Dominican Sisters from Limerick city and Fr Conor McDonough OP accompanied 18 young adults from around Ireland to Italy for a five-day ‘Upward Call’ pilgrimage. 
Youth Space
Our faith calls us to set the world on fire, writes Blánaid ní Bhraonáin
A few weeks ago, a group of young adults from around Ireland joined a pilgrimage to Rome with the theme ‘Our Upward Call’.
The trip was organised by the community of Dominican Sisters of St Cecelia. In 2016, four intrepid sisters arrived in Limerick from the congregation’s motherhouse in Nashville, Tennessee, revitalising the tradition of Dominican service in the city and throwing themselves into serving the parish of St Saviour’s. After enlisting Fr Conor McDonough of St Saviour’s Priory in Dublin as pilgrimage chaplain, Sr Beatrice, Sr Rose Miriam and Sr Mara Grace brought nearly 20 pilgrims to Rome for study, prayer, and visits to the holiest sites of the city.
Arrival
After arriving in Rome, we got the train to Bracciano, a small town an hour’s train ride outside the city. We stayed with local Dominican sisters in the ‘Villaggio Betania,’ a former children’s home now restored and run as a retreat house by four of the Nashville sisters. The setting is beautiful: with views of Lake Bracciano in one direction and the medieval town in the other, it was the perfect environment in which to reflect on what we saw and learned on our pilgrimage.
Ably shepherded by the Dominicans, we began the pilgrimage with a celebration of Mass (featuring one of Father Conor’s famously entertaining sermons) and a sung Compline (Night Prayer) with the sisters. Sister Beatrice created a beautiful booklet for each of us with guides to the churches we visited, the readings for daily Mass, mediations and quotes from the saints.
We woke before dawn the next morning, the mercilessly cheerful sisters banishing any misgivings we might have had about the earliness of the hour. We were repaid with a glorious view of St Peter’s illuminated by the rising sun, the iconic square empty except for a few pigeons.
Fittingly, when requesting a grotto in the basilica to have Mass, we were assigned the Irish Chapel, which is dedicated to St Columbanus. On the wall behind the altar is a luminous mosaic depicting the saint and his companions travelling from Ireland to Italy. The accompanying inscription, ‘Petegrinantes pro Christo’ (pilgrims for Christ), provided an appropriate topic for Fr Conor’s sermon and a wonderful parallel for our own situation. The strength of Christian witness in the city, stretching back two centuries, was brought home to us as the mortal remains of St Peter, the first Pope, rested in another of the grottos nearby.
After Mass we explored the rest of the basilica. Its sheer size and grandeur was awe-inspiring; it was almost impossible to know where look first. Even the holy-water fonts are the size of baths, supported by cherubs eight feet tall. Huge as it is, every corner and nook boasts a masterpiece: Michelangelo’s Pieta, 39 huge statues of saints lining the central nave, and the famous dome, with the space underneath gloriously filled by the bronze canopy over the altar.
Our next stop (after refuelling with gelato) was Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, one of the Dominican order’s main churches in Rome. In another illustration of the power of Dominican connections, we were warmly welcomed and given a personal tour of the church by its rector, Fr Gian Matteo.
In keeping with the theme of ‘Our Upward Call’, this was an opportunity to learn more about St Catherine of Siena, a Dominican tertiary whose remarkable achievements in serving the Church were made possible through her long years of prayer and listening to God. St Catherine’s tomb is located under the main altar of the church; the room where she died is preserved behind the sacristy. The intensity with which fiery young woman pursued the mission God assigned her still seemed to reverberate in her small, humble chamber, despite the intervening centuries.
The other churches we visited also made real to us the lives and missions of the saints: Sant’Agnese in Agone, where St Agnes’ skull is preserved; Sante Croce in Gerusalemme, constructed to house the relics of the Passion brought back from the Holy Land by St Helena (mother of Constantine the Great); San Bartolomeo all’Isola, dedicated as the Sanctuary of the New Martyrs by St Pope John Paul II in 2000.
There, relics from martyrs of the 20th and 21st Centuries are displayed at the side altars throughout the church: religious items belonging to martyrs under Communism and Nazism; crucifixes and rosaries of martyrs of the Spanish Civil War; the breviary of Fr Jaques Hamel. This brought home the reality of modern martyrdom and, for me, connected the stories of ancient martyrs to the effort to live as a witness to Christ today.
We also spent time in silent reflection in the Villaggio, with an opportunity for one-on-one spiritual guidance with the sisters. One of our hostesses, Sr Thomas Aquinas, kindly facilitated study seminars on the dignity of the human person and the ‘upward call’ described by Pope Benedict XVI in the encyclical Spe Salvi. Seeing the relics and walking in the footsteps of so many saints informed our discussion of the “cloud of witnesses” and our hopes of eternal life.
The pilgrimage was an incredible experience of learning, reflection and prayer. The Limerick sisters’ constantly joyful attitude and sense of humour made every part of the trip fun and the hospitality of our hosts in Bracciano was second to none. (To give some idea of this in action – I had my birthday on the second day of the trip, and not only did I receive a special Italian birthday cake complete with 23 candles, Sr Beatrice had already drilled everyone in the lyrics of ‘Happy Birthday’ in Italian!)
Since their arrival in Ireland the sisters have helped so many people deepen their faith and created new friendships and connections among young Catholics in Ireland. In the words of St Catherine: ‘Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.’ ‘Our Upward Call’ helped many of us figure out how to fan the flame of God’s plan for our lives.
The sisters’ next event is ‘Christmas at the Dominicans’, a concert at the Dominican Church in Limerick on Friday, December 14 at 7.30pm with proceeds going to the young adult ministry at the Dominican Church. (Bookings can be made each day from 12.00-12.45 in the Dominican Church or ring 085 225 5796.)
