Crucifix in the Pantheon

Crucifix in the Pantheon, originally uploaded by cssrome.

We saw the Pantheon, originally built as a temple to the Roman gods, then taken over as a Christian church; one of the oldest buildings in Rome. This crucifix hangs in a niche beside the altar.

New Year's Eve Vespers

The Catholic faith has Liturgy of the Hours, which has two main "hinges" of prayer, morning and evening. Morning prayer is called lauds and evening prayer is called vespers. Both of these prayers are done on a daily basis becuase they are felt to be important. Basil the Great said that we celebrate evening prayer so that "we may give thanks for what has been given to us or what we have done well during the day."

On New Year's Eve, St. Peter's in the Vatican was having vespers facilitated by Pope Benedict. Along with a couple other people, I attended in hopes to catch a glimpse of the Pope. It was interesting to be present there, since everything is done in Latin. It lasted about an hour and consisted of mostly prayers and singing. On his procession out, the Pope fixated on a small girl about two people away from me. He went up and blessed the child and was within an arms reach of me! It was unbelievable! The little girls parents were so moved that they were crying. I feel so honored to at least have been that close to the Pope. This is definatly an experience I will never forget!

Kelsey M

Arrived! And Learning in Rome

We arrived yesterday, and are well settled into our rooms at Domus Carmelletani. So far, we have not had good luck gaining Internet access. This computer - the only one in the house - will not let us upload our photos. So you will have to make do with our descriptions.

The Illume agent met us at the airport, and we sailed through customs. The weather here is amazingly warm, and we saw date palms everywhere. The Domus is near the Vatican (walking distance) and the Tiber. A religious house of Carmelites, it is now run as a simple hotel. The rooms are clean, comfortable, each with its own bathroom and TV - but clearly remade cells, none very large. Mine has an excellent view of Castel Sant'Angelo, about one block away.

We were served a "simple" Italian supper: an appetizer course of cheese, an eggplant salad, and toast with an asparagus pate spread. This was followed by a pasta course - beautiful al dente rigatone with a delicate tomato sauce. The main course, veal lightly breaded with cauliflower, was accompanied by a salad. Dessert (!) was fruit. If this is simple, imagine a complex meal!

Today, we went to the only English-language Mass in Rome, in a 17th century Jesuit chapel. Fr. Jim Hentges, CSC, gave us a brief tour of the chapel, then took us to the Church of St.Catherine over Minerva (the church of St. Catherine of Siena, where she is buried, was built over a temple to the goddess Minerva), the Pantheon, and a glorious public piazza filled with food and trinket and gift stands.

In Italy, the season from December 8 until Epiphany on January 6 is celebrated as one long holiday. Tonight, the New Year will be greeted. Already, the streets are being closed off as the restaurants set out tables for the feasts that will take place.

We wish you all the best and happiest in the year 2007!
(Sister Edith)

In Flight: Chicago to Munich, and past the Alps

After our long layover in Chicago, we were ready and eager to go. Finally! Europe! The flight was large, so there was plenty of time to snap pictures around the cabin after we got settled. Even to catch each other in the process of boarding.

We have a Flickr! account - a few random photos show up in the sidebar to the right. To see more of our photos, click on the Flickr! badge. We'll keep uploading as we go, and sharing our best shots.

Our flight took us over Boston, up the coast towards Bangor ME and and St. John's, Newfoundland - then across the Atlantic. United Airlines now has an in-flight map in the chairback video screens. We could watch our progress across Europe, track how many miles we had flown, and read how far and how long it was until our landing.

Our route across Europe skirted the boundary of Switzerland. Night had passed and the sun was rising on the Alps. One of our students had the bright idea of capturing some photos of the mountains. Through the wonders of digital cameras and the application of Photoshop Elements, our travelogue includes aerial photography of the alps.

Next stop: Rome!
(Sr. Edith)

one step closer

We successfully made it to Chicago, and now have a looong layover to deal with. Congratulations are due to those travelers among us who successfully survived their first plane ride, problem-free! The anticipation is definitely growing, especially since we just got our final itineraries to look over as we wait. So much amazing stuff awaits us.. only 21 more hours of travel..

We're Off!

The official first leg of our pilgrimage together began with our 12:30 p.m. flight from Minneapolis to Chicago. With no set plan, we converged on our gate at the airport, and were glad to find other familiar faces.

For those of us in Duluth, the pilgrimage began quite a bit earlier - and provided the occasion for fervent prayer. A soft rain fell throughout the night and froze, smooth and slick, on all the roadways in the city. Drivers crept along, carefully keeping their distance; a few cars had already hit the ditch. The 150-mile drive to the airport took us through snow and fog. No wonder we were happy to see each other when we arrived at the gate.

