In October 2008, the class of 1983, as part of their 25th Jubilee Anniversary Year, traveled to Italy for 12 days of retreat. Here are some photos of the sights we saw...
Arriving in Uscita
Wherever
went upon our arrival in Italy, we saw the signs for "Uscita."
(Already there are snickers from those who know Italian, because "Uscita"
means "exit.") Anyway, the first thing one must do on retreat
is find "uscita" -- that is, an exit from the regular schedule
and demands of life. Going to Italy helps, becuse we're six hours ahead
of the schedule at home, so from the moment we arrived, we're already
in another time.
The language is different here -- enough of our class speaks and understands Italian so we suffered no bad effect of being in a land where English is not the first language. Yet retreat from the "normal" language is also a good way to exit nornal life. We can be more open to how God reveals God's self to us if we give up the usual way of speaking and listening.
Each day we celebrated mass together
--
here's a photo of Father Guy Sbordone who presided at our first liturgy.
We pray the Liturgy of the Hours together daily.
Letter home (printed
in St. Brigid's Bulletin, October 12, 2008)
Lost in Translation
I’m writing this from the back porch of an Umbrian farmhouse on a chilly gray morning as we begin our class’s 25th Anniversary retreat. You are probably still asleep since it’s 4am on Long Island. We arrived in Italy on Monday, got our rented cars (there are nine of us traveling together) and headed out for this place of retreat.
None of us had gone this road before and we were following directions
that had been given to us over the phone by an English-speaking member
of the family whose house we were staying in. So we knew SHE knew what
she was talking about when she told us to get on to the A-45 route to
get to Umbria, an area northeast of Rome.
The problem was that the letter “A” when pronounced in English
is pronounced “Ay” – but that when you say the sound
“Ay” in Italian, Italians mean the letter “E”.
So we really needed to find route E-45. Which (after an “adventure”
or two, we finally did.)
Three hours from Rome, we finally found the place.
This was actually a good way to begin a retreat. For when God speaks to
us, God knows what the message is, what the call is about, what direction
to send us, what challenge or comfort to offer, etc. But sometimes when
we listen in prayer, something gets lost in translation. Our life experience
so far has led us to some pre-conceived notions and we’re convinced
that “A” is “A” and have no expectations that
it really can be “E”.
My hope in these 2 weeks of retreat is that I’ll be open to the
ways of God that are beyond my own imagination and pre-conceived notions.
On the one hand, that kind of openness is scary – who knows where
it will lead? On the other hand, it’s exciting to enter into an
adventure with God, knowing I can trust God to take good care of me.
May God take good care of you too.
One More Thing....
When you read
this week’s column, you’ll note I’m writing from Italy.
As luck would have it, there IS wireless internet connection about a ten
minute walk from the place we are staying and the owner of the house has
graciously let me use the connection. As I wrote the last line of my column
(above), exactly at that moment, the gray sky brightened, the sun broke
through the clouds, the church bells rang in the distance and the man
in the house walked out to the porch with some fresh-baked, warm from
the oven pastries and a cup of morning espresso.
I tell you this, not to make you jealous, but to share this little moment
of joy in which I saw yet again, God’s grace and care. Yes, God
was indeed taking car of me on this journey.
Here are some Italian highway signs. Want to guess what they mean?
Sometimes the "signs" from God need a little interpretation
too.
Our Pilgrimage Days
Each day we made a pilgrimage to a holy place -- this area is especially influenced by St. Francis of Assisi, so many of our visits were connected to parts of his life
Arezzo
We first visited the church of San Francesco (St
Francis) where there was a series of famous paintings by the arist Piero
della Francesca around1450 -- before Columbus sailed for America! (The
wouldn't let us take photos of these pictures, so you'll just have to
come over, or check out the website.
Church of San Francesco in Arezzo
Interior of the church
The Pieve di Santa Maia in Arezzo. ("Pieve" means "parish church.")
The cross in the Pieve of Santa Maria.
A fresco of the annunciation.
Mary and the
Saints -- the polyptych behind the altar in the Pieve of Santa Maria.
(Don't know what a "polyptych" is? Google it!)
The piazza in Arezzo. Parts of the movie "Life is Beautiful" were filmed here.
These were NOT some of the actors in the movie. They are in fact my classmates.
A
really large
statue of some Roman guy in Arezzo
"Look ma, no hand! I'm not lyin (lion)"
The relics
of St. Donatus are in the golden head.
Donatus was the second bishop of Arezzo who was martyred in 304.
People have very long memories here -- especially about people they admire,
like saints.
Here is the Cathedral (or Duomo) in Arezzo.
We asked someone "What is the name of the Cathedral?"
She said...."The Cathedral!"
So now you
know. But I bet you didn't know it was started in 1278 but not finished
until 1914.
(They take really long lunch breaks in Italy.)
The sunset view from my room on our first night here.
