Catholic services in a harmony of Spanish, French and other languages echoed through the grates in the floor and across the tombs of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.In the Vatican grottoes, alongside the burial sites of past popes, 12 members of the Brandeis Catholic Student Organization and Catholic chaplain Father Walter Cuenin celebrated Sunday mass in the Irish chapel of St. Columbanus. The mass was the spiritual culmination of a week-long trip to Italy that was subsidized by Catholic community members in the Boston area.

"Celebrating Mass in St. Peter's with the students, down in the crypts where the popes are buried" was the most meaningful experience of the trip to Rome, Cuenin said, because it drew members of the Catholic community closer together in a shared religious experience.

St. Peter's Basilica, the burial site of its namesake, one of the 12 apostles, is located in the home city of the pope and is known as one of the holiest places and greatest churches in Christianity. More than just a religious site, however, the church is also an architectural and artistic masterpiece, boasting the famous dome designed by Michelangelo, Giacomo della Porta and Fontana. Because of the site's beauty, the group spent much of the day quietly taking it all in, joining together to pray at mass.

"The rest of the day we just explored St. Peter's Basilica," Rachael Cotter '10 recalled. "We got to climb the dome, which was incredible," she said.

For students on the trip-which cost students only $550 for flights, accommodation and most meals-visiting famous churches and religious sites in Rome brought the history of the Catholic Church to life.

"Rome is the Catholic homeland," Stephanie Sapowicz '10 said. "It was just really interesting to see not only the history of the art in Rome but also of the Church as well."

Carolyn Burns '10 said the group was thrilled to hear Pope Benedict XVI speak to a crowd of 15,000 at the Vatican. When the English-speaking priest at the pope's side announced that he was pleased to have a group from Brandeis visiting, "we made a pretty good amount of noise for a group our size," Burns said. "We represented Brandeis."

Burns said the experience was comforting in that she could share her feelings of awe and inspiration with fellow members of the Catholic community.

"To be able to share that [powerful experience] with people who also feel the same way, share my religion and are practicing Catholics, definitely makes a difference," Burns said.

The trip offered some students a new setting in which to bond with students, as well as the opportunity to get closer to members of the Catholic community who they usually only see at Sunday mass at Brandeis.

"One hour a week is really hard to build good relationships," Sapowicz said. As a religious minority at Brandeis, traveling to Rome helped students "build a network" to discuss their connections to Catholicism.

This week-long tour wasn't limited to religious sites. The group visited the town of Assisi, known as the birthplace of St. Francis, founder of the Franciscan religious order. Inside the walls of this small city, which is in the mountains two hours north of Rome, students experienced the quiet and peaceful side of Italy.

Exploring Assisi "was nice because that was very much the other part of Italy," as opposed to the busy city of Rome and Vatican City, said Sapowicz. "You don't see many walled-in little cities in the States," she said.

After visiting St. Francis' Basilica and the town's many historical churches and landmarks, Cotter said the group enjoyed climbing around in the medieval castles in the city, from which they could see an amazing view of the countryside.

Students remember the historic artwork they saw in Assisi and throughout Rome as beautiful and inspirational.

"Everywhere you looked in these places," Fullerton said, "was just the most unbelievable art."

Inside St. Peter's Basilica, "We got to see the Pietá," Fullerton recalls. Walking around Rome, students met daily at the Parthenon and saw the Coliseum and the Roman Forum.

There was "just unbelievable history" compared to anything in the United States, Fullerton said. In particular, he remembers walking on stones at the Roman forum, where people have been walking for a thousand years.

Students were impressed by the Catholic churches not only because of their religious significance but also because of their architecture.

"The old churches were really cool because there's so much [architectural] detail. . You could walk around them for days," Burns said.

Most days, the group toured the city together in the morning and explored independently in the afternoons.

In the Italian section of Rome, Fullerton said he went exploring with Burns and Ashley Ruskiewicz '08 and practiced his Italian. "I wanted to have as authentic an Italian experience as possible," said Fullerton, who remembers sitting in a café, entranced by the way everyone knew each other by name.

"It was really nice just to get lost in Rome," Cotter said.

Cuenin said he enjoyed getting to know students in the Catholic community on the trip and hopes to lead another trip next February break.

"I'm a great believer in pilgrimage because I think it makes your faith come alive," Cuenin said. "I've found that it's one of the best ways to connect people, not only to our faith but also to one another.