There's no place like Rome
by Lital Shair
Features | 3/18/08
Posted online at 11:03 PM EST on 3/17/08
/ Last updated at 3:42 AM EST on 3/17/08
Burns said the experience was comforting in that she could share her feelings of awe and inspiration with fellow members of the Catholic community.
"To be able to share that [powerful experience] with people who also feel the same way, share my religion and are practicing Catholics, definitely makes a difference," Burns said.
The trip offered some students a new setting in which to bond with students, as well as the opportunity to get closer to members of the Catholic community who they usually only see at Sunday mass at Brandeis.
"One hour a week is really hard to build good relationships," Sapowicz said. As a religious minority at Brandeis, traveling to Rome helped students "build a network" to discuss their connections to Catholicism.
This week-long tour wasn't limited to religious sites. The group visited the town of Assisi, known as the birthplace of St. Francis, founder of the Franciscan religious order. Inside the walls of this small city, which is in the mountains two hours north of Rome, students experienced the quiet and peaceful side of Italy.
Exploring Assisi "was nice because that was very much the other part of Italy," as opposed to the busy city of Rome and Vatican City, said Sapowicz. "You don't see many walled-in little cities in the States," she said.
After visiting St. Francis' Basilica and the town's many historical churches and landmarks, Cotter said the group enjoyed climbing around in the medieval castles in the city, from which they could see an amazing view of the countryside.
Students remember the historic artwork they saw in Assisi and throughout Rome as beautiful and inspirational.
"Everywhere you looked in these places," Fullerton said, "was just the most unbelievable art."
Inside St. Peter's Basilica, "We got to see the Pietá," Fullerton recalls. Walking around Rome, students met daily at the Parthenon and saw the Coliseum and the Roman Forum.
There was "just unbelievable history" compared to anything in the United States, Fullerton said. In particular, he remembers walking on stones at the Roman forum, where people have been walking for a thousand years.
"To be able to share that [powerful experience] with people who also feel the same way, share my religion and are practicing Catholics, definitely makes a difference," Burns said.
The trip offered some students a new setting in which to bond with students, as well as the opportunity to get closer to members of the Catholic community who they usually only see at Sunday mass at Brandeis.
"One hour a week is really hard to build good relationships," Sapowicz said. As a religious minority at Brandeis, traveling to Rome helped students "build a network" to discuss their connections to Catholicism.
This week-long tour wasn't limited to religious sites. The group visited the town of Assisi, known as the birthplace of St. Francis, founder of the Franciscan religious order. Inside the walls of this small city, which is in the mountains two hours north of Rome, students experienced the quiet and peaceful side of Italy.
Exploring Assisi "was nice because that was very much the other part of Italy," as opposed to the busy city of Rome and Vatican City, said Sapowicz. "You don't see many walled-in little cities in the States," she said.
After visiting St. Francis' Basilica and the town's many historical churches and landmarks, Cotter said the group enjoyed climbing around in the medieval castles in the city, from which they could see an amazing view of the countryside.
Students remember the historic artwork they saw in Assisi and throughout Rome as beautiful and inspirational.
"Everywhere you looked in these places," Fullerton said, "was just the most unbelievable art."
Inside St. Peter's Basilica, "We got to see the Pietá," Fullerton recalls. Walking around Rome, students met daily at the Parthenon and saw the Coliseum and the Roman Forum.
There was "just unbelievable history" compared to anything in the United States, Fullerton said. In particular, he remembers walking on stones at the Roman forum, where people have been walking for a thousand years.
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