Art in Rome - We Did It!

A shared project to weld a chaplaincy
Tuesday 28 April 2020 02:00
Sister Geneviève
We did it

After the various stages of organization necessary, the 17 young people of the chaplaincy of Bercy have, thanks to you, been able to set off to discover 3000 years of history in Rome.

Remember, the aim of this trip was to unite the group around a common project: to open them to a country that was completely foreign to them, and to allow them an initiation to art in this eternal city where Christianity is omnipresent.

Sister Geneviève tells us :

When we arrived in Rome we were lodged at the Casa Maria Immacolata belonging to the Congregation of Saint Vincent de Paul.

Our days were punctuated by a full programme of visits. Pantheon, Villa Borghese, Piazza del Popolo ...

The dome of St. Peter's Basilica blew the whole group away and on the same day we had a meeting with Father Landousies from the Vatican Secretariat of State.

At a height of 100 feet... "I will give you the Keys to the Kingdom of Heaven"

The young people were able to enjoy walking and cycling through the streets of Rome, discovering the ancient sites, or visiting the Catacombs of Saint Calixtus where we had the chance to attend Mass.

On the 5th day, we organized a treasure hunt for the young people in 15 stages with the theme "Discovering the fountains and churches of Rome".

Departure from Piazza del Popolo then Fontana del Babuino, Piazza Di Spagna, Fountain of the Bees, Fountain of the Triton, Church of Sant' Andrea Delle Fratte, Church of Santa Maria in Via, Trevi Fountain, Piazza Colonna, Piazza Di Pietra, Piazza Sant'Ignazio, Piazza della Minerva, Piazza della Rotonda, Church of St. Louis des Français and finally Piazza Navone.

A lunch in a pizzeria concluded this beautiful moment all together.

Finally, we had the great chance to experience Ash Wednesday in Rome and thus to attend the Papal Audience in St. Peter's Square and then the Ash Wednesday Mass presided by Pope Francis in the Church of Santa Sabina.

 

So many strong moments that united the young people and allowed them to live beautiful moments of faith. We left, equipped with a logbook to observe the essential elements of each place we visited and, exploit, without mobile phones!!!

During the daily debriefing in Rome and the reports back home, we were pleasantly surprised to see how well they had memorized the important points of the different visits (sculptures, paintings etc).

A BIG THANK YOU to all the benefactors who made it possible to achieve the goal and thus greatly relieved the families.

Sister Genevieve