Southern Italy I: Pompeii

This weekend was SO great! The entire program headed to the Bay of Naples together for one of the best trips of the semester. First stop: Pompeii.

Pompeii was so cool. We had an onsite lecture by one of the history professors and say so many things. It sounds silly... but I didn't realize how big Pompeii was. It's an ancient city, with streets, alleyways, and houses. The forums, temples, markets, and theaters are all such amazing sights.

I had been to the exhibit in NYC last summer, so I had seen the casts of bodies, so they weren't as shocking, but I didn't realize that there were still bones in those casts! It made it that much more real.

Because Pompeii is still an active excavation, they have shelves of things they've found... including bodies. That was pretty shocking, seeing terracotta pots next to the cast of a person.

It was really cool to see normal everyday things, like fast food counters and crosswalks.

food counter

Its amazing to think that only 1/3 of the city has been excavated and we spent the better part of 4 hours walking around the different buildings and streets. Another funny thing about Pompeii is that it was thought to be really wealthy, but the building materials are really cheap, like tufa and brick, not as much marble as we see in Rome, even on the temple of Jupiter in the middle of the city.

I had a great time in Pompeii, it was really eye opening to see such a hugely popular place, a place of such destruction, but also a place that has taught us so much about daily life in a Roman city.

After Pompeii, we hopped onto the bus and made it around the twisty roads to Sorrento to get to our hotel. Mary, Christine, and I were so happy to see the view from our BALCONY!

'Staches and Early Morning Crashes

All-nighters are the worst. They are the worst of the worst when you are already in a seriously bad mood... jeeze. There is truly nothing like staying up into the not-so wee hours of the morning with a few cappuccinos and a good friend. If it weren't for Christine Fontaine, something awful would have happened to me whilst writing this paper.

In order to combat the absolute agony of an 8-10 page paper on a topic that could have been completed in 2 pages, we rewarded ourselves with little study breaks. During these breaks, we would take some time to document our progress and share it with the world. We spend some time on Photobooth and immediately shared these pictures on Facebook. Here are the results:

It was all fun and games until we realized it was already 1 am and we hadn't even gotten a line onto the second page yet... oh no. It was going to be a long night.

 When we realized, our faces turned a little more... well, frustrated. When the clock struck 2:30, we were kicked out of our plush role-y chairs and forced to finish up our work in the cold, dark hallway.

An hour later, we were making progress, working on our papers in a good way. Then Chris came down to print out his paper. We were a little discouraged at that point, as you can probably tell by our faces. But, the work had to be done, we couldn't fail Msgr. Irwin!

We ended up finishing our papers about the same time the sun came up. we hurried upstairs to freshen up and get some breakfast before our class started at 9am. Moral of the story: procrastination is a very bad thing.

La Settimana Sancta: oi.

Holy Week, oi. It was a long-long-long week. Rome is quite busy (as you would expect) during Holy Week, or La Settimana Sancta.

We started the Triduum (Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday) with Mass at Santa Susana, the American Parish in Rome. It is really refreshing to be able to participate in Mass in English as they are few and far between here in Rome. Although, my Latin 'Our Father' and 'Hail Mary' are getting pretty good.
We went to eleven churches that night to take part in a Roman tradition of visiting the Blessed Sacrament Chapels. Chris, Christine, Paul, Caitlin, Nick, Mary, and I all said prayers at each chapel to prepare for Easter.Then, we got back to the dorm and Mary, Christine, and I watched 'The Passion of the Christ' by Mel Gibson... we had a good cry.

Friday, we headed over to The Venerable English College for Good Friday service. This is always my favorite service of the Triduum. There is always so much emotion when the Celebrants lay prostrate before the altar. The English seminarians did a really good job of making it somber.

On Saturday, we began the day at the Holy Stairs. The Legend of the Holy Stairs is that they are the stairs that Jesus climbed to see Pilate on the night of His passion. It is believed that St. Helen, Constantine the Great's mother brought them from Jerusalem along with many other holy relics. The tradition is to go during the Triduum and to climb the stairs on your knees, not allowing your feet to touch. It was a really beautiful experience. It was painful too, but when ever your knees started shaking and you felt like you couldn't go up another step, you could look up and see the image of Christ on the cross. It sounds corny, but that really helped me to finish it up.

