Subiaco

There was a man of venerable life, blessed by grace, and blessed in name, for he was called 'Benedictus'...who from his younger years, carried always the mind of an old man; for his age was inferior to his virtue.
- Life of St. Benedict by Gregory the Great

Last weekend we took a trip to Subiaco, Assisi, and Orvieto. Subiaco, for those of you who don't know, was where St. Benedict spend the first three years of his monastic life. Now there is a gorgeous monastery there, perched precariously on the side of the mountain. I was a little worried that the buses wouldn't make it up the hairpin turns, but finally we made it to the top and were rewarded with this view.

  The entire inside of the church is covered in stunning 12th century frescos in vibrant reds, blues, and golds. Because the frescoes are pre-renaissance, the figures are not particularly life-like, but I thought it was absolutely beautiful. They don't allow pictures in the church, but you can browse their website, and see all the frescoes for yourself. The upper church was probably my favorite because it depicted scenes from Christ's life and passion. Even the most illiterate person could have easily understood the Life of Christ just by looking at these frescoes.

When you first walk into the upper church your eye is immediately drawn to a huge painting showing Christ's crucifixion. Although the picture here isn't very good, you can see how busy the fresco is. Of course Christ is the focal point of the work, but he is surrounded by a mass of humanity. I don't know if you can see it, but the soldiers who are throwing dice for Christ's clothes look like Genghis Kahn, which is interesting.

The lower church is a little bit less busy than the upper, but is still very beautiful. The frescoes here show scenes from the life of St. Benedict, especially the many attempts made on his life, which makes for some pretty dramatic frescoes. The ceiling was decorated with Benedict surrounded by the Evangelists and other important figures, which shows his important place in church history.

Another really cool fresco is a painting of St. Francis of Assisi, which was actually painted during his lifetime! St. Francis actually visited Subiaco, and, as far as I can tell, really admired Benedict's monastic life. In fact, Francis grafted his own rose bush to those at Subiaco as a sign of his unity or continuation of Benedict's example. I can't find a photo of it at the moment, but it's really cool, considering that it is the first known image of the Saint.

But my favorite fresco of all is in the Our Lady's Chapel. I think this is a really sweet image, showing Mary after her ascension into Heaven. I also like how the artist used a lot of white because, although it's less vibrant than some of the paintings, it has a real sense of tranquility to it.

We also got to see Benedict's Grotto, which was super cool. I loved the cave, but I thought that the marble statue was absolutely hideous and out of place (so what if it was made by one of Bernini's students?). I kind of wish they'd just left the cave empty because the statue really detracted from the natural beauty and simplicity of the place.

After we toured the monastery, we had the chance to wander around the countryside a bit and enjoy the absolutely stunning views from the top of the mountain.

A view, I believe, over the town of Subiaco, but I could be wrong.

A Trip to the Catacombs

Before I came to Rome, I, like many people thought that there was only one Catacomb, so I felt pretty stupid, when I found out that there are over 70 (only a few have been excavated though). Last week we took a class trip to the Catacombs of St. Sebastian. It was probably the most homeschool-y thing I have ever done in college. We all walked in a pack, while someone wearing a baby-carrier lectured (our history professor). It was an absolutely lovely day to take a walk down the Appia Antiqua, and, you know, just walk where St.'s Peter and Paul walked, like we do in Rome.

Sheep on the Appia Antiqua- probably very symbolic

The Appia is about 16 Kilometers long, and we only walked a short distance, but it is crazy to think that we were walking on the same stones that the Romans laid, and that thousands of holy people and pilgrims have walked.

The Catacomb received it's name because, surprise, surprise, it's where St. Sebastian was originally buried. It was first used as a burial place around the first century A.D. Like all burial grounds from the same time, it is located outside the city walls. It is also located near what used to be a quarry because the rock is very soft at first, but hardens over time. The Romans used this stone in their concrete, apparently. Obviously the catacombs were used for Mass and other rituals during the various persecutions by the Romans, but the catacombs were not secret, as I had been led to believe. The Romans were aware of their existence, which I found interesting. Photos aren't allowed in the Catacombs, but here is a link to the website, if you are interested.

The catacomb is about 7 miles of underground tunnels, which is kind of spooky at first. They have, however, removed all the bones to prevent theft or disrespect, which I found comforting as we stumbled along in the semi-dark. The individual tombs are kind of like little shelves carved into the rock wall-short and narrow. People were obviously a whole lot smaller back then. There are also family tombs which are very deep and have a sort of arch over them.

This is where St. Sebastian's body was first laid to rest after the Romans finally managed to kill him (if you are unfamiliar with the story, see this), but there is also some speculation that Peter and Paul's bodies were also located here at one time. St. Sebastian's body is no longer within the catacombs, but has been relocated to the magnificent church built over it.

I don't have any good pictures of the inside of the church because I felt irreverent snapping photos in a church, but I kind of wish I had because their are a lot of cool things inside. Not only in there the tomb of St. Sebastian, complete with a life-size marble statue pierced with cold arrows, but there is one of his arrows, as well as plaster casts of what are believed to be the footprints of Christ. The church also houses Bernini's final work- an enormous, white marble bust of Christ, created in, I believe, 1679. While this is, of course, an amazing work of art. I think it is totally eclipsed by the fact that there are so many relics in close proximity. Who cares about  a statue when Jesus' own footprints are only a few feet away (no pun intended)?

I also thought that it seemed a little bizarre to make a bust of Christ. I always associate busts with great philosophers and politicians, but not necessarily with Jesus. Are there a lot of works like this one? I'm really interested, so if anyone knows please comment and enlighten me.

St. Peter's (because one can't go enough)

I feel like an utter jerk, not posting about all the amazing adventures I've been having here in the Eternal City, but I've just been soaking it in. Everything here is so amazingly beautiful. On Wednesday, for example, we went into Rome in a really nasty hail storm, but it soon dried up, and we found ourselves admiring this view:

If you've never been to the Cupola of St. Peter's, you absolutely must go. Of course, there are a million and one tiny passages and stairs to go up to reach the cupola, but the view is simply stunning. We went into the dome too, and while it was beautiful, it didn't even compare to this breathtaking view of Rome. 

The big, white building is a monument to Vittorio Emmanule. 

While we were up there, we had a "small world" moment because my friend, Amy, met a very nice Jewish man from New York State, who now lives in Israel, but is well acquainted with her hometown. Who'da thunk it? 

The inside of the dome was also gorgeous. We had a great view of all of the mosaics on the walls. All those intricate designs inside the dome are mosaics! Thousands upon thousands of tiny little pieces are carefully placed to make up all the angels and saints that line the dome. 

We also had a great view of the main altar and the baldacchino. I always thought that the baldacchino was wood, but it's actually twenty-nine meters of pure bronze, designed by Bernini.  In case you wanted to know, they also store a large aluminium ladder on top of the baldacchino.

From our perch we could also see the mass where we had mass last Sunday, which was pretty cool.
My favorite view from the dome was, however, the window behind the main altar. It's an image of the Holy Spirit in vibrant golds and reds. I wasn't able to get a great photo of it, but I think my slightly fuzzy ones are rather good.