Countdown to Finals Begins!

Campus Life Update

This week at CatholicTech, students have begun preparing for final exams, while still making the most of their free time and fitting in as many adventures as possible. From trips north of Rome to spend time with the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia, to free museum visits on International Women’s Day, to building electronic circuits in the lab, students have been busy as usual.

Some students have also been waking up in the dark hours of the morning to participate in an ancient Roman tradition alongside the seminarians of the Pontifical North American College and other American Catholics in Rome. Visiting the Lenten Station Churches is a long-standing tradition and involves following the path of early Christian martyrs as a kind of mini pilgrimage throughout Lent. Holy Mass is celebrated at a different church in Rome every day, from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday.

This tradition dates back as early as the 4th century, when the Bishop of Rome would travel to different parishes to celebrate Mass with the faithful throughout the city. In this way, the Bishop was united with his flock across the diocese through a pilgrimage of prayer. The order of the churches was established in the 5th century, though it has changed over time as some churches closed, and the current order was finalized in the 16th century. Many of the station churches are dedicated to martyrs, allowing the faithful to unite their own Lenten sacrifices with those who gave their lives for the faith. Relics are often displayed at these Masses for public veneration.

Each Mass begins at 7:00 in the morning, making for quite an early trek into Rome! To arrive on time, students leave campus at 5:30 a.m. to catch the bus and then take the metro to the stop closest to that day’s station. The Masses are always full of priests, seminarians, religious sisters, and American Catholics helping to keep this ancient tradition alive. Our students hope to attend many more before Lent concludes.

Over the weekend, some students also took the opportunity to volunteer with the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia in Bracciano. After attending the station Mass, they traveled to Bracciano for lunch and spent the afternoon helping the sisters clean up after their latest retreat. They even had the chance to meet some of the animals from a nearby farm.

In celebration of International Women’s Day, all public and municipal museums in Rome offered free entry for women. Some students took advantage of the opportunity to visit museums they had been hoping to see.

This weekend, we will be hosting our Second Annual St. Patrick’s Day Festival! If you are in Rome, or know someone who is, please come visit us! Mass will be celebrated at 5:30 p.m. in St. Patrick’s Chapel on our campus, followed by food, drinks, and live Irish music. We can’t wait to tell you all about it in next week’s newsletter!