After that, we headed back to The Venerable English College for Easter Vigil Mass and saw our theology professor Msgr. Kevin Irwin. The Mass was longer than most with seven readings (the Pope only did four that night). Then, the seminarians treated everyone to champagne and chocolate, the first chocolate I'd had since Lent started. It was so good.

We got back to the dorms at about 1 am... but with the time change for daylight savings in Europe that was really 2 am. We got up the next morning at 6-ish and left to see the Pope at St. Peter's just before 8.

We got to St. Peters, got SEATS! and waited for Mass. The outside of St. Peter's was beautifully decorated with tons of flowers!

It was my last mass with Pope Francis and it was a really beautiful experience. I was so tired, but I was happy to be with Mary and Christine... and to be eating Peanut M&M's, I missed them.

 We had the most prime spots next to the nicest Italian Nuns and snapped our amazing pics of Papa Fran. Then, we waited for the Angelus. The last time (possibly) I saw Pope Francis speak in person was the same place I had seen him for the first time in person, the window in the front of St. Peters.

"And so we ask the risen Jesus, who turns death into life, to change hatred into love, vengeance into forgiveness, war into peace. Yes, Christ is our peace, and through him we implore peace for all the world...Peace in the whole world, still divided by greed looking for easy gain, wounded by the selfishness which threatens human life and the family, selfishness that continues in human trafficking, the most extensive form of slavery in this twenty-first century; human trafficking is the most extensive form of slavery in this twenty-first century! Peace to the whole world, torn apart by violence linked to drug trafficking and by the iniquitous exploitation of natural resources! Peace to this our Earth! Made the risen Jesus bring comfort to the victims of natural disasters and make us responsible guardians of creation... To all of you I affectionately say again: may the risen Christ guide all of you and the whole of humanity on the paths of justice, love and peace." - Pope Francis

After we got back (and NAPPED!) we made dinner in the dorm  kitchen together.

After dinner, I talked to my entire family through Skype. It was really great to see everyone and hear their voices. It made me a little homesick (this is one of the first Easters I've had outside of East Stroudsburg,  Pennsylvania) but I'll see them very soon!

Dad and I skyping.

"Dear brothers and sisters in Rome and throughout the world, Happy Easter! Happy Easter!" - Pope Francis

Palm Sunday, aka Papal Mass III

Palms (olive branches) getting blessed

Palm Sunday with Pope Francis was an amazing experience. It was an absolutely beautiful day, although it was kinda hot, and everyone was so excited to start Holy Week in Rome.

It was a beautiful mass that started at the obelisk in the square, which was decorated with tons of flowers, blossoming trees, and olive trees planted in the square, who knew.

The new pope focused much of his prayer and invocations on Mary, even spending some time at her statue during the Mas.

He had a beautiful homily and talked about this summer's World Youth Day in Rio. Here are some of my favorite parts of the homily:

"Never be sad men and women: a Christian can never be! Never give in to discouragement! Ours is not a joy that arises from possessing many things, rather it comes from having met a Person: Jesus, who is among us; it comes from knowing that with him we are never alone, even in difficult moments, even when the journey of life collides with problems and obstacles that seem insurmountable, and there are many!"

"Dear young people, I saw you in the procession, when you came in; I imagine you celebrating around Jesus, shaking the olive branches; I imagine you as you shout his name and express your joy at being with him! You have an important part in the feast of faith! You bring us the joy of faith and you tell us that we must live the faith with a young heart, always, a young heart even at 70 or 80! Young heart! With Christ the heart never grows old!" -- Pope Francis

He even tried to speak a few words in English during his blessing. Bless him, he's so cute.

Papa Francesco

As he left the square on the "Papa Mobile," or Pope Mobile as we English speakers like to call it, he took time to kiss what seemed like an innumerable amount of children, then he got out of the car and went to the barricades to shake hands and kiss people on the cheeks. What a guy.

Assisi: Pax et Bene

What can I say about Assisi? It was beautiful, fun, historical, and the food was delicious. St. Francis was a pretty cool guy, its understandable why some might think he was a little crazy. Not every merchant's son decides to live in the woods at the bottom of the hill in nothing but a hooded cloak. Rightly so, I think that is still considered crazy today. But, his thoughts of simplicity, peace, and doing good is a great mantra.

Santa Maria degli ngeli

Once we got off the train, we walked over to St. Francis' Chapel, Santa Maria degli Angeli. This church was so cool. It's really big, so you might be wondering why I just called it a chapel. The church literally surrounds the chapel.

