LIVING IN ROME Dialogues des Carmelites

MARCO CERRITELLI ‘25, ARCHDIOCESE OF WASHINGTON

In the waning days of the Reign of Terror, sixteen Carmelite sisters of the Carmel of Compiègne were martyred by guillotine. Dialogues des Carmelites, an opera by Francis Poulenc, told the story last month to fifteen seminarians and faculty at the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma. Sung in French, the opera was inspired by a novel entitled The Song of the Scaffold with a libretto by the Catholic author George Bernanos. The story enters into the final days of the sisters through the experience of a fictionalized aristocratic novice, Sister Blanche. Persecution from the revolutionary government and pressure from her own family challenge Sister Blanche’s trust in her vocation—and in God. In one moving scene, Sister Blanche’s brother tries to “save” her from the threatened convent and cannot understand her resolve to stay in religious life amidst the dangers: “Are you no longer afraid?” he entreats. Blanche’s response reveals the beginning of her growing trust in the Lord: “Where I am, nothing can harm me.”

The Carmelite sisters were martyred on July 17, 1794 and beatified by Pope St. Pius X in 1906. Even the guillotine could not silence the Carmelite sisters who sang as they were led to their martyrdom; their praises and prayers are now eternal before the Lord in Heaven. n

The Borghese Gallery

REV. ALEX LANÇON '22, DIOCESE OF LAFAYETTE

The entirety of Italy is likened to a beautiful museum. This phenomenon is supremely available in the Eternal City. Recently I visited Rome’s Borghese Gallery, where paintings, sculptures, and architecture abound. Their impressive nature is certainly unmistakable. Yet, what struck me most is the very idea of art and the role it plays, both in captivating man and in manifesting his captivations. Sheer beauty was the common thread running through all the pieces. Whether portraying high theology in Caravaggio’s Madonna and Child with Saint Anne or the splendor of the human body in Bernini’s David (at left), they communicated a brilliance scarcely seen in contemporary times. In a utilitarian world where functionality and A to B thinking prevails, the art I experienced at the Borghese reminded me to pause and ponder, contemplate and wonder—it reminded me to be human. Likewise, it reminded me of the divine. After all, to experience truth, goodness, or beauty is to behold God—the supremely beautiful one. Truly, the Borghese and its Italian artistry offer a glimpse into this great mystery, even if only a morsel. n