Return From Italy

Today is my first day back on campus after nearly two weeks of travel in Italy.  As always, Italy provides wonderful experiences to appreciate art, history and culture.  The members of our Ohio Dominican group enjoyed the opportunity to walk in the foot steps of the history of the Catholic Church.

Our trip had many highlights.  But as an experience of our Catholic and Dominican heritage as a University, three activities stand out.  On the first Sunday we were in Rome, we were allowed to celebrate Mass in the Clementine Chapel in St. Peter's Basilica.  The Clementine Chapel is in the crypt below the main altar of St. Peter's and is connected to the tomb of St. Peter.  St. Peter's Basilica is typically a very busy and crowded place to visit.  But early on Sunday morning, the vast Basilica was almost empty and we had the rare opportunity to worship and pray together at the heart of the Catholic Church.

In the middle of our trip, we spent part of a day in Bologna.  We were able to visit the Church of St. Dominic and pay our respects at the tomb of St. Dominic.  This Church has few visitors and we were allowed ample time to visit and to pray.  Most of the Dominican friars who live in Bologna were away at a meeting.  Our tour of the Church was led by a parishioner who only spoke Italian.  His pride in his parish Church and his devotion to St. Dominic were inspiring.

Finally, on our last full day in Venice, we were allowed to celebrate Mass in St. Mark's Basilica.  The Basilica was being closed for the day and the last group of visitors and tourists were leaving as we gathered to pray.  We were joined by a handful of people who were also visiting Venice and were in the Basilica.  As they heard our Mass begin, they asked if they could join us.  It was an extraordinary experience of the global Church.

During our time in Italy, we were privileged to visit many great cathedrals and churches and to see amazing works of art.  These are all part of our Catholic heritage.  But in the end, our faith and our shared experience of prayer are most important.