her Mom, Ryan, Fr. Beaudet, and Gwen, a former Bernardian! That deserved not only a few cheering sections along the 42 kilometer route, but also a celebratory dinner and outing with the a gathering of 15-20. Congrats! As a family, we also took advantage of the coastal beauty of Italy at Sorrento and the Island of Capri. I could not have imagined a better relaxing escape than the moments on the terrace overlooking the gulf of Naples and Mount Vesuvias. Gorgeous!

I trust that all the Bernardians are having similar experiences abroad. From what it sounds, Poland, Austria, Germany, Medjugorie, England, Ireland, France, and the rest of Italy are just as exciting. Even within the city limits, spring break has been adventurous! Just ask Nicole and Holly - they ran into plenty of new experiences in this seemingly familiar city... like surviving an earthquake! (We’re thankful that all of our group is perfectly safe, but please keep the victims from the Italian earthquake in your prayers!)

Following the pattern of life abroad, I’d say that the Spring-09ers of the Catholic Studies semester are successfully in the social stage. We enjoy sharing personal experiences with one another- after a long day of traveling, my first move walking through the campus doors was to see who was home! We enjoy sharing our families with one another- you learn a lot about a person when you get to meet their families! Finally, we enjoy sharing our unique gifts and talents with one another- guitar and singing on the terrace, jokes and insights... where to begin!?!? Even late night paper writing has found a nice place in the community!

A special thank you to all the families that have made the trip to Rome! We really appreciated your visit!

Things to note:
-Rick Steve’s should be a celebrity and a traveler’s best friend. Commonly asked question while abroad= “Did you bring Rick?”
-Expect the unexpected! Did I mention that we happened to see Obama in Prague? Good thing we were watching CNN the night before he decided to follow us to the Czech Republic, or we wouldn’t have even known that Mr. President was paying a visit!
-McDonald’s has tainted the world with greasy fries and McFlurries. Or as the Aussies say, “Mackers”. They are everywhere.
-Multiple flavor-infused variations of the same cola pop is strictly an American fad... I have yet to see anything more than Coke, Coke Light, Sprite, and Fanta in Europe.
It is quite possible to fit 52 people in the basement dining room. 52 of us have lived to tell the tale of the tight and cozy community night on March 25th!

Posted by Katie at 12:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)