Students, staff reflect on visit to the Eternal City

Over the recent spring break, 24 students traveled to Rome on pilgrimage with the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture (dCEC). 

This year’s pilgrimage follows last year’s dCEC trip to the UK, which traced the steps of ancient and modern English saints and martyrs. The Eternal City was intentionally chosen as this year’s destination in alignment with the Pope’s declaration of the Jubilee Year, a time when the four papal basilicas in the city open their Holy Doors to pilgrims. 

Walking through the Holy Doors of the four major Roman basilicas is the primary event of a Jubilee pilgrimage to Rome. Ordinarily sealed, these doors are opened every 25 years, inviting pilgrims in to walk through and pray. The Church offers a plenary indulgence to anyone who visits at least one of these basilicas during a Jubilee Year. 

The de Nicola Center’s pilgrimage was organized around this tradition, going first through the doors at St. Paul Outside the Walls, and then those at St. Peter’s, followed by the doors at St. John Lateran, and ending at St. Mary Major. 

Senior Caroline Rossini explained the spiritual significance of the Holy Doors to the Rover, saying, “It’s really because we have such an incarnational faith that it’s good to unite with these practices that put us physically in the place that we’re trying to be spiritually.” 

Chioma Oparaji, a fifth-year architecture student, expressed a similar sentiment: “Being in the place where … we know that saints have been and prayed, and being in a space where we’re invited to pray there as well, was really special.” 

During the week-long trip, the pilgrims were able to visit and venerate the statue The Ecstasy of St. Teresa, the remains of St. Clement and St. Ignatius of Antioch, Michelangelo’s Pieta, the tombs of Ss. Peter and Paul, the Colosseum where Christians were martyred, the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel, and the private rooms of St. Philip Neri and St. Ignatius, among other sites.

When asked why he wanted to make the pilgrimage, junior Andrew Sjurset told the Rover that he came to see “the rich history, the rich tradition, the martyrs that died for the faith; the reverence that people and pilgrims take coming to these places, the absolute beauty and the art and architecture.”

The dCEC pilgrimage was also part of the center’s larger focus on Eucharistic themes. Dave Younger, dCEC Student Formation Program Manager, told the Rover, “Our pilgrimage, both in the planning and in the participation, has been and will be very focused on the Eucharist.” Younger went on to note, “We’ve also introduced Sorin Fellow Holy Hours to increase our adoration of our Lord.” 

Attendees of the pilgrimage expressed their ability to see God’s love in the Eucharist and through the company of the group. Oparaji said, “We’re all connected in the mystical body of Christ, and that’s in the Eucharist.” She continued, “I’m really going to draw from that, because even when we go back to Notre Dame, we’re still in the same mystical body of Christ that we were when we were with all the people … in Rome.” 

Junior Martha Cleary described her encounter with beauty during Mass at the Chair of St. Peter in St. Peter’s Basilica: “I have wanted to know the source of where all the beauty that I have loved for my whole life comes from, and I sort of realized there that all of the beauty in St. Peter’s is ultimately pointing to the Eucharist, and the Eucharist is the most beautiful thing.” 

In addition to individual spiritual development, attendees also mentioned the importance of community and camaraderie on the pilgrimage. Junior Michael Urban described the fruits of the pilgrimage to the Rover: “You can tell everyone has gotten a lot closer with each other,” highlighting the group’s “ability to just have a good time, [to] laugh about something.” He continued, “Then to take that and see that that’s all based on the faith journey we’ve had together—it’s really beautiful.” 

For more information about the Sorin Fellows program and future pilgrimage offerings, contact Dave Younger at dyounger@nd.edu. 

Jack Thornton is a senior studying philosophy and theology. He was fortunate enough to attend the recent dCEC pilgrimage to Rome, and he is grateful for the Christ-centered friendships that he formed along the way. He can be reached at jthorn22@nd.edu.

Photo Credit: The de Nicola Center

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