The Czech College on Via Concordia, Rome

The Czech College is near the Lateran, one of the most important churches in Italy.
During Carnevale, there was a big controversy because the anti-Catholic government tried to set up an amusement park right outside the Lateran! But there was such an outcry against it, they were forced to take it down and put it up somewhere else in Rome. (Carnevale lasts about a month before Lent, and it reminded me of Halloween.)

That section of Rome isn't the prettiest, and I felt like I was taking my life into my hands every time I tried to cross the street there (trying to cross a big street in Rome is not very much fun, but it is thrilling!). But it was convenient being within easy walking distance from the Lateran. And across the street, there was a little place that had the best-tasting chicken I've ever tasted. There were also places which could best be described as flea markets nearby. I'll describe more of the places around Rome in the environs section later.

Life at the college was nice, but without all the most modern conveniences. This is a picture of my desk in my room.
This was before I started putting up plastic. Several of us would cover everything with colored plastic, because otherwise things would get coated with a terrible dust. Somebody said the dust was so nasty because it would come in from the desert across the Mediterranean. It would get especially bad after a heavy rain. It was frustrating that things would get dirtier after it rains, when you're used to things being cleaned by a heavy rain.

The dust and the mosquitoes were probably the worst things about living in Rome. Luckily, there were lots of bats around the college. It used to be nice, sitting by the window watching the bats flying around at night, thinking about all the mosqitoes they were getting rid of for us.

The cooks at the Czech College were sisters from the same order that Sister Faustina was from, the probably-future saint who began devotion to the Merciful Savior.

The sisters were very nice. They were from Poland, and didn't speak English. That made my job tougher. I was sacristan (chapel-cleaner), and one of my duties was making sure there were hosts for Communion. When we ran low, I had to go and try to communicate to the sisters that we needed more hosts. They were quite patient with my efforts to get that across in Italian, a language I had to use practically every day but never did feel comfortable with.

On Thanksgiving, they made a noble effort to give us a real American-style Thanksgiving dinner. It was not a practical goal, considering what they had to work with. But we all appreciated the effort they made for us, and tried our best to enjoy it!

The college had a lovely view from the roof. I often used to like to go up on top of the roof for some quiet time by myself. It was especially beautiful late at night, when you could see village lights on the mountains far, far away.

In the evening, the entire college, Czech and American, would all gather in the large Czech chapel for devotions. A couple times, I brought a tape recorder with me. Here are a couple downloadable RealAudio files from those devotions at the Czech college:

• Ecce Panis Angelorum. This is a Gregorian Chant used frequently there. The words are:
  Ecce panis angelorum, Factus cibus viatorum: Vere panis filiorum, Non mitendus canibus. (Behold the bread of angels, become the food of wayfarers. Truly the bread of sons must not be thrown to dogs)

• Omni die dic Mariæ. This is an ancient hymn to the Blessed Mother often sung there (Daily, Daily Sing to Mary is its English title).

Another minor job I had, besides being sacristan, was playing the organ in our little chapel. We had a very old harmonium (at least it still worked).
This WAV is from a tape I made while I was practicing in the chapel.
It is the traditional hymn, "Oh Lord, I am not Worthy".

That's all for the description of what life was like at the Czech College. Now you can go on to where I studied that year, at the Angelicum.
Or, you can go back to the Italy page and go somewhere else from there.

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