After an uneventful first flight, we're stretching our limbs for the next leg: a 9-hour flight to Munich leaving around 6 p.m. With the seven hour time zone shift, it will be full daylight when we arrive. We have a few hours here in Chicago, time to explore (especially for those who have never flown before) and work out the kinks.

For the students, this is part of the holiday side of the course, but blogmasters and professors keep on working. The 20 students in the course have already written several papers, considering particular works of art which we will see in Rome. Those papers don't grade themselves, so the layover is work time as well.

Look for us again, further along the road.

Thursday as the sun sets ...

See you at the airport; don't forget your toothbrushes!

Subscribing to CSS in Rome

We heard from some soon-to-be loyal readers that they were not receiving any e-mail. The subscription process takes two steps:
* one to subscribe (typing in your e-mail address at right)
* one to verify that you intended to subscribe, by clicking on a link in a message sent after you typed your e-mail.

If you have not done the second step, you won't receive e-mail notices about new postings. (Several folks are listed in that pending status right now.)

CSS Subscribers: The Barracuda spam firewall will snap up the confirmation message. Look in your spam box (online) for a message sent by Feedblitz. You will want to whitelist Feedblitz because that is the source of the daily e-mails.

This seems complex - but it prevents pranksters from signing you up to receive blogs you would not want, and spam merchants from flooding you with commercial blogs.

The Pope Speaks to Rome's University Students

Excerpts from Pope Benedict's visit for Christmas with the students of Rome's universities:

I know that for many of you, university students of Rome, it is now a custom ... to go on a special pilgrimage to Assisi, and that many of you took part in the recent one.

Well, were not St Francis and St Clare both "conquered" by the Eucharistic Mystery? In the Eucharist they experienced the love of God, that same love which, in the Incarnation, impelled the Creator of the world to make himself little, indeed, the smallest one and the servant of all.

Dear young people, as you prepare for Holy Christmas, may you nourish the same sentiments as these great Saints, so beloved by the Italian People. Like them, fix your gaze on the Child wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger (cf. Lk 2:7,12,16).

Learn from the Virgin Mary, the first person to contemplate the humanity of the Incarnate Word, the humanity of Divine Wisdom. In the Baby Jesus, with whom she had infinite and silent conversations, she recognized the human Face of God, so that the mysterious Wisdom of the Son was impressed on the Mother's mind and heart.

So it was that Mary became the "Seat of Wisdom", and with this title is venerated in particular by the Roman Academic Community.

Let the countdown begin

Hi everyone! My name is Angie Johnson and I'm very excited to report that our group will be arriving in Rome on Saturday! As a senior English and communication major at St. Scholastica, I feel that this trip to Rome will be a great learning experience and a much-needed vacation! Many of my friends are also in Father Graham's Christian Faith in Art class, and we can't stop talking about how much fun we're going to have.

This trip is going to be a great opportunity for me. Unless you count Thunder Bay, Canada, I've never been out of the country. I've always wanted to travel to Europe but never thought it was possible, so going to Rome in a few days is amazing! I can't wait to immerse myself in the history, culture and faith of Italy; all of the studying we've done up to this point cannot replace the actual experience of being there and seeing it for ourselves. All the places and people we've talked about do not seem quite real yet. My only regret will be not being able to stay longer and see more of Italy and Europe. But some day I will. I can't wait to toss a coin in the Trevi Fountain -- legend has it that anyone who tosses a coin in this fountain will one day return to Rome, the "Eternal City."

Greetings from Illume

The team at Illume wishes students traveling to Rome an enriching experience! We thank Fr. Graham and other leaders at the College of St. Scholastica for entrusting the arrangements for this journey to us. Travel to places of historical and religious importance inspires participants to personal transformation as they visit places where visionary men and women made history.

We know that you will return home as different people with new perspectives. We hope that you will begin to see yourselves as citizens of the world, leading compassionate and caring lives, preserving our common heritage for yours and future generations!

Buon viaggio!

The Illume Team.

Hello!

Happy Holidays everyone!! My name is Kelsey and I am fortunate enough to be traveling on this wonderful trip! I am a senior at CSS, and will be graduating in a year with a double major in Business Management and Organizational Behavior.

I am really looking forward to this trip!! My mom, Jan, will be traveling with us. I have already been to Europe once, spring break of my junior year of high school. We spent three days in Rome and then a week and a half seeing all of France. My mom has never been to Europe, so we are spending some extra time over there! We are flying out Christmas about 9 pm for Paris and then will meet the class in Rome. After the class is done, we will see a few more cities in Italy before we travel to Zürich, Switzerland.

