First Week Recap

It's already fairly late here in Rome, and I have a busy day ahead of me tomorrow but I did want to offer a quick recap of the past week's events and put up a few photos of some of the sights we were privileged enough to see. The number of New Men that arrive early for language study has apparently more than quadrupled in the past several years, and thus the week preceding the beginning of the language programs (the week we're now wrapping up) has also developed accordingly. The orientation team and staff here at the NAC did a great job of both helping us get to know the others in our class (there's now 40 of us here with some 20+ still to arrive in August) and taking us out to see some sights of the city that might be of interest, both historically and also spiritually.

After arriving and getting situated, most of us were too exhausted to do anything substantial on Monday. Following some paperwork for the Italian government Tuesday morning, we headed to the Basilica of Saint Lawrence Outside the Walls in the afternoon to visit one of the more important churches in Rome and one of its seven pilgrim churches. St. Lawrence was one of the first seven deacons of the Church in Rome and was put in charge of the administration of Church property and keeping its records. When the emperor Valerian, hoping to quash the young religion, asked Lawrence to give him the treasures of the Church, Lawrence is said to have returned a day later with all of the sick, lame, and orphaned that he could find and declared, "These are the treasures of the church!" Valerian, of course, did not take kindly to this bit of spiritual wisdom and ordered the deacon to be roasted alive. Lawrence nonetheless kept his sense of humor about him for tradition says that he advised his executioner, "You may turn me over, I'm done on this side." No joke, he's still the patron saint of chefs. Built on the site of Lawrence's tomb, the basilica also is the final resting place of St. Stephen, another deacon and the first martyr for the faith. Pope St. Hilarius is also interred there as is Pope Pius IX, the longest-serving pope in history and the founder of the North American College. The basilica was one of the more popular pilgrimage sites throughout the late empire and into the middle ages.

Basilica of St. Lawrence Outside the Walls

Wednesday saw us taking a bus across town to the Catacombs of Priscilla, probably the best catacombs for visiting purposes in the city. Although Rome has over 60 excavated catacombs, only five are open for public viewing. The Catacombs of Priscilla were originally dug in land owned by Priscilla, a Christian noblewoman of late first-century Rome and eventual martyr by the emperor Domitian. The catacombs have three levels, with each about 20 feet below the level (or ground level) above it. Several of the frescoes of the more significant tombs and chambers remain in quite good condition, including what is believed to be the earliest extant image of the Virgin Mary. After visiting the catacombs, we were able to also celebrate Mass in the basilica church of the catacombs, accessible both in ancient and modern times only by passing through the catacombs themselves. This served as a symbol of both the progression from death into new life and also as a reminder of the price of faith.

Castello Odescalchi-Orsini in Bracciano

On Thursday, I and several of my classmates took a train to Bracciano, a small town northwest of Rome, known for the particularly well-preserved medieval castle that dominates the town and for the picturesque lake beneath it. Rather than venture down to the lake, I decided to take a tour of the castle and stroll around the medieval section of the city. Most likely originally built in the 8th or 9th century, the castle that survives today was built in the late 15th century as a home of the Orsini, one of the most powerful families in Italy throughout the Renaissance period, and later sold in the late 17th century to the Odescalchi family, who still own it to this day. When not being used as a haven against raiding nations, the castle was often the site of large celebrations and even housed a pope or two when Rome was ravaged by disease. In recent years, it was the site of the wedding of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. More interestingly, to me, it also housed the trap by which Isabella de' Medici, wife of Paolo Giordano Orsini, the Grand Duke of Tuscany, would kill her lovers after bedding them. When Orsini found out about this, he strangled her. The ghost of Isabella is still said to sometimes haunt the halls of the castle.

A view of Lago di Bracciano from the Castello

On Friday, we remained in Rome and visited two other famous churches. The first of these was the Basilica of St. Clement, a church built on the tomb of Pope St. Clement I and located not far from the Colosseum. The present 11th century church is actually built on top of a 4th century church, which in turn is built on top of a 1st century house church, all three of which are available for public touring. The apostle St. James the Greater and St. Ignatius of Antioch (with Clement, one of the Apostolic Fathers) are also said to have been interred here for some time, according to tradition, although their relics have now been moved. Directly across the alley from the house church, and also under the current basilica, is the best preserved Mithraic temple in the world. Mithraism, although secretive and elitist, nonetheless had important influence in the first few centuries AD for it attracted many of the higher ranking government officials, including several emperors, and used much of the same symbolism as Christianity. The proximity of the Mithraeum to the Christian house church is surprising to say the least.

The second church we visited Friday was Saint Mary in Trastevere, one of the oldest churches in Rome and probably the first public place that Mass was celebrated in the city if not in the entire empire. In the early 3rd century, a dispute broke out between Christians that wanted to use the spot as a house church and the owners of a tavern that wanted to cater to Roman soldiers stationed in the area. The emperor of the time, Severus, decided to allow illegal Christian worship rather than the debauchery sure to follow from the patronage of soldiers at the tavern. The iconography of the church is quite famous, especially the mosaic on the front façade of the Madonna and the child Jesus.

Finally, today we left Rome again, this time to visit the town of Orvieto in Umbria, famously located atop a rocky outcropping reinforced by a wall made from the volcanic tuff stone of the region. Known by the Romans as "Urbs Vetus," Orvieto predates the founding of Rome by nearly two hundred years and was originally a major Etruscan city, most likely named Velzna. The city was famous for its geographical and topographical features, and after the construction of a 16th century well allowed endless access to water, the already formidable city became virtually impenetrable. In 1263, Pope Urban VIII investigated claims of a Eucharistic miracle at nearby Bolsena and consequently issued a papal bull declaring the Feast of Corpus Christi a feast of the entire Latin church. The corporal purportedly stained with the blood from the host is housed in a side chapel of the Duomo in Orvieto, and we were privileged enough to celebrate Mass there. The Duomo itself is incredible; much of its grandeur was done in response to the great flocks of pilgrims that came to see the Corporal of Bolsena. Next to the Duomo is the Palace of the Popes, where Pope Clement VII fled when Rome was being sacked by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in 1527. Interestingly, it was from that palace in Orvieto that Clement VII first rejected King Henry VIII of England's request for an annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon.

The Duomo of Orvieto

All in all, it was a very enjoyable week, and probably the first week of vacation and relaxation (and not packing and running around crazy) that many of us have enjoyed in a while. Tomorrow we take our separate paths to language school. Another bloke and I will take the train to Milan and then on to Verbania, where we'll begin our month of Italian studies and general language immersion Monday morning. Keep me in thought and prayer because I think I'm going to need it! More from the Piedmont region of Italy next time.