Chapel of St. Francis

  It was really great. There are beautiful frescoes inside and outside of it. It was an amazing sight. Then we took a bus into the heart of town, on the top of a large hill. Here, we saw the Basilica of St. Francis where his body is entombed.

Inside of the lower church

The church looked like something straight out of 'Game of Thrones.' King's Landing, anyone?  Inside, there are actually two churches. The lower church is the most beautiful. The stained glass in both churches was absolutely stunning. It literally made my mouth drop.

Pax (Peace); outside of the basilica

We also saw the church of St. Claire and prayed at her tomb. The view from the Piazza there was breathtaking, so naturally we stopped and posed.

We all explored this charming town, got some pasta with truffle oil. The we went to the bakeries to get some Umbrian specialties. Then, Christine and I bought our souvenirs: leather sandals in the style of St. Francis.

Bag from the bakery, with St. Francis

 After getting one last view of the city down below, we got on the bus and made our way back to Roma.

Santa Maria degli Angeli

Smoke Wars Episode IV: A New Pope

The balcony of St. Peter's

Craziness in Rome! Since the moment Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation, this city has been a little crazier than usual. Once conclave began, absolute nuttiness ensued. There were/are much to many people, including a swarm of reporters all over the city. Needless to say, the reporter hotspot was the Vatican, just outside the colonnade of St. Peter's Square.

Interview with CNN!

Some of us even got interviews with various news agencies.

 

Black smoke from the Sistine Chapel

 
It seems that this semester was perfectly timed for us! First we have a Pope step down while we are in Rome. Then, the College of Cardinals decide that they will hold conclave the week that we all returned from Spring Break. Finally, the night we were all in St. Peter's Square meeting our program director for dinner with The Provost of The Catholic University of America, there was white smoke.

Our initial reaction upon seeing the smoke: "Look smoke... white smoke? WHITE SMOKE! GO!" As the bells tolled, we pushed our way up as far as we could and awaited the announcement and arrival of the new Pope! Holy Smokes! :)

WHITE SMOKE!

There was a constant flock of seagulls above the chimney on the Sistine Chapel. When I saw this I decided it was a good time to make my prediction about the name of the newly elected Pope. "What saint liked animals, Francis? Yeah, Francis. What if he picked the name Francis?"

Next thing we knew, the windows opened, cardinals made their way onto the balconies of St. Peter's.

Cardinals on the balconies

Then, the Dean of the College of Cardinals came out and announced the new Pope, Francesco. Naturally, the square went insane, Francis of Assisi is one of Italy's two patron saints.

Pope Francis

Any Pope that starts things off with a joke is good enough for me. "You know that the duty of the conclave was to give a bishop to Rome. It seems that my brother cardinals went almost to the end of the world to get him. But here we are."

Pope Francis' first words to the world

After leaving St. Peter's Square, we went to our scheduled dinner with The Catholic University of America's Provost. We were all so excited -- and exhausted, we got back to the dorms from dinner sometime after midnight.

Celebratory dinner

 The next Tuesday, March 19th, all of our classes were cancelled so we could attend Pope Francis' Inaugural Mass. We arrived at St. Peter's at 5:35am, the Pope entered the square promptly at 9. Our spots weren't as good as the ones we got for Pope Benedict's final audience, but we still got to see him.

Pope Francis (right)

"Today, together with the feast of Saint Joseph, we are celebrating the beginning of the ministry of the new Bishop of Rome, the Successor of Peter, which also involves a certain power... Let us never forget that authentic power is service, and that the Pope too, when exercising power, must enter ever more fully into that service which has its radiant culmination on the Cross. He must be inspired by the lowly, concrete and faithful service which marked Saint Joseph and, like him, he must open his arms to protect all of God’s people and embrace with tender affection the whole of humanity, especially the poorest, the weakest, the least important, those whom Matthew lists in the final judgment on love: the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick and those in prison (cf. Mt 25:31-46). Only those who serve with love are able to protect!" - Pope Francis

Beware the Ides of March

I have read more about Julius Caesar in my 4 years of Latin classes than I ever wanted to. I gotta say, it was pretty cool being in the place where Julius Caesar was cremated on the Ides of March... I can very happily put that into the book with the rest of the things I never thought I'd be able to do. It was pretty darn special. I'm just sayin'. I also went over to the place where he was stabbed. Fun fact: 23 stab wounds and only 1 was fatal, ouch.

Location of Julius Caesar's cremation