I can't wait to see everything at the Vatican again!! It is all so beautiful! The symbolism is amazing and everything is done with such detail!! I look forward to experiencing new, interesting things and then sharing it with you!

Preparing for Rome: Electrical Appliances

I'm in charge of taking a laptop computer along, so that we can keep up this blog. The wonderful folks in our IT Dept assured me that this laptop was able to adapt automatically to Italy's electrical system, but I'd need adapters for the plugs.

I believe the IT Dept, truly I do. But I wanted some independent verification, too. The information at About.com made me feel quite secure about the laptop.

It also made me hope that none of us are planning to bring hair dryers, especially without a power converter. The story of the unintended candlelight dinner is sobering.

Here's the link to advice on using power appliances oversease.
(Sr Edith)

Hello!

Hello All, My name is Mao Vang! Only one more week til Rome! I am a sophmore majoring in nursing. I have been waiting for this moment to come to get out of class and go on the trip. I am getting so nervous because I don't know what to pack and just how everything is going to be like over in Rome. After all the researches that we have been doing in class has really made me anxious to go. Man, is this cool or what, going to Rome for break! I have never been out of the country so going to Rome will have to be the best first time out of the country experience. As for the classmates that I am going with, I can't wait to hang out and chill with them. In one week we will be on our way so get ready Rome here we come!!!!

In Rome Now: Crossing the Street

[A new link has been added: In Rome Now, with lots of information about galleries, events, shopping - and SURVIVAL. The following somewhat daunting post comes from the Survival Guide.

We're sure that your mother taught you how to cross the street: wait for the green light, look both ways, that sort of thing. This course of instruction will prove perilously inadequate in the center of Rome.

Let’s say you are standing at the crosswalk on the Corso Vittorio Emanuele II at eleven o’clock on a weekday morning, You look both ways. At eleven o’clock on a weekday morning, the traffic flows heavily on the Corso from both directions. So you wait for a break in the traffic. At eleven o’clock on that same weekday evening, you may find yourself still standing at the same crosswalk, hoping that the traffic will eventually break.

For the novice Rome pedestrian, a better course of action is to wait for a native. Natives cross the street without waiting, and often without looking right-left-right to see what’s about to smash them. They enter the crosswalk in the firm belief that the drivers of the approaching vehicles are in no mood to commit manslaughter. Miraculously, the Red Sea of traffic parts and the native pedestrian almost always makes it safely to the opposite curb.

Protect yourself with such a pedestrian. Cross right along with him or her, preferably to his or her right so that the odd murderous driver will hit him or her first, thus buffering the impact on your own body. Should you be fortunate enough to come across a traffic light, do not rely on the green walk signal. This generally is timed to last two seconds or less, followed by a longer amber warning signal. Cross on amber or you may never cross at all.

New Year's Eve

Since so many people are looking forward to New Year's Eve, here's something to look at: New Year's Celebrations and Events in Italy

Vatican Museums Evangelize with Art

The Vatican Museums have the following inscription placed on the main door: "Ad augendum Urbis splendorem et asserendam religionis veritatem" (To promote the splendor of the city of Rome and affirm the truth of the Christian religion). Closing the year-long celebration of the 500th anniversary of the Vatican Museums - one of the first places we will visit - Pope Benedict XVI reaffirmed this view.

Museums -- though keeping in mind the changed social conditions -- can become places of artistic mediation, links of relationship between the past, the present and the future, crossroads of men and women of several continents, in addition to sources of research and forges of cultural and spiritual enrichment.

Remarking on the "enormous number of people who visit them each day" (which is why we are scheduled to arrive very early so as not to stand in line forever), the Pope said that,

through the different works exhibited, [the museums] offer visitors an eloquent testimony of the continuous intertwining that exists between the divine and human in life and in the history of nations.

We do not usually think of art and museums as sources of evangelization -- yet our pilgrimage and opportunity for reflection may achieve exactly that effect.

Almost there......

Hello! My name is Brynn Weikleenget! I just got done with my last final :), and now I am getting ready to start break! I just started making a list of things I need to bring and I registered my passport. I CANT WAIT to get on the plane and head on our way. This is the most exciting I've ever prepared for and I know it will be a very wonderful experience! Last semester I took a class in Baroque art history and a lot of the things I learned about I will get to see. I never thought while I was taking that class that I would have the oppurtunity to actually see some of it first hand! AWESOME! Taking this class also has taught me a lot more specific things and I just think it is great! I'm nervous, yet extremely excited. I hope I get a lot out of the trip, as I am sure I will!!!!

