we were delighted to visit with the fine musicians of the St. Vincent Camerata, who made the trek from Pittsburgh to Rome on a choir tour! Nick accompanied them for a few performances, including singing for mass at the monastery of Monte Cassino. they graciously invited the whole family aboard the chartered bus to drive an hour and forty-five minutes south of Rome to the little town of Monte Cassino where they would sing for mass. St. Benedict himself founded a monastery here in the year 529, and it was for this monastic community that he composed his famous Rule. the monastery has flourished here despite numerous setbacks during barbarian invasions and, unfortunately, was almost completely destroyed by Allied bombs during World War II as there was speculation that the Germans might be using the hilltop monastery as an outlook post. since we were a group of Americans visiting the ancient site, that made for a few awkward moments with the tour guide, but she was gracious!
Monte Cassino is in the very southernmost part of the region of Lazio (where Rome is)
happiest little traveler
approaching the monastery building!
hot mess express!
various archaeological fragments decorate the walls
back to the courtyard to burn off some energy!
the monastery vineyard
photo credit: i'll give you one guess
beautiful, even in the rain!
lots of adopted uncles, aunts, and grandparents in this group!
Nick and the choir then went inside the church to warm up prior to mass, while the girls and i stayed outside for a while before finding seats. the church was beautiful, but had my absolute least favourite chairs: single chairs with squeaky legs placed in rows. every single time the girls shifted in their seat, or got up and down, or traded places with each other, it made a horrible distracting noise and moved the chairs out of alignment. my kingdom for a solid wood pew! nevertheless, the mass was beautiful and the music especially so!
coloring outside one of the side doors before mass began
after mass, we explored the crypt below the church and visited the tombs of St. Benedict and his twin sister, St. Scholastica.
original wall of the monastery with a more modern column supporting the church
St. Benedict built this altar over the site of the original pagan Roman 2nd century temple
the bones of St. Benedict and St. Scholastica were initially preserved in this box
then, their relics were transferred to this more secure location in the crypt
when we finally emerged from the church, the sun was shining brilliantly!
it's so beautiful it doesn't even look real.
we made a swift visit to the museum, made progressively swifter as we went along and the girls were starting to lose patience!
12th century fragment from the original portal of the monastery
a tenth century document attesting that the abbey owned a particular plot of land
17th century missal
18th century map of the abbey
this illuminated manuscript dates from 1475
incredible inlaid ornamentation on the wall
15th century statue of St. Nicholas
finally, we said goodbye to the monastery and drove back down the mountain to enjoy a delicious lunch!
the doves are kept here in honor of St. Scholastica
looking out over the Polish cemetery (for soldiers who fought against the Germans occupying the monastery during World War II)
i'm completely obsessed with this wrought iron gate
a few days later, we met up with the group again for a concert at Sant'Anselmo all'Aventino, the Benedictine monastery and university on the Aventine hill -- right next door to the famous Aventine keyhole that allows you to peep through the gate around the gardens of the territory of Malta across to see the dome of St. Peter's. after the concert, we walked down the hill for a delicious dinner at da Bucatino, a restaurant in the Testaccio neighborhood famous for its namesake round pasta coated in flavorful sauce. this dish is notoriously messy, so anyone who ordered it was ceremoniously presented with a bib!
inside the courtyard of Sant'Anselmo
Greta convinced them to swing her as we went along ;)
Cecilia approves!
mangia mangia!
delicious pistachio panna cotta
Cecilia was in hog heaven after Greta had her fill of the ice cream they both shared
and of course, no meal is complete without a digestivo or three!
thanks again to the Camerata for including us in some of your Roman adventures!
1) wedding! on the first weekend in June, Nick's cousin was married in an absolutely beautiful ceremony (he played the organ for the wedding, and then chauffeured some of the family to the reception in the station wagon). it's always so much fun to spend time with his family, and the reception venue was stunning -- held in the grand hall of the train station, which has since been converted into apartments and an event space.
this is a strong contender for the 2025 Christmas card the last day of school was Friday, May 30, and the very next day, we dropped off Greta and Cece with Nick's parents to drive down to Ocean City, MD, first thing Sunday morning, while Nick and I followed with the babies after Nick played for two morning masses. I've been to Ocean City once before, during the summer of 2020 when social distancing rules were still in effect -- most restaurants were open for takeout only, and those that were open for dine-in required patrons to wear masks while walking to their tables. it was fun to go back and have a more normal beach experience! many thanks to Nick's parents for generously inviting us to come along.
Easter was "late" this year, April 20, which has the added benefit of slightly warmer temperatures. it always seems incongruous to me when Easter falls at the end of March and all the pretty Easter dresses are covered up by coats and we might have to choose snow boots rather than sandals! this was the first year Elizabeth was allowed to be more involved with hands-on egg dyeing and she was so excited. I bought the "deluxe" PAAS kit with extra supplies to make glittery and foil-bedecked eggs and somehow, by the grace of God, did not end up with glitter all over the house. I don't know how this one was so blurry but you get the idea! Greta's pastel eggs Cece's jewel-toned eggs I debated once again about which Easter mass to attend. we have attended the evening vigil once before , but that involves a lot of faith and perhaps a dash of insanity to attempt solo with young kids. so we typically go Easter morning, but I asked the older girls about it and they...
Those mosaics!! Be still my beating heart 😍😍😍
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