Good Morning! I think it’s time the Stonehill Chapel Choir Italy Pilgrimage get’s a blog post 🙂
I found out about this trip during my summer orientation at Stonehill College so I was quite literally looking forward to it from day one. Let me tell you, it SO lived up to every expectation! We even got to visit Pompeii (a dream of mine since I was a child). From wandering through those ruins, so singing for a mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, seeing the Pope, and the beautiful city of Assisi it was truly a week to remember. The art was stunning, the food was delicious, and the travel companions were better than anyone could ask for ♡
Traveling to Italy & First Impressions
Although I was looking forward to the trip, it was not all smooth sailing. On top of the emotions of knowing this was my “one last hurrah” with Stonehill, the week leading up to it was exhausting and we were on an overnight flight with a six hour time adjustment. I had only been jet lagged once before and it was three hours the opposite direction. The plan was to sleep on the flight but no such plans came to fruition. I say, mostly in the dark, unable to sleep and in a wildly uncomfortable seat. Needless to say, I was NOT a happy camper.
A common theme I discovered was that most plans would not come to fruition when it came to sleeping on this trip. We had planned to take a few hours to rest at the hotel when we first arrived. This did not happen. We arrived around 8am and rooms would not be ready until 2-4pm. We had a LOT of time to kill. Naturally, we decided to take a very long walking tour of Rome (where we were staying)…
Rome, Italy
I will admit that if I wasn’t exhausted, overheated, sore, and overstimulated this walking tour would have been AMAZING. That being said, I was complaining (mostly in my head) the whole time. It’s worth sharing about though because we were able to see and learn so much! We say the Pantheon, the Trevi fountain, the Spanish Steps, and so much more. The fountains were interestingly all drained and turned off due to a protest a few days before that turned the water black (find an article on the protest here).
We ended the tour in Piazza Navona where we had a delicious lunch. We ate our first authentic Italian pizza! Once I had some food in me, the rest of the day was much more enjoyable. After shopping around and exploring the streets of Rome a bit, we made our way back to the hotel. Some of our rooms were ready and some of them were not. So we waited. Once we were all situated, we decided to explore the urban streets surrounding our hotel and find a place for dinner. We stumbled upon a delightful little pizza place just down the street where I would proceed to get most of my dinners from throughout the trip. The tiny store was in what looked like a parking garage. It was run by one guy who made all of the pizzas himself, fresh everyday. My favorite was the pesto pizza 🙂
Later on in the trip we also visited the Colosseum and Roman Forum. We got lost that day (again) mostly because of the huge bike race (Giro d’Italia) going on. It was another hot day but we survived and the ruins were beautiful. We also treated ourselves to some much needed gelato afterwards ♡
Assisi, Italy
I know I said Pompeii was the place I had dreamed of going since I was young, but Assisi was the land I never knew I longed for. As we drove out of Rome, the business of the city slowly faded and turned into a majestic countryside.I was awestruck. Never in my life have I thought “this is a place I need to see again” but I thought it then. The captivating beauty of Assisi has been holding a piece of my heart and soul ever since.
We made it just in time for the mass we were singing for in the basilica of St. Francis! After the mass we were able to roam the streets to find something for lunch before getting a tour of the Basilica. Lunch was freshly made raviolis followed by a wonderful tour of shops 🙂
There are not enough words for the love I have for this place so I will leave it at that!
Vatican City, Italy
Vatican City was a blur of holy masses, holy art, holy places, and holy people. We saw the Pope not only at the Papal Audience, but also at the Papal Mass! We then sang for a mass beneath the beautiful chair of Peter, behind the Papal altar. It was a really powerful moment. Despite not knowing the language, we were all able to participate in the Mass because the Catholic Church is universal and so is our worship ♡
We also were able to rout the Vatican museum. Talk about art! It was crowded and became more and more so as we came closer to the Sistine Chapel so we only had a few moments with each piece. Still, even this small amount often left me breathless as I gazed upon the paintings, statues, tapestries, and so much more. My favorite part was that some of it wasn’t necessarily religious but was there anyway because of its beauty. The Pope who ordered the making of this museum did so because he believed that all art which provides beauty and human expression is, in some way, holy. For God has made all things beautiful and all beautiful things come from Him. It was a moving experience, and so encouraging and inspiring as an artist 🙂
Pompeii, Italy
The moment we all (as in I) have been waiting for… Pompeii!!! It was nothing like I had expected but also somehow everything I had hoped for. It was a long drive from Rome but we had so much fun! A small group of us even got to visit another church on our lunch break before our tour of the ruins. I let the pictures do the talking…
Our Final Performance in Italy & Heading Home
On our last night we had a concert at Santi Apostoli where the remains of Saints Philip and James are kept. The vatican was cool and all but this place was STUNNING. I think one of the things that captured me initially was the silence. In all the other churches we entered in Italy it was always a constant sound of thousands of people whispering. Here, we were practically alone and it was quiet. This juxtaposition of this silence followed by the sound of our voices only magnified the experience of it all. Above the altar and on the ceiling was sculpted, cast, and painted my favorite work of art from all my time in Italy. It depicted the same icon of the holy spirit surrounded by angels as seen in the Vatican. Above it, a scene reminiscent of the Sistine chapel. Below it, an image of the martyrdom of Philip and James.
When we finished the concert there were lots of tears. For many of us, this was almost goodbye: We had done the thing. I remember kneeling down and praying as I became overwhelmed with so many emotions. I was so grateful, so sad, so happy, so scared. This was it. This was what I had been dreaming of doing and what seemed so far away only two years before. Now, it was coming to an end, and Stonehill’s chapter in my life was coming to a close. I needed to pause for a minute; to remember this moment; to say thank you.
Shout out to Emma 🙂
I found myself praying for help and for strength through tears. That’s when Emma came and knelt down beside me. It was in that moment that I knew everything was going to be okay. This was only the beginning.
We sat there for a moment together and then joined the group and made our way back to the hotel. That night I stayed up far too late and had priceless conversations with people who I love very much. The next morning I was tired but my soul felt full. The plane ride home was long but much more enjoyable. Emma (this girl deserves the shoutout of a lifetime) was kind enough to let me stay a few hours with her at her apartment before dropping me off at the airport again in time for me to catch my next flight back home to Buffalo.
As I looked out the window at the sunset, I smiled. It was a beautiful ending to a beautiful adventure. Stonehill. Boston. Italy. New England. You will always be a chapter I come back to again and again, I hope to see you, somehow, in the next one ♡
To be continued…
Let’s stay connected through every chapter 🙂
With peace and love,
-me (elijah jane)