Only 11 more days!!

Hi Everyone!!
My name is Kayla York and I am a sophomore BioChemistry major and I am extremely excited to be going to Rome!!! This will be my second trip to Rome but this time I hope to explore more on my own (i.e. get lost) and have fun bringing in the New Year in another country. I am also very excited to see the Piazza Navona and people watch! I think this trip will be a wonderful experience since we have already done some research on where we are going so we are more informed than the average tourist. I can't believe there is only 11 more days til take-off!

E-mail Option

There's something new in the sidebar - an option to subscribe and have links to new blog items sent to you by e-mail.

How it works: Subscribers will get one e-mail per day, with links for any new postings on the site.

CSS Rome-ers: This may help your family and friends stay up to date with our travels and reflections in Italy.

Hello!

My name is Emily Machones. I am a sophomore nursing major from Duluth, Minnesota. I am very excited for our trip to Italy! The thought of packing seems to be the most stressful piece of this whole trip. Hopefully it will remain to be the most stressful even after we arrive. I am glad we've been given good sources to research the places we'll be going. I'm excited to see things up close that most people only see in pictures. I think the historical aspect is also amazing. To think about who was there and what was happening at any certain place hundreds of years ago is awesome. I am looking forward to walking around and doing exploring during our free time to really get a different cultural experience and some use out of my passport!

Hello All!

Hi I'm Kelsey Olson. I'm a sophomore this year, nursing major, and it seems like the wait to get to Rome has been forever! Fr. Graham originally tried to get people to go at the end of last year, so my anticipation has definately built up. I don't think that there is a cooler way to meet your Religion requirement for St. Scholastica than this! This will be my first time to Europe. My mom is also tagging along (just like she did when my sister went to Germany...) so everyone will get to know her too. The most exciting part of all of this is probably just how old everything is there compared to here; I thought my 100-year-old house was ancient!! I also look forward to getting to know my fellow travelers and to getting to the tropical Italian weather - it's going to be above freezing!

Way Too Excited...

I'm Donna Ceglar, a senior Biology major/Psychology and Chemistry minor, and I can't even describe how excited I am to be traveling to Italy! Like Sandi, I've been attempting to take this course since my freshman year, so I am just ecstatic that it has finally all worked out. It's my first time going to a foreign country (because Canada just doesn't count when you grew up only an hour away). I really can't pick just one thing that I'm looking forward to, because it's all so intriguing. I think just the fact that we'll be visiting such an ancient place is neat! I've had friends travel in Europe and they have all said that imagining how incredibly OLD and full of history all these places are (i.e. the Colosseum) is absolutely mind-blowing while you're standing right inside of them. I'm also looking forward to ringing in the New Year in Rome! Seriously, who could think of a better place to celebrate? It will be one last hurrah before I have to hit the books hard in med school next year. I look forward to regaling you all with stories of our adventures!

Anticipating Rome

My name is Sandra Riggs and I am a senior majoring in biology pre-medicine and minoring in chemistry and psychology. I have always wanted to travel to Italy and when I heard about this opportunity I jumped at the chance. Actually, I was originally going to go on this trip as a freshmen, then a sophomore, then a junior......but I'm finally taking it now. Next fall I will begin medical school and really want to do some traveling before then. I am excited to see/do everything on the agenda in Italy and then some! I love the fact that about half of the main Cable staff is going since we travel in packs because we cannot function independently. I will do my best to stay hydrated and to be ok with the fact I will not be wearing my usual heels for two weeks. Hopefully I will not order cow intestines for dinner or get pick-pocketed or lost. I have a feeling New Year's will be a little more exciting in Rome than watching the big ball drop in New York on T.V. in my parent's basement in the middle of no-where-land, MN. I can't wait!

Another introduction . . .

Hello all,

My name is Ada and I am a senior English and Communication major. This will be my fourth journey across "the big pond": I have been to London specifically twice and studied abroad in Ireland during my sophomore year, which included excursions to England, Paris and Germany. I have always wanted to travel to Italy and am very excited for our impending journey. Although I tried to learn Italian during my elementary school years -- probably because my mom is a piano teacher and most of the terminology for music is in Italian -- but I ended up with a crude understanding of French, so I'm a little nervous about the language issues. Hopefully, I'll pick up a few Italian phrases before departure and while I'm over there, the Italian people will be sympathetic. I'm especially excited to see Florence, but think all of the trip should interesting and enjoyable. Ciao!

