Study Abroad
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Dear families, As I write this to you, the boys are in their rooms packing for our trip home tomorrow. It's not any lack of love or devotion to all of you that makes them want to stay in Italy for another week, month, or longer. It's just the enormous attraction Italy has for those who are open to her promises. Certainly, these boys have approached Italy's compelling charms with open hearts, minds, and spirits, and it is no wonder they approach their return with both joyful anticipation and some measure of sadness. We experienced Vatican City in its fullness on Monday. We began the day at the obelisque in St. Peter's Square by meeting both an old and a new friend. The old friend was none other than Montfort '08 graduate Alessandro Marchetti who is spending his sophomore year at St. Thomas University studying at the Angelicum Pontifical Academy in Rome. Alessandro spent the whole day with us and brought his infectious love of the Church's antiquity with him. At the same time, we met up with Monsignor Barreira, a friend of Mr. Terenzio's and a brilliant and articulate church scholar. Together the twelve of us toured St. Peter's Basilica with Mons. Barreira providing the tour and unlocking for us the great treasures it holds. The highlight for many of us, of course, was Michelangelo's Pieta, an experience which is that much more meaningful as we begin Holy Week. We also had the privilege of seeing the tomb of John Paul II and the Venerable Pius XII, as well as many of the other Popes. At 11:30 we had the opportunity to take the Scavi tour, that is, a tour of the excavation of the cemetary and first basilica on which the current St. Peter's Basilica now stands. Careful archeological and historical evidence details the exact original resting place of St. Peter's martyred body. His bones remain in a crypt several stories directly below Bernini's altar in the current St. Peter's Basilica. While the church has always understood this to be the spot of St. Peter's burial, it wasn't discovered until 1939 and excavated by Pope Pius XII in the years following. Now, with the Scavi tour, we are able to peer into the actual 2000-year old crypt of St. Peter, the Rock upon which Christ build His Church. Special thanks to Alessandro Marchetti for securing this tour for us. After a very special pranzo, we toured the Vatican Museums. Again, Alessandro was a great help, along with Mr. DiFiore, in unpacking so much of the majesty of the western world's greatest art. Highlights included Raphael's "School of Athens" and "Disputation of the Eucharist" and, of course, Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling and Last Judgement. Later that night, we met with Signora Claudia Palmira, the daughter of Montfort board member Steve Acunto. Claudia lives in Rome and is editor of The Italian Journal. She gave the boys a short tutorial on journaling techniques that will certainly help them unleash their imaginations in their own Italy trip journals. Today, we went to the American military cemetery in Nettuno, near the city of Anzio. Nearly 8,000 WWII veteran's are buriend there; those that gave the last full measure for their country in during the Italy campaign from Sicily to the liberation of Rome in Fall 1944. It was a privilege to visit the last resting place of our honored dead. Our last excursion was perhaps our most treasured. When we began Holy Week on Palm Sunday, we visited the Basilica of St. Mary Majore, one of the four major basilicas in Rome. On Monday, of course, we toured St. Peter's Basilica. Today, as our last order of business in Rome, we visited both St. Paul's Outside the Walls, and St. John Lateran, the other two of the four. St. John's is also the Cathedral of Rome and, as such, is the actual home Church of the Bishop of Rome, the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI. As told to us by Monsignor Barreira, any time you visit a basilica, there is the opportunity to receive a plenary indulgence for yourself of a loved one. It requires recitation of the Creed and Our Father at the basilica, and then confession and communion shortly thereafter. We may count on the reception of great graces by these visits. I'll leave it to the boys to tell you which of these basilicas were their individual favorites. We leave for the airport at 10am tomorrow and fly from Rome to New York by way of Frankfurt at 1:25. Please keep us in your prayers. When we land at approximately 7:30 NY time, it will be 1:30am by our internal body clocks. We'll be tired, but happy to see the people we love. Blessings from Roma, Ciao, Dave Petrillo |
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