Bengals In the Footsteps of St. Benedict of Nursia

Our flight has been delayed in Zurich about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Be sure to check flight status and give us time to get through security before heading to airport. We’ll stay with the students until you pick them up from O hare. Ciao!

We are checked in and ready to journey home. We said a prayer for a safe journey home and said goodbye to our Italian friend, Fabi! We will be boarding our flight to Zurich soon before connecting to our final flight. See everyone soon.

It is a quiet tradition to have a nice dinner on the last night and recognize the gifts and talents that each member brings to the trip to make the trip successful and positive for all. Ms Deady and Mrs. Hybinette started the ceremony. Then we took a moment to thank the teachers, Ms. Deady and Mrs. Hybinette, our pastor Father Steve, Mr Accardi and our tour guide Fabi! It was a nice way to end the trip.

Ciao, Firenze! Today was our last day in Italy and we sure made the most of it, putting in over 22,000 steps according to most people’s smart phones. We started our morning early at Galleria dell Accademia to see Michangelo’s David. Yes, the work is certainly amazing. We then walked to the market for a bite to eat and do some shopping. We ran into Anna, an alumnus of our grade school, who is currently studying in Florence. Father Steve led us in prayer at the Cathedral, Santa Maria Del Fiore.  We walked to the leather market and then crossed the famous bridge, Ponte Vecchio, and headed to our last Mass at Basilica dello Santo Spirito. We then took a long leisurely stroll up the Florence hillside together to get a good view of the beautiful city from up high before boarding our 4 hour bus ride to Rome. We are exhausted physically, but inspired spiritually- certainly as St. Benedict would desire for us.

Today we took a high speed train from Florence to Venice and explored this unique city. Venice was built in a lagoon because it’s original inhabitants were searching for safety and security. They built a city with no roads, only boat canals.  Venice is home to many Catholic Churches including St Mark’s Basilica which took over 100 years to build and was completed in 1092. Today Venice is know for its Murano glass, leather goods, and many universities that specialize in the arts. Oh, and don’t forget the gondola rides!

We visited the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi. We learned that the Franciscans do not take a vow of    stability like Benedictine Monks. They are a religious fraternity(brotherhood) , not monastic, thus the term friars. One interesting note about St. Francis that we learned today is that he didn’t want to die in the Bishop’s house, but outside the town wall near the little church he had found years earlier wandering in the woods. This little church was dedicated to the Holy Mother and he restored it. When it came time for Francis to die, they carried him in the valley to die outside the little church now named St. Mary of the Angels. His last words were for all who visit this little church to be blessed with God’s peace.  Today we paid respect to St Francis at his tomb, said prayers for the Holy Father, and was offered the opportunityu to go to confession in the hopes of forgiveness from all previous sins.  Lo

Around 529 AD, Benedict of Nursia, who disliked the way of life in Rome, wanted to start a new way to live that honored God in a more faithful way. He built his monastery on the ruins of an old temple dedicated to Apollo. Legend has it he kept a table from the old temple to use it for his worship.  Once established at Monte Cassino, Benedict never left. He wrote the Rule of St Benedict that became the founding principle for Western monasticism, lived there and trained other monks and eventually died there.  Over the centuries, the monastery was attacked 4 times, the last time during WWII. It’s a miracle that while 90% of the Abbey was destroyed, some key places of the monastery remained intact: his tomb, Scholastica’s tomb, a big statue of St Benedict, and more. The Abbey was rebuilt in the same design with the same materials as they used before.  On Thursday we had the honor to have Mass in a sided chapel with Father Steve. After we had a tour of the church where the tomb

Around 529 AD, Benedict of Nursia, who disliked the way of life in Rome, wanted to start a new way to live that honored God in a more faithful way. He built his monastery on the ruins of an old temple dedicated to Apollo. Legend has it he kept a table from the old temple to use it for his worship.  Once established at Monte Cassino, Benedict never left. He wrote the Rule of St Benedict that became the founding principle for Western monasticism, lived there and trained other monks and eventually died there.  Over the centuries, the monastery was attacked 4 times, the last time during WWII. It’s a miracle that while 90% of the Abbey was destroyed, some key places of the monastery remained intact: his tomb, Scholastica’s tomb, a big statue of St Benedict, and more. The Abbey was rebuilt in the same design with the same materials as they used before.  On Thursday we had the honor to have Mass in a side chapel with Father Steve. After we had a tour of the church where the tomb

We visited the Vatican Museum today which is located in Vatican City, the only city which is considered its own sovereign nation.  The Vatican Museum houses many ancient artifacts, walls of beautiful tapestries, a unique collection of Italy maps, Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel and countless mosaics. We also toured St. Peter’s Basilica and spent some time there in Eucharist Adoration. Afterwards, a large group of us climbed to the top of the Cupola! The view was certainly the payoff. And that was just the first part of the day...