Monte Cassino

I think listening to the sounds of a city at night is fascinating. I’ve just returned to my crowded room after a day of touring. The night air is wonderful. I decided to open the windows. Several men are arguing. A woman just finished vocalizing and now a man is doing the same (the woman is better than the man). 

High Altar of the Abbey of Monte Cassino

I can just picture the voice teacher at her/his piano teaching a lesson at 10 PM. There are other sounds, traffic with an occasional motor scooter, other conversations. That male singer needs a lot of work!

Side chapel at Monte Cassino

We left very early for Monte Cassino which is about halfway between Rome and Naples. The scenery was spectacular. The sky was such a vivid blue and the mountains, some shrouded in clouds, were gray against that beautiful sky. Later, as the sun climbed higher, the trees were more obvious. There are just tinges of color here and there in the leaves. 

Monte Cassino is the monastery where both St. Benedict and his sister St. Scholastica are buried. They died a few days apart with St. Scholastica exiting this world first. St. Benedict died before the altar of the monastery church here being held up by two of the monks.

The allies in World War II thought that this fortress-appearing place was harboring Nazis. It was 

One of the views from Monte Cassino

bombed and nearly totally destroyed. It has since been rebuilt. There are a few portions dating from medieval times. What the place did was provide a refugee for women and children some of whom were killed in the air raid. We saw the place where most of them took shelter. Miraculously enough the high altar in the church survived with the relics of the two saints beneath it. The church and monastery were reconstructed to be exactly as they were before the bombing. The church is still awaiting a number of frescos in the ceiling.

We attended the 10:30 AM Mass in the abbey church. The plainsong chant by the men’s choir was beautifully done. The organ was played very well. The Mass was in Italian, concelebrated by several priests, the abbot of Christ in the Desert one of them. I didn’t understand a word of the sermon. I used the time to think of my own interpretation of today’s gospel which had to do with the payment of taxes–“Render to Caesar…”

Another view from Monte Cassino

This monastery is at the top of a mountain and the road up the mountainside has several switchbacks. Thankfully Genaro drives very well. It is a little scary to see how far down one must roll if he would miss a turn.

Following the lunch stop we returned to Rome. Flavio was taking the group to the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, and the Spanish Steps.  Three of us had been there and done that. We chose instead to go to the Mamertine Prison where St. Peter was imprisoned and where he baptized several new Christians before he was killed. There is an interesting multi-media presentation available. Parts of the prison date hundreds of years before the Christian era.

Statue depicting St. Benedict's death

Chapel Altar in the Mamartine Prison

Basilica of St. Prisca

Following our prison visit we headed to the Basilica of St. Prisca. She and her husband are mentioned as helpers of St. Paul in his missionary work. Their relics are in a small, basically neighborhood church. The church is simply adorned with only a few statues.

We traveled in stopping for a bit of refreshment and a bathroom break. Our goal was to walk across a bridge to the Trastevere and have dinner there. We found our way and a restaurant which was very, very good. Too tired to walk back to the hotel we got a taxi to complete our journey.