Breaking News - Tomb of Saint Paul

News reports say that a group of archeologists who have been excavating a crypt - long hidden by an altar - at the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls have concluded that the sarcophagus they found does indeed contain the remains of Saint Paul.

For the past three years, archaeologists have been excavating underneath the altar to remove two huge slabs of marble and now, for the first time in almost 1,700 years, the sarcophagus of St Paul is on public view.

Saint Paul, one of the earliest believers, is known to have traveled widely on missionary journeys both through his own letters - which make up the largest number of books in the New Testament - and through the story of his travels recorded in the book of Acts. His last letters were written from Rome, where he is said to have been beheaded in AD 65 by the Roman emperor Nero.

His sarcophagus will be on public view for the foreseeable future but the church is yet to rule out the possibility that one day the interior itself will be opened and examined.

And to continue the introductions

Hello all,
My name is Amanda Barras, but I've developed the nickname Rookie and probably won't answer to Amanda anymore. I'm a sophomore double majoring in Ojibwe Language and Culture and Elementary Education with an emphasis in mathematics. I transferred last semester from Minnesota State University Moorhead.
One thing I am looking forward to once I get to Rome is getting lost. I know its going to happen! I can't follow maps. I'll get seperated from the group because I get easily distracted. I will probably wonder off to look at something or listen to someone talking in Italian. I can't retrace my steps because I won't remember how I got where I am. But don't worry, I'm taking steps to prepare myself for this/these experience(s). I'll get a card from the hotel, take lots of pictures to help retrace my steps, and I've already got the phrase "Mi sono perso" down (that translates to "I'm lost"). This experience is one that I will never forget and I'm not going to let a few misguided adventures (getting lost) get in the way of enjoying Rome, Assissi, and Florence!

A little intro....

Hey! My name is Kristina Kelleher, but I've adopted "Nina" throughout my years. I am a sophomore at St. Scholastica studying Biology, emphasis in Forensic Science. I have only been to three of the States in my life (I know, pretty sad, huh?), and I have NEVER once been on a plane. So this will be a big leap for me as well.
One thing I am most looking forward to is seeing the Sistine Chapel. In all of my life, I never thought I would be actually seeing it up close. It will be extraordinary to be able to look up and see those famous images right in front of me! I have heard it is requested of all visitors to be silent; one of my high school teachers who has traveled to Rome many times told me about her experience there. She said there were people walking and talking in loud voices the whole time. I hope that doesn't happen to us!
One thing I am most looking forward to that isn't part of the itinerary is people watching. It's fun to do anywhere, but even more fun when you are learning a culture! I can wait to grab a small snack and just sit! Will write again soon! Nina K.

Introduction time......

Greetings! My name is Samarah Zimm and I am currently a sophmore at CSS. I am a native to the Duluth area and this will be my first time traveling overseas!!! I am very excited for what lies in store for all of us in Rome. We have been doing some research on the areas we will be going and it has made me even more enthusiastic about what we are doing! I hadnt realized what a huge help it will be to us to know exactly what we are looking for, which many travelers dont. This trip will, I am sure, prove to be a once in a life time experience that will teach me a lot and that I am sure to never forget. Ciao!

Team Members

CSS in Rome will be a team blog, with posts provided by all the students studying Christian Faith in Art this semester. In the next week or so, we will begin to introduce ourselves and describe something about our plans for this trip.

Blogmasters go first. I'm a Benedictine sister, a member of Saint Scholastica Monastery, who teaches sociology and statistics at our college. This will be my first trip to Rome, and my first trip to Europe in a very long time. (I spent a summer studying at the Sorbonne in Paris when I was in college, in the last millennium.)

I am most looking forward to our visit to Subiaco, where Saint Benedict, the founder of our order, lived in a cave in the first fervor of his religious journey. Other sisters who have been to Rome say that their visit to the Sacro Speco was the most memorable of their experiences. (See the link to Subiaco in the sidebar for pictures.)

Getting Ready for Rome

Here in Duluth, we are preparing for the crunch at the end of the semester. It's hard to believe that, less than 4 weeks from now, our flight will take off from Minneapolis for a 10-day study tour in Rome and environs. Our itinerary will take us to several locations in Rome; to Subiaco where St. Benedict began his life of prayer while living in a cave; to Assisi, where St. Francis renewed religious life with his emphasis on simplicity; and to the art-haven of Florence. (The Locations links in the sidebar are just a preview.)

All of our arrangements have been handled by the staff at Illume. They have arranged for us to stay in religious guesthouses. Along with Sharon LaTour here at CSS, they have handled most of the headaches - hats off!