Montecassino and a Weekend in Rome!

I spent this weekend in Rome, with a day trip to Montecassino, the Benedictine Monastery where St. Benedict started his order. The monastery was destroyed in a bombing in World War II, and the entire area of Cassino was a sight of very bloody battle as the Allies attempted to get a foothold in the mainland of Italy.


But first, Thursday night we decided to go out because my friend Chana had a test every day that week and she needed a good time. We headed to our own very little hang out- The Abbey Theatre, an Irish pub near Piazza Navona. I know we go there a lot, but it's kind of like our home base when we go out- the place is really comfortable and the people that go there are really nice. So we decided to head to a disco nearby- we always plan to avoid this place- because it is too much like the clubs in the US, but we were only there for about an hour before we decided to leave. We got home really late- and thankfully, I didn't have my friday class until 3:40- otherwise I would have been way more exhausted..kind of like Chana, who had class at 9:30. It was rough for her.


Because of how exhausted I was when I woke up, I decided to stay in on Friday to get ready for Montecassino. There was nothing too exciting going on, and I was in bed by 10:00pm. It was the best feeling.

We had to be up at 7am to get hop on a bus to Montecassino. I slept the whole two hours there. And before we knew it- we reached the bottom of the mountain. You can see this really large gleaming white building at the top of the mountain. We learned that it has been destroyed three times, once because of the barbarian invasions, a very bad earthquake, and finally the bombing during World War II. So everything except for a small part was reconstructed after the end of the War. But at least it was a faithful reconstruction, and they put together as many columns and statues as they could.

We met our tour guide right as we walked up the last part of the hill. Oh and let me tell you, the zig zag road all the way up could make a stomach of steel feel a little sick. But we made it to the top, we walked into the entrance cloister where there is a statue made in the 1980's of St. Benedict in the manner in which he died, standing up with his arms outstretched towards God. 

Now, I thought that I would kind of bored to see a monastery that was built in the 1950's, but with the guided tour we were able to visit the only part of the abbey that survived all the bombings and destruction. This included St. Benedict's own private cell. It is now a chapel with painted frescos from the 50's also. The monks use it for prayer- and they decided to close it to the public unless there is a guided tour because they didn't want to create a pilgramage site out of it. Now, normally (because I am incredibly cynical) I would say that the only reason they do that is so people pay for the guided tour. But I can see their argument. This isn't a church- it's a living monastery- I've been to many churches during my time abroad (Over 20, easily) and they are used for public worship- the public should have a right to pray at a church that was created for a congregation. Montecassino is not a church- it's not the Vatican, nor Sacre Coeur- 20 monks took vows of Celibacy, Labor, Poverty, and Stability (see I did pay attention), and decided to live their lives a certain way, the last thing these monks need is to be dealing with tourists on par with Notre Dame. You have to admit, the life they choose for themselves requires much more faith than anyone could possibly imagine- I mean can you stand 20 hour days, day in day out?

I thought not.


We then headed to two other cloisters in the abbey, before heading to the Basilica. The Basilica was completely destroyed during the bombing, but it was reconstructed to it's original design. It's a baroque style church- meaning hundreds of different kinds of marble all in cosmati work (where the marble is cut into shapes to make designs on the floors and walls-learned that during Art in Rome) It's not my favorite style of church, but it was beautiful. We also learned that there was a bomb that did not explode and that is why the relics of St. Benedict and St. Scholastica were saved from the bombings. So they still exist and they are placed in the floor behind the main alter, right above the catacombs.


We finished the guided tour of the Abbey and headed back down the mountain to grab lunch. It was a great meal, I have gotten so used to the 3 or 4 course meal thing that it's going to be hard to go back to the American style of dining. I like being able to take my time while I eat and enjoy the food. I think Americans could learn a thing or two about eating the Italian way. 


We headed back up the mountain and stopped about half way up and saw the Polish Army cemetery. There were over 1,000 graves for the soldiers of the Polish Army who died during the battle of Montecassino. The American cemeteries are closer to Rome. We didn't learn a whole lot about the battle that occurred there- but my dad did send me a few articles about what happened there. I just thought that guide would tell us more about it, but it seemed like she was more of an expert on the monastery than world war II, but I guess I can't blame her.


Once we got back to the Abbey we went to the Vespers- the Gregorian Chants of Psalms. This was 40 minutes of chanting. You would think that it would be excruciating to sit through chants for that long, but oddly enough it wasn't that bad- the time went by quickly and everyone was really calm afterwards, I know some people fell asleep but I think it was more because it was kind of like a lullaby...or at least that is that I am going to think.


We got back on the bus after the Vespers and headed back to Rome. I started to feel sick on the bus and I knew that I was getting a fever. I tried to get some sleep on the two hour bus ride. So going out later that night, was probably not the best idea I had. But after having a chance to relax and having some dinner, I felt better. I went out with some friends. I didn't like the idea of wasting a night in J-Force, my time here seems to be slipping away that I forced myself to head out into Rome.


But I paid for it this morning. But after some sleep and a visit to the doctor tomorrow, I should be good as new for Tuscany next weekend!


Can't wait!


Ciao Bella