Perth seminarian writes on his experiencest studying in Rome.
As I write I have been back in Rome for about three weeks, and I am now
starting to feel reasonably settled. Thankfully the weather is a lot
more reasonable now – not too dissimilar to Autumn in Perth, actually.
I am still immersed in Italian language studies, though here at the North American College it has largely been revision of the material that we learned at such a break-neck pace in Assisi.
We are experimenting with more varied types of conversations than before, which is encouraging, though my sentence structure is still a bit hit-and-miss.
I have had some success using Italian with shop-keepers and the like out in the city, but it remains that the average four-year-old here still speaks better Italian than I do at this point (I even see dogs comprehend things their owners say better than I do!).
Oh well, it makes for a good lesson in humility.
We “New Men” have had a very thorough on-going orientation which is only now starting to give way to a more regular routine.
In addition to language classes and various introductory meetings, we have been taken on so many remarkable tours that I have struggled to take it all in.
I guess they wanted to keep us busy so we wouldn’t get too homesick at the outset, but I must admit that I was craving a little space for a while there.
Any one of the experiences we’ve had could potentially be life-changing for someone if they let themselves sit with it for a while, but then two days later we’d be off for another one.
Nonetheless, my favourite of such moments was probably during the “scavi” tour of the recent underground excavations beneath St Peter’s Basilica.
The story of how they discovered the various artefacts is quite remarkable, and to finish by seeing the remains of St Peter right under the main altar was very moving. Most of the bones are within containers, but they have left his jaw-bone out where you can see it: the jaw that proclaimed “You are the Christ”, and which consumed the first Mass during the Last Supper.
The bulk of the 230 or so students have returned to the NAC by now, so there are plenty of new faces here for me to get to know. Thankfully there are another ten Australians here besides myself, and we make sure to get together fairly regularly for a taste of home.
Whilst in some ways the American sub-culture here is not that dissimilar to back home, it’s the little differences that jar me the most.
For example, quite apart from the obvious accent differences, the words and tunes of well-known prayers and hymns will often have a couple of small changes – nothing too dramatic, but just enough to make me unsure of what I’m doing.
(I would also say that the stars up here are the wrong ones too, but then again you can only see a handful of stars at night in Rome anyway so it is a bit of a moot point.)
Being an Australian amongst Americans does have its advantages though: our accents and style of humour are very popular, to the point that the first year guys asked me to start up a weekly e-mail list explaining an Australian slang “Word of the Week” (after much pleading by one of them, last week’s word was “Budgie Smugglers”).
Being part of such a large seminary takes some getting used to as well, though on the whole I’m enjoying having the larger group here. Instead of being a rarity, the dynamics here make being a seminarian seem a far more normal thing to do. The sheer number of priests, sisters, seminarians and such that one sees walking around the streets of Rome means that, unlike in Perth, locals are never surprised when they find out what I’m doing.
Mind you, whenever a few of us are walking around the city in our clerics I do feel a bit like a member of the Swiss Guard in that tourists regularly stop to take photos of us – so the novelty factor is still there somewhat.
The NAC also has many fine traditions that we New Men are gradually being initiated into. Perhaps the most moving is the ringing-in and ringing-out rituals. As soon as all the first year guys arrived together at the college for the first time they took us straight from the buses and had us process into the chapel for prayer in two lines while the chapel bells were being rung and everyone else was giving us a standing ovation.
The next time each of us will have the bells rung for us will be in four years, as we leave the college for the last time – this time one at a time – to another standing ovation (and no doubt many tears and hugs).
Other fun traditions include the annual softball game between the first and second year students; and a whole series of events on Thanksgiving weekend (late November), including a rather serious American football match between the New Men and everyone else, and a rather less serious variety show hosted by the New Men.
I’m actually in charge of organising the “New Man Show” this year, which will take a fair bit of work but should also be a lot of fun. I’m also singing bass in the choir, plus I’m occasionally asked to lead a sing-a-long on the piano in the student lounge.
Combined with the upcoming canonisation of soon-to-be St Mary MacKillop, a large Deacon ordination next month, and the beginning of classes in a couple of weeks, I’ve got a fair bit on my plate. Nonetheless, I’m enjoying it all, and the quality prayer life and spiritual direction here are a great consolation.
Thanks again for all your prayers and support, and know that I pray for you all daily, particularly my brother seminarians back in Perth.
I look forward to seeing some of you at the big canonisation next month – it will be good to have an Aussie influx here for a few days.